What a disasterous end to a disasterous season for football Club Barcelona. They was a lot of talk at the beginning of the season about their ‘fantastic four’, (including Messi, Thierry Henry, Eto’o and Ronaldinho) but it now looks certain that only the Argentinean Messi will be with Barca come the start of the next season in September. The other three have fallen far short of their hype, especially the Frenchman, and Ronaldinho’s soap opera of a season has done little favors to the Catalan giants. They were going to win everything this year, but in the end they were kicked out of the Champions league by Manchester United, and much worse, humiliated by Real Madrid in the league.
It has now been confirmed that Dutchman Frank Rijkaard will not be sitting on the bench next season, which is a shame as you can hardly blame him for what has happened. The players must take the lion’s share of the fan’s outrage, as should Barcelona president Joan Laporta for allowing his players to practically do whatever they want.
This summer could well see a massive rebuilding job being done, with at least five or six top name players being sold off in order to make room for the next set of players. Ex-Barcelona midfielder Pepe Guardiola, who has only experienced one year of management with Barcelona B, has already been confirmed as the new coach and it is a brave step for the Barcelona directors to get someone with so little experience.
Murcia meanwhile are already relegated to the second division, and this game will give their fans one last chance to savor top flight football for at least another year. Looking at how badly Barcelona are playing, the players might even be able to give them a good send off. Barcelona inexplicably gave away a two goal lead last weekend at the Nou Camp, where they lost by three goals to two against Mallorca. The Barca fans were booing even before the kick off and gave Eto’o an especially hard time, as well as the directors, with Joan Laporta in the front line. To say the Catalan giants are in a crisis is a bit of an understatement, and they won’t even be able to automatically qualify for the Champions league as they can only finish third now, and a bad result here could even see Atlético Madrid go above them. This means that the summer is going to be frantic in Barcelona, as they have to reconstruct the team, sell off all the old wood and get the players back from Euro 08 in one piece.
I’m going for a draw here. Murcia don’t have the man power or the desire to win this, but then neither does Barca. In the last two matches against Mallorca and Real Madrid, the Barca players showed an amazing lack of spirit and there were more than one who couldn’t even be bothered to run.
Prediction: Draw (1-1)

This week the matches have been changed from the weekend to midweek, and we have the Spanish classic; Real Madrid vs. Barcelona. Madrid have already won the league, so it remains to be seen if Barcelona will offer them the ‘corridor of glory’. There has been some criticisms of Barcelona players Deco and Eto’o, who in the last match against Valencia intentionally get a yellow card each, which brings their current tally to five cards and so will have to sit this game out. Both players said after the game that they had no idea how many cards they had, but coach Frank Rijkaard immediately said that this was untrue.
Real Madrid won the league last weekend in a dramatic game away to Osasuna. Italian defender Cannavaro was red carded right at the beginning of the second half, and when Osasuna scored from a penalty it looked as if Madrid would have to wait another week to claim their crown. However, two goals from Robben and Higuain just two minutes from the end of the game turned the game around and gave Real Madrid their thirty-first league title.
Barcelona shrugged off their Champions league exit to Manchester United by thumping Valencia by six goals to nil. However, they still trail Villarreal in third place and will be hard pushed to win the second place and direct access to next year’s Champions league. Rijkaard’s days are most definitely numbered and there have already been reports that ex-Barca midfielder Pepe Guardiola will be the new coach for the new season.
You have to fancy Madrid here. Their home record is exceptional, winning fifteen and losing just two games, they have no pressures at all except to please their fans, and their opponents here just want to season to finish as quickly as possible.
Prediction: Home win (3-1)

And the hits just keep on coming for Barcelona. This season has been pretty much a disaster for the Catalan giants, and president Juan Laporta will have to seriously consider creating a new team from scratch for the next season.
They go into this game with very little to play for. Knocked out of the Champions league semi final by Manchester United (even if they did put on a good show at Old Trafford), third in the domestic league without any possibility of winning the title (and worse, having to play Real Madrid next week at the Bernabeu stadium with Madrid almost certain to be league champions), without a win in the last five matches, and most alarmingly of all without scoring a goal in the last four games. For a team like Barcelona to fail to score in four consecutive games is practically unheard of, and I don’t know how many years you would have to go back to find a similar occurrence. Ronaldinho won’t play for Barca again, that much is certain, and it looks like French striker Thierry Henry will be sold off on the cheap, too. With four league games still to play Barca are four points behind second placed Villarreal, and it is looking more and more likely that they will have to play the preliminary elimination round of the Champions league too. Not a good prospect when Euro 08 is just around the corner.
As for Valencia, things have made a dramatic turnaround in a very short space of time. Ronald Koeman has at last been given the boot after that humiliating five goal to one defeat to Athletic Bilbao, and even winning the King’s cup couldn’t save his job. New coach Salvador González ‘Voro’, is well known in the club and now has a chance to make a name for himself. Last weekend was his first game in charge and he made some drastic changes, most notably playing Cañizares in goal from the start, bringing on Angulo in the second half, and having Albelda on the bench. All three players had previously (and mysteriously) been removed from the squad by Koeman in November for no apparent reason, and the Valencia crowd took the chance to give all three a standing ovation during the three nil win over Ossasuna.
I’m going for a Valencia win here. Barcelona are a broken team, lacking in spirit and just about everything else. Valencia meanwhile have made a complete turnaround after the appointment of the good coach and I can see them having a great time at the Nou Camp, where they haven’t lost since 2001.
Prediction: Away win (1-2)

It’s time for the Catalan derby again but neither team is in the mood for letting off fireworks and celebrating. Barcelona are immersed in an internal crisis and this is starting to reflect in their results. Last weekend they were surprisingly held to a two – two draw away to relegation strugglers Recreativo de Huelva, and the Catalan giants have failed to win in the last three matches. After this game Barca must travel to Deportivo de la Coruña, always a difficult encounter to predict, then face Valencia at home and then the big game of the season; Real Madrid at the Bernabeu stadium. If Barcelona aren’t careful Madrid could be champions of the league even before that game kicks off.
Espanyol are in an even worse position than their city rivals and their season seems to have imploded. They have picked up just nine points from their last fourteen games (three wins and eleven defeats) and are currently on a four match losing streak. Coach Ernesto Valverde could be seeing his job in jeopardy if his side doesn’t perform well here, but it won’t be until the end of the season. He has even been linked to the Barcelona post, as it is quite obvious now that Frank Rijkaard won’t be continuing next season, along with quite a few of the players.
Espanyol’s emblem captain, Raul Tamudo, is fit and should start the game, although he hasn’t scored a goal since the three nil win over Villarreal in January. You may remember he was out with a broken arm for a long time, and he seems to be having problems getting back into his old goal scoring ways. It was Tamudo who practically gave Real Madrid the league title last season when he scored against Barcelona in the last minute to give Espanyol the draw and deny Barcelona the three points.
Espanyol will have to do without ex-Barca midfielder Ivan de la Peña who is still out injured, and Fredson Camara, Jesús Mari Lacruz and Julián López de Lerma will also miss this derby.
As for Barcelona, Ronaldinho won’t be playing and as I have said before, he will never wear the Barca shirt again. Also out are Thierry Henry and Andres Iniesta, but Deco has made a miraculous recovery and shows no reason not to make an appearance.
I’m going for a draw here. Espanyol haven’t won at the Nou Camp for god knows how many years, but Barcelona at the moment are not playing any good football and seem to be pinning all their hopes on beating Manchester United and getting to the final of the Champions league.
Prediction: Draw (1-1)

On paper this should be an easy romp for Barcelona, but judging by the state of their game at the moment anything could happen. They had a lot more problems overcoming Schalke 04 in the Champions league quarter final second leg than they thought they were going to, and narrowly won by a goal to nil in front of their home crowd. Now they must take on the might of Manchester United in the semi finals at the end of April. The Barca players though, need to be centered on this match as anything but three points here will almost certainly spell the end to their title hopes.
There was more scandal in the media this week as one of the directors of football club Barcelona, Sala Martin, stated publicly that neither Ronaldinho nor Deco were injured, and in fact have been removed from the squad as punishment for their ‘nocturnal habits’. This comes after it was made known that Barcelona’s director of football, Txiki Begiristain, has been in three-way talks with AC Milan agent Ernesto Bronzetti and Ronaldinho’s brother, who also happens to be his agent.
But Barcelona’s problems don’t stop with the Brazilian megastar. The Catalans giants will have to travel to Recreativo de Huelva without a handful of first team regulars. Young sensation Borjan is out after picking up a knock in the Champions league game, and he is joined by Andres Iniesta, one of just three Barca players who hadn’t missed a game through injury. Also out (again) is Thierry Henry, but Leo Messi is expected to make his comeback at some time during this match.
Recreativo meanwhile will be hoping to capitalize on Barca’s problems and will be out to win. They are the only club in the league never to beat Barcelona in over one hundred and twenty years of their history, and if they are ever to achieve victory then now is the time. The modest Andalucian side are currently fourth from bottom and three points above Zaragoza, who occupy the last relegation place. Last weekend Recreativo picked up three valuable points in their one nil away win at Osasuna.
I’m going to stick my neck out and go for the home win. Barcelona, even after overcoming Schalke 04 and getting into the semi finals of the Champions league, are in disarray and the players missing for one reason or another are going to make a big impact on the game.
Prediction: home win (1-0)

Barcelona go into this match with their ears pricked and ready to do some serious damage to Betis. Last weekend’s results were very much in favor of the Catalan giants and they are now just four points from leaders Real Madrid. Madrid inexplicably lost at home to Valencia by three goals to two after leading two one, and they now seem to be in a state of turmoil. To make matters worse for Madrid, they take on Sevilla at the Bernabeu stadium, and Madrid never like playing Sevilla.
Barca won four goals to one against Valladolid on Sunday, but it wasn’t as easy a game as one would expect from the result. They were booed off the pitch at half time by their own fans after Valladolid equalized in the thirtieth minute, but after the break the visitors seemed to take a holiday and allowed Barca to score three more goals, thus sealing an important victory and getting back into the title race.
Betis meanwhile recovered somewhat from last weekend’s suspended match by traveling to Osasuna and going home with a one goal to nil victory. Those three points did the Andalucian club the world of good and are now three points away from the relegation zone. However, knowing who they have in front of them in this match they won’t be able to relax for long. They haven’t beaten Barcelona in the league at the Ruiz de Lopera stadium for almost four years, and another victory for the green and whites will be very difficult for them to achieve. Barcelona now know that they league title is up for grabs and they can’t afford another bad game. The Valladolid game was their first league win in the last four matches, and they are still having a ton of problems with injuries.
Betis may have used all their luck against Osasuna, as they had only two shots on goal in the whole game (as opposed to Osasuna’s nineteen) and if it wasn’t for young goalkeeper Casto, who was in goal to substitute the injured Ricardo, they would most probably been on the receiving end of a good thrashing.
You really have to go for a Barcelona win here. Even though they haven’t been playing as well as they know they can, the firepower they possess in front of goal in the shape of Henry, Eto’o, Borjan, etc, will be too much for this Betis side, who will most likely sit back and allow Barca to come forward then try to catch out the Catalans on the break.
Prediction: Away win (1-3)