I Must Confess…
Free…that I’m actually very, very impressed with Barcelona this term. They’ve really lit up under Pep Guardiola after a stuttering start and now enjoy scoring goals for fun, the old Barca way. I remember ties in the Champions League against United where each time they met it seemed to be 3-3 – those were games I’ll always remember, back when Rivaldo was the name on everyone’s lips in the world. The guy single-handedly earned Barcelona one of the 3-3 draws with a simply magnificent performance. These days, however, their talisman is wonderkid Lionel Messi. It’s hard to name a better player than him when it comes to dribbling. As a United fan, I naturally crave the day that Glazer would say “Ok Barcelona, name your price for Messi so we can put him on one wing and Ronaldo on the other”. That would then be the end of competitive football as we know it, in my opinion. It won’t ever happen, of course – Messi owes too much to Barcelona to ever leave them. However, this isn’t simply a point about Messi but Barcelona in general. In the past, they’ve struggled because, like Arsenal, they only have one style of football, and in today’s day and age, that can be quelled by sides. This season, however, they’ve completely monopolised the abilities available to them and made themselves a real force. In fact, I’d put them in a list of 5 teams in the Champions League that I think have a genuine chance of winning it, along with Manchester United, Juventus and Chelsea. Anyway, enough babble, onto the picks!
Saturday’s Picks
Albanian Kategoria Pare:
Lushnja vs Apolonia Fier (4)
Tirana vs Teuta (7)
Vllaznia vs Partizani (9)
Argentinos Juniors vs Rosario Central (6)
Gimnasia y Esgrima de Jujuy vs San Martin de Tucuman (5)
Godoy Cruz de Mendoza vs Estudiantes de la Plata (7)
Huracan vs San Lorenzo de Almagro (8)
Lanus vs Arsenal de Sarandi (7)
Rapid Vienna vs SCR Altach (9)
SV Kapfenberg vs Austria Vienna (7)
SV Ried vs LASK Linz (4)
AA Gent vs Roeselare (8)
Genk vs Cercle Brugge (6)
Mouscron vs Lokeren (5)
Tubize vs Kortrijk (6)
Westerlo vs Mons (7)
Zulte Waregem vs Charleroi (5)
Borac vs Leotar (5)
Modrica vs Zeljeznicar (6)
Sarajevo vs Orasje (8)
Siroki Brijeg vs Zrinjski (4)
Sloboda vs Slavija Sarajevo (5)
Travnik vs Celik (4)
Velez vs Posusje (5)
Zvijezda vs Laktasi (5)
Belasitsa Petrich vs FC Sliven (8)
Botev vs Lokomotiv Plovdiv (5)
Cheromorets Burgas vs Vihren (6)
Levski Sofia vs Blagoevgrad (7)
AEL vs APOP (5)
APOEL Nicosia vs AEK (10)
Doxa vs Alki (5)
Ethnikos Achnas vs Paralimni (6)
Slovan Liberec vs Brno (7)
Sparta Prague vs Kladno (8)
Viktoria Plzen vs Sigma Olomouc (5)
Zlin vs Mlada Boleslav (8)
Brondby IF vs VB (9)
ADO Den Haag vs FC Twente (7)
De Graafschap vs Roda JC (4)
Heerenveen vs PSV Eindhoven (4)
Heracles vs Willem II (6)
El Nacional vs Club Deportivo Cuenca (6)
Aston Villa vs Fulham (8)
Middlesbrough vs Newcastle United (4)
Stoke City vs Hull City (5)
Sunderland vs Bolton Wanderers (6)
Wigan Athletic vs West Bromwich Albion (6)
Burnley vs Derby County (4)
Charlton Athletic vs Southampton (7)
Crystal Palace vs Queens Park Rangers (7)
Ipswich Town vs Sheffield United (6)
Nottingham Forest vs Barnsley (4)
Plymouth Argyle vs Blackpool (6)
Preston North End vs Bristol City (3)
Sheffield Wednesday vs Norwich City (5)
Watford vs Doncaster Rovers (8)
Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Birmingham City (7)
Northampton Town vs Colchester United (5)
Walsall vs Swindon Town (7)
Accrington Stanley vs Bury (5)
Auxerre vs AS Monaco (5)
Le Havre vs FC Nantes Atlantique (5)
Le Mans vs Stade Malherbe de Caen (5)
LOSC Lille vs Lorient (5)
Nice vs Grenoble Foot 38 (8)
Olympique Lyonnais vs Valenciennes (9)
Sochaux-Montbeliard vs Girondins de Bordeaux (7)
Bayer 04 Leverkusen vs Bayern Munich (5)
Hannover 96 vs Karlsruhe (6)
Hoffenheim vs Arminia Bielefeld (9)
Moenchengladbach vs Energie Cottbus (4)
Werder Bremen vs Eintracht Frankfurt (6)
Panathinaikos vs Asteras Tripolis (8)
Thrasivoulos vs PAOK (9)
Larissa vs Iraklis (7)
Ashdod vs Maccabi Haifa (7)
Bnei Yehuda vs Maccabi Tel-Aviv (5)
Hapoel Petach-Tikva vs Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona (6)
Hapoel Tel-Aviv vs Hakoah Maccabi Amidar (8)
Maccabi Netanya vs Maccabi Petach-Tikva (7)
Catania vs Lecce (8)
Juventus vs Reggina (9)
Ascoli vs Sassuolo (8)
Bari vs Albinoleffe (7)
Cittadella vs Ancona (5)
Empoli vs Piacenza (8)
Mantova vs Brescia (6)
Modena vs Livorno (8)
Pisa vs Frosinone (5)
US Avellino vs Rimini (6)
Vicenza vs Grosseto (6)
Avenir Beggen vs Etzella Ettelbruck (6)
Floriana vs Tarxien (7)
Valletta vs Hamrun Spartans (8)
Buducnost Podgorica vs Jedinstvo (8)
Grbalj vs Lovcen (9)
Kom vs Decic (5)
Petrovac vs Mogren (7)
Rudar vs Jezero (7)
Sutjeska vs Zeta (7)
Bangor vs Coleraine (6)
Crusaders vs Linfield (6)
Dungannon Swifts vs Cliftonville (5)
Glenavon vs Ballymena (5)
Glentoran vs Newry (7)
Institute vs Lisburn Distillery (6)
Cracovia Krakow vs Jagiellonia Bialystok (6)
Polonia Bytom vs Piast Gliwice (7)
Ruch Chorzow vs Wisla Krakow (6)
Slask Wroclaw vs LKS Lodz (8)
Belenenses vs CS Maritimo (7)
Dinamo Bucharest vs Arges Pitesti (7)
FC Poli Timisoara vs FC Brasov (6)
Otelul vs Pandurii (5)
Poli Iasi vs Rapid Bucharest (7)
Aberdeen vs Motherwell FC (5)
Celtic vs Inverness Caledonian Thistle (10)
Falkirk vs Hibernians (6)
Hamilton Academicals vs Kilmarnock (7)
Hearts vs Rangers (8)
St Mirren vs Dundee United (7)
FK Borac vs Partizan Belgrade (8)
Javor vs Banat (7)
OFK Belgrade vs FK Napredak (9)
Rad Belgrade vs Kula (6)
Red Star Belgrade vs Cukaricki (8)
Vojvodina vs Jagodina (8)
Artmedia Petrzalka vs Ruzomberok (7)
Dunajska Streda vs Dubnica (7)
Nitra vs Slovan Bratislava (8)
Tatran Presov vs Spartak Trnava (7)
Zlate Moravce vs Banska Bystrica (5)
Gorica vs Interblock Ljubljana (7)
Maribor vs Koper (10)
Nafta Lendava vs Drava (9)
Getafe vs Real Madrid (7)
Sevilla vs Barcelona (7)
Albacete vs Rayo Vallecano (4)
Celta Vigo vs Real Sociedad (6)
Eibar vs Real Murcia (6)
Girona vs Sevilla Atletico (7)
Huesca vs Las Palmas (5)
Xerez vs Elche (8)
Aarau vs BSC Young Boys Bern (5)
Luzern vs Grasshoppers Zurich (8)
Zurich vs Sion (7)
Ankaraspor vs Ankaragucu (8)
Eskisehirspor vs Denizlispor (6)
Fenerbahce vs Besiktas (6)
Sivasspor vs Gaziantepspor (7)
Kharkiv vs Metalurg Zaporizhya (7)
Kryvbas vs Arsenal Kiev (6)
Lviv vs Illichivets (5)
Zorya Lugansk vs Vorskla (4)
Aberystwyth vs Caernarfon (8)
Airbus vs Port Talbot (5)
Caersws vs TNS (8)
Carmarthen vs Prestatyn Town (7)
Connah’s Quay vs Newtown (6)
Haverfordwest vs Porthmadog (6)
Rhyl vs Welshpool (9)
Enjoy