Last week I wrote a piece in praise of Leo Messi, Samuel Eto'o and Thierry Henry. However, it could be argued that the form of Barça's defence is just as important if not more so to this season's success. Victor Valdés has only been beaten nine times in fifteen league games which makes Barça's the best defence in La Liga so far this season.

At the start of the season there were still a few problems at the back especially when it came to defending at set pieces.  The first clean sheet in the league wasn't achieved until the 0-1 win at Athletic Bilbao in the seventh jornada. Since then we have managed another six clean sheets in La Liga and have now only...

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Not really much surprise here. Despite some excellent performances from his team mates in November, Leo Messi who won the award in October is once again my player of the month. Messi played in 7 games this month, and the only one of those games that he didn't score in was possibly his best game of the month: the 6-0 victory over Valladolid. Toure Yaya comes in second and it is great to see the big man back in such excellent form after a slow start to the season. Captain Carles Puyol is third, he has excelled in every defensive position this month but he was especially impressive in the swimming...

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Our injury problems continue with the news that Seydou Keita will be on the sidelines for two weeks with a strained muscle in the left calf. Keita caught his foot in the ground after half an hour of yesterday's match in Bilbao and had to be replaced by Sergio Busquets.

Rafa Marquez and Toure Yaya also finished with minor injuries. Marquez is doubtful for Wednesday's Champions League game at Basle with a slight ankle sprain, while Toure took a painful knock on the shoulder but he should be ok for the game in Switzerland.

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Yesterday it was Victor Valdés who missed training, and this morning it was Rafa Marquez and Thierry Henry, all suffering from pharyngitis. It sounds bad, but in fact it's just a sore throat. Valdés was back in training today and Marquez was ok for the evening session today though Henry had not recovered and is now considered as doubtful for Sunday's game at Sporting Gijon. The main worry here is whether anyone else will go down tomorrow with the same bug.

There's been talk in the local papers this week about how little Bojan has played so far this season, especially as the departure of Ronaldinho and Giovani Dos Santos should mean there is less competition for places as only Hleb of the new signings can play...

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With important matches against Espanyol and Manchester United in the next seven days it is good to see that many of the players with physical problems are recovering in time. Deco who hasn't played since the start of March looks ready to play after training well for the last three days. He may well start against Espanyol to try and regain match fitness and then be available for the Champions League game.

Henry, Iniesta and Marquez all missed last weekend's game at Recreativo but today trained normally for most of the session and only at the end did they partake in individual exercises along with Milito and Thuram. Frank Rijkaard will need to decide who to play and who to rest against Espanyol with an eye on having the team at its maximum level next Wednesday. The only first team players who are s...

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Toure Yaya is doubtful for Sunday's game against Villarreal after pulling out of today's training session with back problems. Toure was left out of last week's game at Atletico Madrid with similar problems but managed 67 minutes of the game against Celtic before being substituted. The club, however, have not ruled him out completely for the game.

On the other hand Rafa Marquez has definitely been ruled out for Sunday with his foot problem. This means the only true centre backs available are Milito and Thuram. If Toure doesn't recover we could see Edmilson return to the team, or Rijkaard might opt for the three pequeños Deco, Iniesta and Xavi in midfield.

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Rafa Marquez will miss Sunday's match with Levante due to a bruised right foot. He is working to get fit in time for Wednesday's Copa del Rey semi final first leg against Valencia at Camp Nou. Fortunately, the Levante game should not be too difficult so I don't suppose Marquez will be missed. 

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Frank Rijkaard's job has become that little bit more difficult with the news that neither Zambrotta nor Bojan will be fit for Saturday's tough match at Sevilla. Zambrotta suffered an injury to his middle adductor muscle in his right leg in Italy's 3-1 victory over Portugal and is likely to be out for a week. Bojan has been set a special treatment programme to help him recover from his gastroenteritis and he is expected to rejoin the group for training next week.

While Bojan has everything to become a real star, I am more worried about losing Zambrotta. With Puyol out injured the only cover at right back is Oleguer who hasn't played a full game since October. I hope Oleguer can prove me wrong and rise to the challenge, and I should make clear that I don't think he is a bad player at all, it's ...

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If there was one constant to January it was the solidness of the defence. Since conceding two against Alcoyano at the start of the month, Barça have only conceded two goals in the last eight matches. Subsequently this month's top five is dominated by the defence, though Thierry Henry has done well since returning from injury scoring two vital goals in the Copa del Rey. This month's top five is:

1. 
   
2. Gabi Milito
   
3. Victor Valdés
   
4. Thierry Henry
   
5. Carles Puyol
   
6. Rafa Marquez 
   

Well done to Milito, he has been in excellent form recently. This month he only played in six of the nine games but in those games Barça only conceded one goal in the cup game at Sevilla. Valdés was very close to winning, he had a splen...
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Frank Rijkaard has a choice of three possible substitutes for Toure Yaya while the big man is away with the Ivory Coast national team for the African Cup Of Nations. Toure could miss as many as nine games if the Ivory Coast progress to the semi-finals. He will definitely miss both cup games with Sevilla (9th and 16th Jan) and the league games with Murcia (Jan 12th), Racing (Jan 20th) and Athletic Bilbao (Jan 27th).

If Barça reach the quarter finals of the Copa del Rey then Toure will also definitely miss the first leg of the quarter final against either Villarreal or Recreativo (Jan 23rd). Ivory Coast are drawn in the same African Cup group as Benin, Mali and Nigeria, if they progress to the quarter-finals then Toure will also miss the hypothetical second leg of the Copa del Rey qua...

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