Barca Beat Levante 2-1

It’s turned out to be a very happy new year for Barcelona as they register their first victory of 2011 with a 2-1 win over Levante. A brace from Pedro Rodriguez ensured no Christmas hangover and created a five point gap between themselves and Real Madrid at the Spanish summit.

The champions had to construct a makeshift back-four due to the absences of Gerard Pique and Carlos Puyol who were both out due to suspension and injury respectively. Anchorman Sergio Busquets was inserted into a central defensive partnership with Eric Abidal with Maxwell operating down the left and Dani Alves as always on the opposite side. Lionel Messi was given the night off to recover from his trip back from his native Argentina.

For all Barcelona’s domination in possession during the first half they were unable to break down a well-drilled Levante defence who held their shape magnificently well and made it hard for the hosts. Luis Garcia’s men had conceded eight goals against Real Madrid prior to Christmas and looked like a different outfit with everybody in a black and white shirt performing their duties impeccably.

Andres Iniesta drew first blood in the attempts as his diligent curling effort from just outside the eighteen-yard box on six minutes brought out a magnificent save from Manolo Reina who showed great agility to claw the ball behind for a corner. David Villa soon followed up minutes later as he worked himself a pocket of space just inside the ‘D’ but saw his right-footed effort go wide of the post.

For all Barcelona’s domination in midfield they lacked conviction in the final third. The absence of Messi was evident down the flanks and they could have done with the little Argentine superstar weaving his was inside to orchestrate a piece of magic.

In fact it was Levante who nearly opened the scoring. Victor Valdes’s mistake presented them with an opportunity which saw Rafa Jorda inside the penalty area unmarked but was unable to divert the ball but was called offside.

Minutes later another fantastic chance was presented for the visitors as Xisco Nadal’s delicate touch found Juanlu bursting down the right but as he got into the penalty area he was unable to square the ball to Jorda for what would have been an easy tap in. Credit to Eric Abidal whose persistence put the Spaniard off at the vital time. The Blaugrana defence however were sliced apart.

Pep Guardiola’s side continued with their domination in midfield and created a number of half chances. Iniesta used his initiative to weave his way through the middle and play in Bojan but was unable to find the net after rounding Reina. Iniesta was again involved minutes later as his diligent cut back via a short corner saw Xavi drive the ball goal-wards but was denied by a commanding Reina in between the sticks.

A minute into the second-half Barca broke the deadlock thanks to Pedro. Dani Alves found himself in the penalty area and his first touch drew the ball away from the defence before taking plenty of time as he dwelled on his options before finally passing to his colleague who blasted the ball through a crowd of bodies and into the net.

It was the little the Spaniard who was making the difference as he made it 2-0 on 59 minutes. Dani Alves again with the assist as he cut the ball back into the eighteen-yard box from the right to find Pedro who was precise with placement and power and produced a beautiful finish that gave Reina no chance.

Substitute Thiago was ever so bright when he came on in place of Mascherano and very nearly assisted Pedro with his hat-trick as his touch found the youngster bursting into the box but was unfortunate to see his looping effort rattle the top of the cross bar.

The goal of the night however came from those in black and white on the 80th minute and was orchestrated by two of their substitutes. Valmiro Valdo’s dinked through ball was struck on the volley first time by Christian Stuani and almost burst the net. The home fans even drew a round of applause for an effort that would have worthy by one of their own.

That was the last real action of the match though as Levante could not conjure up an equaliser and the clash ended 2-1.

SCHEDULE WORLD CUP 2010

2010 World Cup Group stages fixtures, dates and venues

11/6/2010 South Africa v Mexico
Soccer City, JB Opening match
11/6/2010 Uruguay v France
Cape Town
12/6/2010 Argentina v Nigeria
Ellis Park, JB
12/6/2010 ENGLAND v USA
Rustenburg
12/6/2010 South Korea v Greece
Port Elizabeth
13/6/2010 Germany v Australia
Durban
13/6/2010 Algeria v Slovenia
Polokwane
13/6/2010 Serbia v Ghana
Pretoria
14/6/2010 Holland v Denmark
Soccer City, JB
14/6/2010 Japan v Cameroon
Bloemfontein
14/6/2010 Italy v Paraguay
Cape Town
15/6/2010 Brazil v North Korea
Ellis Park, JB
15/6/2010 New Zealand v Slovakia
Rustenburg
15/6/2010 Ivory Coast v Portugal
Port Elizabeth
16/6/2010 Honduras v Chile
Nelspruit
16/6/2010 Spain v Switzerland
Durban
16/6/2010 South Africa v Uruguay
Pretoria
17/6/2010 Argentina v South Korea
Soccer City, JB
17/6/2010 Greece v Nigeria
Bloemfontein
17/6/2010 France v Mexico
Polokwane
18/6/2010 Slovenia v USA
Ellis Park, JB
18/6/2010 ENGLAND v Algeria
Cape Town
18/6/2010 Germany v Serbia
Port Elizabeth
19/6/2010 Ghana v Australia
Rustenburg
19/6/2010 Holland v Japan
Durban
19/6/2010 Cameroon v Denmark
Pretoria
20/6/2010 Brazil v Ivory Coast
Soccer City, JB
20/6/2010 Italy v New Zealand
Nelspruit
20/6/2010 Slovakia v Paraguay
Bloemfontein
21/6/2010 Spain v Honduras
Ellis Park, JB
21/6/2010 Portugal v North Korea
Cape Town
21/6/2010 Chile v Switzerland
Port Elizabeth
22/6/2010 Mexico v Uruguay
Rustenburg
22/6/2010 France v South Africa
Bloemfontein
22/6/2010 Nigeria v South Korea
Durban
22/6/2010 Greece v Argentina
Polokwane
23/6/2010 Ghana v Germany
Soccer City, JB
23/6/2010 Australia v Serbia
Nelspruit
23/6/2010 Slovenia v ENGLAND
Port Elizabeth
23/6/2010 USA v Algeria
Pretoria
24/6/2010 Slovakia v Italy
Ellis Park, JB
24/6/2010 Denmark v Japan
Rustenburg
24/6/2010 Cameroon v Holland
Cape Town
24/6/2010 Paraguay v New Zealand
Polokwane
25/6/2010 North Korea v Ivory Coast
Nelspruit
25/6/2010 Switzerland v Honduras
Bloemfontein
25/6/2010 Portugal v Brazil
Durban
25/6/2010 Chile v Spain
Pretoria

Round of sixteen/second round
26/6/2010 Group C winner v Group D runner up
Rustenburg Match 1
26/6/2010 Group A winner v Group B runner up
Port Elizabeth Match 2
27/6/2010 Group B winner v Group A runner up
Soccer City, JB Match 3
27/6/2010 Group D winner v Group C runner up
Bloemfontein Match 4
28/6/2010 Group G winner v Group H runner up
Ellis Park, JB Match 5
28/6/2010 Group E winner v Group F runner up
Durban Match 6
29/6/2010 Group H winner v Group G runner up
Cape Town Match 7
29/6/2010 Group F winner v Group E runner up
Pretoria Match 8
30/6/2010

Rest day
1/7/2010 Rest day
World Cup quarter finals
2/7/2010 Winner Match 1 v Winner Match 2
Soccer City, JB Match A
2/7/2010 Winner Match 5 v Winner Match 6
Port Elizabeth Match B
3/7/2010 Winner Match 7 v Winner Match 8
Ellis Park, JB Match C
3/7/2010 Winner Match 3 v Winner Match 4
Cape Town Match D
4/7/2010

Rest day
5/7/2010 Rest day

World Cup semi finals
6/7/2010 Winner Match A v Winner Match B
Cape Town Match 1
7/7/2010 Winner Match C v Winner Match D
Polokwane Match 2
8/7/2010

Rest day
9/7/2010 Rest day

3rd place play off
10/7/2010 Loser Match 1 v Loser Match 2
Port Elizabeth

2010 World Cup Final
11/7/2010 Winner Match 1 v Winner Match 2
Soccer City, JB

Champions League scores

Milan - Man Utd. 2 - 3

O. Lyon - Real Madrid 1 - 0

Bayern - Fiorentina 2 - 1

Porto - Arsenal 2 - 1

VfB Stuttgart - Barcelona 1 - 1

Olympiakos - Bordeaux 0 - 1

CSKA Moscow - Sevilla -

Inter - Chelsea -

Champions league: INTER MILAN VS CHELSEA

Calling all armchair managers! The time has come to pit your wits against Carlo Ancelotti and see whether he agrees with your team selection for Chelsea's upcoming Champions League crunch match against Inter Milan — and nemesis Jose Mourinho.

After missing as many as seven players for the weekend's 2-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers, Ancelotti is hopeful of welcoming back at least a few of them for the game at the Guiseppe Meazza on Wednesday.

Frank Lampard should be fit, and both Alex and Juliano Belletti are available for selection. But the big blow will be the absence of Yury Zhirkov, who has not made the trip to Italy after failing to recover from the injury he sustained in the game at Molineux at the weekend.

Add to that the fact that Paulo Ferreira is not registered for the Champions League, and Ancelotti has some full-back quandaries to ponder ahead of the tie.

The reportedly unsettled Ashley Cole is a long-term absentee, while both Michael Essien and Jose Bosingwa are still a little way from a return to training.

This is one of the most important games of the season for Chelsea, so it seems unlikely that Ancelotti will go with anything other than his best available side. How he handles his full-back situation is the biggest decision he will have to make.

Availability:

Goalkeepers: Petr Cech, Henrique Hilario, Ross Turnbull.

Defenders: John Terry, Ricardo Carvalho, Alex, Branislav Ivanovic, Jeffrey Bruma.

Midfielders: John Obi Mikel, Juliano Belletti, Frank Lampard, Michael Ballack, Florent Malouda, Joe Cole, Gael Kakuta.

Attackers: Didier Drogba, Nicolas Anelka, Salomon Kalou, Daniel Sturridge, Fabio Borini.

Leave your team selection in the comments below, using semi-colons to separate positions and working from left-to-right. For example, here’s Goal.com UK’s preferred lineup, using a 4-3-3 formation:

Cech; Ivanovic, Terry, Carvalho, Belletti; Lampard, Mikel, Ballack; Malouda, Anelka, Drogba.

Substitutes: Hilario, Alex, Bruma, J. Cole, Kakuta, Kalou, Sturridge.

This team virtually picks itself, considering the squad available to the former AC Milan boss. Ivanovic should move across to left-back in the absence of Zhirkov or Cole, where his defensive prowess can be used to best effect against Inter's dangerous right-back Maicon.

Juliano Belletti will probably be asked to fill in at right-back, in preference to the untested Bruma. Mikel will anchor the midfield as usual — with a particular focus on Wesley Sneijder — while Ballack and Lampard fulfil box-to-box duties in the centre.

Mourinho has had a tendency in the past to play defensively at home, perhaps keen to avoid conceding an important away goal. If that proves the case on Wednesday, expect Malouda and Anelka to be asked to push forward when the Blues have the ball, and for Malouda to drop back and become a fourth midfielder when defending.

Inter Defender Lucio Affirms Importance Of Chelsea Clash

The Brazilian knows that his team-mates will give their all to win.

Inter stopper Lucio knows the importance of the Nerazzurri defeating Chelsea in the Champions League later this evening, when the two sides meet at the San Siro.

The Brazilian believes that Blues striker Didier Drogba will be one player that his team will have to watch out for.

"It is the moment to discuss the Champions League, and nothing else," the defender said to Datasport. "I believe that the match will be very important, and it is for this reason that we want to win at all costs.

"The players will be giving their utmost to win. The determination that we will put in will be the same, but some people will need to be extra cautious, as they are on yellow cards.

"But this factor will not change our way of playing, nor aid in what the final result might be.

"Drogba is an excellent player, and we will need to pay attention to him, but he is like any other great player here at Inter," concluded Lucio.

Prediction on this match : inter 0 vs 0 chelsea