01.04.2009 11:00
Barça's post-international reaction
Berta Brau
For the fifth time this season, Guardiola has been forced to prepare a match with only the rump of his squad. On the previous four occasions, the matches have ended in 3 draws and 1 victory. The aim in Nuevo Zorrilla is to make it 2 wins out of 5.
This is the fifth time this season that Guardiola has had to prepare a match with most of his first
choices missing on international duty. The results reflect the difficulty of the situation, with
three draws and just one win.
Minimum preparation
Guardiola
is well aware of the problems posed by the international break. Normally, between 15 and 18 players
from the Barça squad are called up by their national team managers. He’ll have to wait until
Friday to have all his players back in training. Guardiola has warned on a number of occasions of
the dangers posed by the matches played just after the international break as the results so far
this season – three draws and a win - seem to demonstrate.
Two league breaks
There were two league breaks during September and October,
the first before the second matchday (Barça v Racing). Despite taking the lead with a Messi
penalty, Racing equalised to take a point
(1-1).
After the October break, Barça beat Athletic Club
0-1
thanks to a goal from Samuel Eto’o.
Midweek internationals
The international matches returned in November. The players had less
than five days midweek to travel and play with their national teams and afterwards could only
manage a
1-1
draw with Getafe. Much the same happened in February when the players had to work hard to
scrape a
2-2
draw against Betis, the equaliser coming in the 84th minute.