Argentine midfielder Javier Mascherano has said that Barcelona should not underestimate their opponents Brazilian club Santos on the final of the Club World Cup. Barcelona will be playing Brazilian club Santos in this final, which is highly anticipated in the South American regions.
Many see this as the ultimate battle between Lionel Messi and the young sensation at Santos – Neymar. Barcelona will be coming to the match after having lost striker David Villa to a long-term injury. David Villa suffered a fractured tibia in the semifinal match, which rules him out for the rest of the season.
Despite this huge injury concern, Javier Mascherano has said that Barcelona should not underestimate their opponents in this match. Many have already touted Barcelona to be the winners in the match, which would also enable them to lift the trophy twice in three years. However, the Argentine midfielder has said that Santos should not be taken lightly given that they have the similar prestige and history as Barcelona. The talent they possess is also quite remarkable, as they will line up with the most sought-after player in world football – Neymar. The Brazilian has been linked with a move to a number of European clubs like Chelsea, Real Madrid, and to Barcelona themselves. However, Mascherano says that they should not allow any distractions in this match.
“Obviously that this is a final, we want to win it because it is an important trophy to us. We will try to do the right thing to get the trophy. Santos are really good, they have important players up front, like Neymar and Ganso. I know they are experienced, because I played in Brazil, and their coach is very clever. They are in the final, so we have to respect them,” Mascherano said ahead of match with Santos on Sunday.
Barcelona midfielder Javier Mascherano is one of the main injury doubts for Argentina when they take on Columbia in a highly anticipated match.
Even though Rodrigo Brana has been chosen as the substitute if Mascherano fails to make it at the last time, Argentina will definitely struggle without the former Argentine captain. Mascherano sustained a calf injury in their match against Bolivia and it remains to be seen if he can shake off the injury in time for the match. He was complaining of a lot of cramps during the final minutes of their match against Bolivia and was finally withdrawn.
Many expected him to definitely miss the match against Colombia, which is highly important in the context of the 2014 World Cup. Argentina national team coach Alejandro Sabella will be making an announcement shortly with regard to the possibility of Mascherano taking part in the match against Colombia. Aside from the fact that Mascherano could miss the match, Argentina are also likely to make three more changes to their first-team. Napoli defender Federico Fernandez is expected to replace the long-standing figure of Martin Demichelis in the defensive areas.
He was at fault for the goal that Argentina conceded against Bolivia. Javier Pastore is also likely to be rested for the match against Colombia, with the possibility of Jose Sosa and Pablo Guinazu of Inter playing very much on the cards. One can certainly expect Mascherano to miss the match against Colombia because he was nowhere to be seen in the first training session that Alejandro Sabella conducted as part of the preparations for the match. Javier Mascherano has been one of the important players for Barcelona this season. He has been able to accommodate in various positions that Guardiola has asked him to play in.
Barcelona midfielder Javier Mascherano has said that Barcelona should have easily won against Sevilla because they did almost everything right. Despite that fact, Barcelona had to content themselves with the 0-0 draw. The biggest moment of the match came late on when Barcelona were awarded a penalty for the foul on Iniesta. However, Barcelona’s star man Lionel Messi uncharacteristically managed to miss from the penalty spot, thus handing Sevilla a share of the spoils. Barcelona had created a number of chances throughout the match, but found Sevilla’s goalkeeper in top form during the entire 90 minutes.
As a result of the points dropped, Real Madrid have the opportunity to stretch the lead over Barcelona even further. After the match, Mascherano told the press “It’s a strange feeling. We have disappointment at not getting the three points, but satisfaction at knowing we did everything right. We played as we always do; attacking for almost the whole game.”
It is certainly going to be extremely tough for Barcelona to retain the title this season because Real Madrid are proving to be extremely resilient. Further, Real Madrid are the side that is scoring all the goals at the moment, with the champions Barcelona struggling to find the net consistently. There has also been certain rumours regarding the fallout between Lionel Messi and David Villa, although Barcelona manager Guardiola shrugged off the comments prior to the match.
It is reported that David Villa is reportedly unhappy with Barcelona giving all the attention to Lionel Messi both in terms of the PR and in terms of the formation.
Following the draw with Sevilla, Barcelona are now second in the table. Even though they trail the league leaders Real Madrid by just one point, Real Madrid will be confident they have enough to win the league.
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January 12, 2012 9:35 am | 
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