Valdés; Adriano, Busquets, Piqué, Abidal; Keita, Xavi, Iniesta, Thiago, Pedro & Villa;
a team that looked more like a Champions League clash line-up than a pre-season friendly. The only players missing here & those still on their break like Mascherano, Alves, Messi & new signing Sanchez.
One can suppose that Guardiola wants to lift the intensity & is already looking ahead to next weeks 1º leg Spanish Super Cup game against Real Madrid. Although no one has admitted it, winning the Spanish Super Cup will give the winning Team an important "psychological" edge that Barça dearly wants along with its long time rival who definitely will be looking for it as well.
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| David Villa: FC Barcelona 2011 |
Having said this, & seeing that Barça was today the relative dominating team, the 2 - 0 scoreline does not give that all inspiring lift in spirits when compared to the 7 straight pre-season wins of Real Madrid & with high scoring results they managed along with their victories.
DAVID VILLA scored again for Barcelona in the 23rd min with a good header & one can assume that he is evolving favourably during the pre-season, along with new Spanish International call up midfielder Thiago. KEITA managed the second goal in the 91st min after a hard worked second half were things failed to "flow" as normal. But a win is a win & the shoreline is respectable enough to limit local press & media speculations & questions on the form of the Barça team.
Therefore, the conclusion is that Guardiola will be glad to get back to Barcelona were he can prepare properly his team away from promotional & marketing distractions, not to mention, the extreme heat conditions of the US summer. Barça has some work to do if they are to equal the level of Real Madrid who look a few notches higher in preparation. Said this, for Guardiola its a common problem he has suffered in past pre-seasons with "distractions" & late incorporations that has halted his build up plans, & has always started the new season slightly less than optimal to later run-over all opponents.
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