Posted on 03-26-2009 under Previews

 

Yesterday we kicked off of the Tigerblog’s wall-to-wall coverage of the Bayern Barca tie by looking at some of the major storylines. Today we cover goalkeeping, and to keep you coming back to the Tigerblog’s source of Bayern/Barca manna, at the end of the preview you’ll see a schedule of our coverage ahead of this monumental showdown.


In a tie with many compelling storylines and quality matchups, it a bit jarring to have this injected in to the fray: Both goalkeepers are having mediocre seasons that have their respective supporters questioning whether they’ll return next year. Today we’ll examine the recent form of the GKs for each team, and what to look for in their play.

VV


For Barca, Victor Valdes had appeared to finally have emerged as a truly world-class keeper last season, only to have regressed this year, especially in recent months. In particular, his positioning and anticipation have been most suspect. Attackers who have taken shots from outside the penalty area (both during free kicks and during play) have been able to catch Valdes flat-footed and out of position, and he is been embarrassed a number of times recently, such as during the recent La Liga match against Atletico Madrid and the Champions League match that we all saw against Lyon. He’s having confidence issues as well, which seem to be affecting his decision-making as he is trying to do too much to compensate for his recent poor form. This can be seen most clearly in his distribution, which hasn’t been so sharp recently. Perhaps most troubling is that he may be continuing to get worse and that rock bottom hasn’t yet hit.

MR


For the München men, Michael Rensing’s first season filling the shoes of Tigerblog favorite Olli Kahn has been a bit short of expectations. While Rensing’s reflexes have impressed, he has a similar positioning problem as Valdes as well as trouble organizing Bayern’s defense. Comparisons to Kahn may not be fair, but part of the reason Bayern was able to set the Bundesliga record for fewest goals allowed over the season was due in part to Kahn’s experience and authority commanding the defense. Rensing does not yet have the talent nor the assertiveness to organize the defense and he’s been made to pay by Bayern’s opposition this year. He is also having trouble with distribution, although this probably has more to do with his inexperience. While Rensing hasn’t been steadily declining like Valdes, his inconsistent performances have seemingly become more frequent recently, which will worry the Munich faithful. Bayern fans-like their Barca counterparts-will be hoping that their goalkeeper can keep his head and avoid a major mistake.


How I see it playing out: While I can’t envision a colossal blunder (who ever does, really?), these goalkeepers’ weaknesses could be strengths for the opposition. I’m going to call it even. At some point in the two games, Bayern will score either off of a set piece or a cross, possibly because Valdes was out of position. On the other side, Barca will score one on a counter attack at some point, and this may perhaps be due to Rensing’s inability to get his defenders to focus on their positioning. Because of their deadliness and skill on possession, Barca may even be able to do this more than once. Outright blunders by the GKs probably won’t be to blame, but as each of their current weaknesses play to opponents’ strengths, I can see goals coming as a result.


Tomorrow tune in for the preview of the defenders.