Barça v Rubin Kazan: Did you know…

Barça and Rubin Kazan meet on Tuesday in a historic game for the Russian club, who have never played a Spanish team before. The following are some items of trivia associated to the game.

Barça have played Russian League teams four times at the Camp Nou, and have won three of them and lost one.

- The only defeat was in a game Barça manager Josep Guardiola will remember, because he played in it. That was in the 1992/93 season, when CSKA won 2-3 to end Barça’s dream of winning the Champions League for the second year in a row.
The last visit from a Russian team was in 2002/03, when Frank de Boer scored the winner (1-0). Puyol and Xavi played that day, October 23, 2002, while Valdés and Iniesta were on the bench.

- Both teams are currently top of their respective leagues, and both by just one point, although the situation is very different in Russia as they have already played 25 games.

- The Russian captain, Sergei Semak, has already experienced defeat to Iniesta, Puyol and Xavi. Spain beat Russia twice in the 2008 European Championships, both in the group stages and the semi finals.

Rubin Kazan have one player, César Navas, who knows all about Barça and La Liga. In March 2009, he went to the Russian club from Racing Santander. Curiously, one of his last games was a 2-1 defeat to Barça, the very game in which Messi scored the 5,000th goal in Barcelona history.

- South African Sibaya, of Rubin Kazan, can play on Tuesday, having served his three match suspension.

- Rubin Kazan won last week (2-1) for the first time in six games.

- Barça is one of only four teams in the current Champions League that have yet to concede a go

Barça stay top (0-0)

Barça stay top (0-0)

www.fcbarcelona.com

FC Barcelona stayed on top of La Primera with their first draw of the season against a determined Valencia side in Mestalla on Saturday evening.

The visitors were hoping to make club history by securing their seventh straight league win at the start of the campaign, but had to settle for a share of the spoils in a tight encounter that saw both teams without their first choice strikers both not in the starting sides.

While David Villa was in stands for Valencia, Zlatan Ibrahimovic was named on the bench after the knock that he received on international duty and did not make an appearance. For the visitors though Víctor Valdés was at his best, while Andrés Iniesta was asked to play in the front three in the absence of Thierry Henry along with Pedro and Lionel Messi.

Vital Valdés

The first notable chance that came in a game of few clear opportunities and it fell to the home side as Pablo Hernández tested Valdés. Valencia then implemented their well-prepared tactics that were clearly designed to nullify Barça where and when it was possible as they blocked up the midfield and kept seven or eight men back when the visitors ventured forward.

Iniesta close

In the opening half the home side looked confident as the majority of the game was played in the Barcelona as Xavi was unable to find space or time to help his side move clear. It was not until the 35th minute that the away team had their first good chance and it was Iniesta that tested César.

Change of dynamic

Within four minutes of the second half starting Messi had a chance but he was unable to connect properly with his volley and the ball went wide. The game began to open up and Pedro saw César deny him after he had been set up by Xavi just after the midfielder himself had seen a shot deflected behind the goal for a corner.

Few chances

Valencia were still looking like they could spring a surprise and Mathieu sent a rasping drive off target before Pablo looked to chip Valdés only for the Barça keeper to tip the ball over. Messi showed glimpses of skill, but in the last 20 minutes chances were at a premium and a goalless draw looked more and more likely. After winning their first six matches of the campaign and with 13 players having been away in the past two weeks on World Cup duty Pep Guardiola's side can be pleased with a performance against a difficult Valencia team that will no doubt be challenging for the top four again this term.