Matches are coming in thick and fast for the Blaugrana right now! After the demolition of Atletico Madrid at the Camp Nou on Saturday night, Barcelona now travel to El Sardinero to face Racing Santander. Racing to their credit were one of the few clubs last year to take points away from Barcelona as they drew 1-1 at home but going down 2-1 after the lead at Camp Nou. Messi that night had come of the bench to grab a brace and win the game for us. Now he would surely be looking for a repeat performance from the weekend when he scored a brace against Atletico.

Things Looking Up For Racing But Worried By Defense

Racing finally managed a victory in their last game against Malaga on Saturday before which they had drawn 1-1 against Atletico Madrid. They beat Malaga 2-1 and were comprehensively beaten by Getafe on the opening weekend 1-4. SO its the defense that must be giving their manager the headaches. Especially against Barcelona facing a possible combination of Messi, Ibra and Henry, their defense will have to be at its best to have any chance of picking up points against the defending La Liga champions.

Somethings For Us To Think About

1) Squad rotation is the most important challenge being faced by Pep Guardiola right now with a string of 5 more games to go in the next 14 days having played 2 already in the last week alone against Inter Milan in the Champions League and Atletico Madrid. The manager has opted to fly north with the same 19 men he picked on Saturday. Bojan and Milito are still the only injury concerns, but the starting line-up may well vary with respect to the weekend side. There are an extraordinary number of games coming up, and it is more important than ever to rotate minutes between different players.

2) Barcelona conceded for the first time against Atletico Madrid and has alarmed Pep. Victor Valdes’s goal was under siege a considerable number of times and new pairing of Pique and Chygrynskiy, although looked solid otherwise, made a few mistakes. Pique looks out of the game as he picked up an injury on Saturday but has been included in the squad. Puyol should come back to the center to pair with Chygrynskiy.

3) Great Start by Real Madrid will always be the back of Pep’s mind no matter how many times he denies it. Every game, every 3 points will be crucial even though we are only in the 4th week on the season. Barcelona face Madrid in November and they would most definately want to be ahead of them going into the El Grande Clasico.

Munitis and Henrique 

Historically, the El Sardinero has not been the happiest of hunting grounds for FCB. They have played there 41 times and 13 wins is a fairly poor return. But in recent years the record has been more positive, in fact, it is five years since they were beaten in Cantabria. Without Zigic, Racing have reviewed their attacking methods, but Pep Guardiola already spoke on Monday about his fears regarding Munitis and Geijo. The game also means a reencounter with Henrique, on loan from FC Barcelona, who has already won a regular place in the centre of the Santander defence.

Match Prediction

Racing Santander 0-2 FC Barcelona