Match Preview: Saturday 25/03/2006 20:00 (GMT+1): La Liga match day 30
Málaga CF - FC Barcelona

La Rosaleda, FC Barcelona – capacity: 35.000


Referee: Rodriguez Santiago


FC Barcelona (4-3-3): Valdés – Belletti, Rodri (Motta), Oleguer, Gio (Silvinho) – Van Bommel (Motta), Iniesta, Deco, - Giuly (Larsson), Eto'o, Larsson (Ezquerro) – Manager: Frank Rijkaard



Málaga CF (4-4-2): Arnau - Fernando Sanz, Alexis Ruano,Diego Navas, Gámez - Juan Rodriguez,Nacho, Ricardo Bovio,Manu (Duda) - Couñago, Salva - Manager : Manuel Hierro


La Liga lonely leader against rock bottom, an uneven fight in La Rosaleda, Malaga. But without Ronaldinho, who will be rested, suspended Barca captain Carles Puyol and the injured players Lionel Messi, Rafael Marquez, Edmilson as well as Xavi, FC Barcelona will have to experiment and try out a new defence combination ahead of the UEFA Championsleague quarterfinal first leg against Benfica in Lisbon next week. Barca will be without Puyol, Marquez and Edmilson in Portugal. This could be the chance of young talented Barca B player Rodri who got already 10 minutes playing time against Getafe.

With a 12 point cushion at the top, it will nearly impossible to catch up Barca in the next 9 matches and therefore Barca coach Rijkaard has got the chance to prepare his team for the Benfica match. Still, the team should even receive an extra motivation to be without Ronaldinho. Barca will be out to show that Barca can also win without their talismanic superstar.


Malaga will be without midfielder Juan Rodriguez and centre half Alexis, both were sent off against Deportivo midweek. Malaga Coach Manolo Hierro will stick to his simple 4-4-2, with César Navas probably replacing Alexis as center half, alongside Fernando Sanz and Edgar will probably replace Juan Rodriguez in midfield.


Our Prediction: Top against bottom, nothing more to say. Barca without 5 important players and away makes it a bit more interesting. Barca will try to score early and then try to control the match for the rest of the match. Frank Rijkaard would like to take off Deco and Eto´o early and fine tune the back four. Malaga needs more than luck to get some sort of result. We expect an easy game with 3 more points after the 90 minutes.
Malaga v FC Barcelona 0-2




Here are the odds for the game.

FC Barcelona 1,35

Draw 4,15
Málaga CF 8,25


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