Borussia Monchengladbach vs Barcelona: Preview

FC Barcelona will facing Borussia Monchengladbach on Wednesday, 28th September 2016. Luis Enrique had revealed 20 players who will make a trip to Monchengladbach, Germany, for Barca's Champions League Group C match. FC Barcelona's goalkeeper Ter Stegen will making an emotional return to his hometown, when he will facing his former club.Samuel Umtiti and Lionel Messi didn't got called to the squad because he still suffered an injury. 

The Complete List :

Goalkeepers: Ter Stegen, Jasper Cillessen, Jordi Masip

Defenders: Gerard Piqué, Jordi Alba, Javier Mascherano, Aleix Vidal, Jérémy Mathieu, Sergi Roberto, Lucas Digne

Midfielders: Ivan Rakitic, Sergio Busquets, Arda Turan, Andrés Iniesta, André Gomes, Rafinha, Denis Suárez

Strikers: Luis Suárez, Neymar Jr,  Paco Alcácer

Borussia Monchengladbach host Barcelona as they seek for their first win in 2016/2017 edition of the UEFA Champions League.Monchengladbach suffered a 4-0 heavy defeat at Manchester City in the first game of the campaign. Sergio Aguero was the man of the show scoring twice in the first half and earning a hat-trick with 10 minutes left on the clock. The Foals went through the qualification stage in style, defeating Switzerland based side Young Boys 9-2 aggregate score. They are also doing well in Bundesliga after managing 3 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss from their 5 matches so far. Borussia Monchengladbach will be missing the service of is top man “Raffael” due to an adductor strain. In addition, Tobias Strobl could also be missing for this crucial encounter on Wednesday.

Barcelona started their 2016/2017 UEFA Champions League campaign in style with goal-fest victory over Celtic. The Catalans hit 7 goals past their Scottish opponents on matchday one, coming after a disappointing 2-a home defeat in the La Liga to the newly promoted Alaves. The Blaugrana have scored 18 goals ion their 4 last games. On the last game, Blaugrana defeated Gijon 5-0 without Lionel Messi.

Borussia Monchengladbach incredible home run is something the Spanish side should be worry about. The Foals extended their winning streak at home to 11 consecutive games last weekend.  Borussia Monchengladbach also had a good record when facing Spanish team with 3 wins, 2 draws, and 2 loses.Going in to this clash, Barcelona has 7 unbeaten run in 7 away games in all competition. The Catalan is also the highest scoring team in the UCL after 1 game this season.

My prediction, FC Barcelona will walking away with 3 points.

FC Barcelona Match Preview vs Atletico Madrid

FC Barcelona will be face Atletico Madrid on Wednesday, 10 p.m. CET.  Diego Simeone's will facing the best attacker trio in La Liga. After the shock loss to Alaves on Week 3, Barcelona have got Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, and Neymar back to team and unsurprisingly the trio carried the team back to the winning ways once again. .The team had a positive record on the last 2 games. They scored 12 goals and only consided 1 goals. FC Barcelona had a good record when facing Atletico in Camp Nou. Barcelona are undefeated on their last 15 matches againts Atletico on allo competitions.

I think this is not going to be an easy game for FC Barcelona. Atletico Madrid only consided 1 goals on their last 4 games.They have the best defensive record on La Liga. They have kept a cleansheet on they last 10 games on La Liga. Although the capital club are still unbeaten in La Liga, they have already drawn two of their four games dropping four points in the process.

However, they have managed to win their last two matches and that includes a 5-0 win over Gijon and a 4-0 thrashing of Celta Vigo.Both sides will fancy their chances here and it should be a fascinating tactical battle.Atletico Madrid will be without the services of Cerci, Tiago, and Moya for the trip to Barcelona.Simeone won’t be too bothered about that considering most, if not all, of his first choice players, are fit and available.

On the Blaugrana side, FC Barcelona new signing Central Back , Samuel Umtiti will not available. FC Barcelona defender Samuel Umtiti suffered an internal ligament strain on his left knee during Tuesday morning's trainig season. 

Therefore, the Frenchman will miss Wednesday’s match against Atletico Madridat the Camp Nou. The progression of his injury will determine exactly how long he will be out for. Argentinian defender Javier Mascherano will be replace him. 

Why I Love FC Barcelona?

Perhaps readers are wondering why the author make a blog about FC Barcelona. I'll tell you first how I could fall in love with the greatest club in the world. The first time I watch FC Barcelona competed namely the 2006 Champions League final, when Barca beat Arsenal 2 - 1. Since then I started enamored with the style of their game, especially when Barca coached by Pep Guardiola and using tiki-taka style of play. No need to mince words again, this is the reason why I love to FC Barcelona:

1. Their Uniqe Identity

The Blaugranas have their own youth academy known as ‘La Masia’ wherein the children are taught the Barcelona way of football which essentially involves a ‘pass and move’ style to keep possession and break down the opposition defence by manipulating them and creating space.Barcelona have developed a unique identity in world football for themselves and it is something that a team can manage to do only over a long period of time.
This is a style of football used to not just win but to dominate the opponent. The players can learn this style of football only in La Masia and this is exactly the reason why one-of-a-kind players like Pep Guardiola, Sergio Busquets and the newly found Sergi Samper, can be found only in their academy and they are tailor-made to play it their way.

2. Their way of living

The influence that the team has on its fans extends to one’s life itself and doesn’t stop with just celebrating a victory or moaning a loss. However, the influence is largely sub-conscious and the DNA of the club is gradually embedded within us.

The Blaugranas are predominantly defined by humility, hard work, aggression, a winning mentality and team-play and thus these traits have been gradually embedded into every Cule.
Barcelona legend Johan Cruyff spoke about this influence on his own players during his reign as manager at the Camp Nou. He quoted the example of his squad doing everything from having lunch to training football at a ridiculously high speed.

3. They play beautiful football

If you never watch FC Barcelona, watch this video first so that you will know how wonderful the tiki taka.

Not everything beautiful is a winner, but it is still  beautiful. The current Barca generation is still playing the beautiful football they introduced last 2008-2009 season. The idea is to prevent the opponent from scoring by depriving them of the ball thru keeping the ball. They pass the ball with one or two touches, in intricate triangles formed by the players.

4. The fans

The fans may not attend much at dead-rubber games, but come an important game, and the fans will flood the Camp Nou. Every start, the fans would sing the Barca anthem with full passion that they would defeat the loudspeakers in the loudness level. Every cheer, jeer, whistle, and gasp, the fans will react to the game. Every end of the game, they will sing the anthem again, win or lose.

So that's four reasons why I love FC Barcelona. I hope you enjoy this article. Thank you for reading this article and I'm apologize if there are errors in typing and word meanings