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Pick Your Barcelona Team To Face Inter
Pick your Barca team to play against Inter in tomorrow's Champions League semi-final.
Apr 19, 2010 2:59:00 PM
By Cyrus C. Malek
After enduring 14 hours and nearly 650 miles of travel in a bus due to the ash from Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano grounding flights across the European continent, a visibly fatigued Barcelona arrived in Milan to face Jose Mourinho's Inter in tomorrow's mouth-watering Champions League semi-final fixture.
Guardiola brings a full complement of players that made the journey from the Catalunyan capital. Although Dmytro Chygrynskiy is ineligible to play (he is cup-tied), the Ukrainian still made the long trip with his team.
The Barca coach will be able to field a full strength central defense as both Gerard Pique and Carles Puyol return after serving their suspensions for the second leg of the Arsenal quarter-final tie.
However, the only absence to the squad due to injury is a costly one as midfielder Andres Iniesta is out with a right thigh injury. Eric Abidal has not officially been given the medical clearance to play, but the Frenchman has participated in full training in recent days and is only a slight doubt.
Finally, Carles Puyol runs the risk of being suspended for the second leg match at the Camp Nou should he pick up a yellow card, so the Spanish international will have to play disciplined defense at the back.
It is therefore anticipated that Guardiola's starting XI will be chosen from the following players for tomorrow's match:
Goalkeepers: Victor Valdes, Jose Manuel Pinto
Defenders: Dani Alves, Gaby Milito, Carles Puyol, Gerard Pique, Maxwell, Rafa Marquez, Eric Abidal
Midfielders: Yaya Toure, Seydou Keita, Sergi Busquets, Xavi Hernandez
Forwards: Thierry Henry, Pedro Rodriguez, Bojan Krkic, Lionel Messi, Jeffren Suarez, Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Please leave your ideal XI in the comments box below, using hyphens to separate positions working from right to left. For example, here is the team that could line-up in a 4-3-3 formation:
Valdes - Alves, Puyol, Pique, Maxwell - Busquets, Xavi, Keita - Messi, Ibrahimovic, Pedro
Keep up to date with all the latest Champions League news with Goal.com and join Goal.com USA's Facebook fan page!
Guardiola brings a full complement of players that made the journey from the Catalunyan capital. Although Dmytro Chygrynskiy is ineligible to play (he is cup-tied), the Ukrainian still made the long trip with his team.
The Barca coach will be able to field a full strength central defense as both Gerard Pique and Carles Puyol return after serving their suspensions for the second leg of the Arsenal quarter-final tie.
However, the only absence to the squad due to injury is a costly one as midfielder Andres Iniesta is out with a right thigh injury. Eric Abidal has not officially been given the medical clearance to play, but the Frenchman has participated in full training in recent days and is only a slight doubt.
Finally, Carles Puyol runs the risk of being suspended for the second leg match at the Camp Nou should he pick up a yellow card, so the Spanish international will have to play disciplined defense at the back.
It is therefore anticipated that Guardiola's starting XI will be chosen from the following players for tomorrow's match:
Goalkeepers: Victor Valdes, Jose Manuel Pinto
Defenders: Dani Alves, Gaby Milito, Carles Puyol, Gerard Pique, Maxwell, Rafa Marquez, Eric Abidal
Midfielders: Yaya Toure, Seydou Keita, Sergi Busquets, Xavi Hernandez
Forwards: Thierry Henry, Pedro Rodriguez, Bojan Krkic, Lionel Messi, Jeffren Suarez, Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Please leave your ideal XI in the comments box below, using hyphens to separate positions working from right to left. For example, here is the team that could line-up in a 4-3-3 formation:
Valdes - Alves, Puyol, Pique, Maxwell - Busquets, Xavi, Keita - Messi, Ibrahimovic, Pedro
Keep up to date with all the latest Champions League news with Goal.com and join Goal.com USA's Facebook fan page!
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