UK time is: 03:27:03

Choose your club

Other Sites

Network Navigation

Vital Partners

'If It's Football, It's Vital'

Bolton Wanderers vs. FC Barcelona 'B'

Reebok Stadium

10 August 2012

20:00

Bolton Wanderers: Kids

Víctor Valdés, Carlos Puyol, Xavi, Andrés Iniesta, Lionel Messi, Thiago Alcântara, Jonathan dos Santos, Marc Bartra, Sergio Busquets, Pedro, Martín Montoya, Isaac Cuenca, Andreu Fontàs and Marc Muniesa. All members of Barcelona's first team squad and all players who came through the ranks of Barcelona's second team before being promoted. That's fourteen players who have been brought up on the Barcelona way of playing and never left.

So, you would expect the Spanish Second Division side to play pretty much the same way as the senior side, all short passes and quick movement, playing more triangles than the Hallé Orchestra.

This will, without doubt, be Bolton's sternest test of the preseason. The win at Tranmere showed that at least one player can score goals, but the emphasis tonight should be more on midfield and defence than the forward line.

There aren't many teams in The Championship that will attempt to pass their way through the midfield, indeed there is every chance that we may be one of the few that do, and this will give Owen Coyle the chance to see if his midfield are up to the challenge.

Vital Quotes:

Not many quotes coming out of T'Reebok before the game, the official site's preview focusing more on Benik Afobe's friendship with Barcelona's Gerard Deulofeu. Where Deulofeu will be putting Afobe's Bolton shirt in his house when they have swapped it, one can only imagine.

Bolton Wanderers Team News:

Other than David N'Gog's bad back and Stuart Holden's ongoing injury, it's a pretty much full strength team for Bolton's final preseason game.

Player to watch: Benik Afobe

His hat trick at Tranmere has marked Afobe as a player who may be the answer to our goalscoring woes, but it will be interesting to see how he copes with a more technically adept defence.

FC Barcelona 'B' Team News:

Look, I'm not a miracle worker. Maybe some of the players, who have been based in Bolton, have been kept up by a bevvy of local beauties, a la Usain Bolt and the Swedish Handball team. Maybe.....

Player to watch: Gerard Deulofeu

Let's go for Afobe's friend, hey? Was brought down for a penalty at Huddersfield and converted it himself. Has been linked with QPR and Liverpool, but we all know about those clubs respective scattergun approaches to transfers. Can play as a winger and striker, has made one appearance for the senior team but has nineteen caps for the Spanish U-19 team, so must have some quality. Expect him to get a lot of the ball.

Match Facts & Stats

Surprisingly, Bolton haven't played Barcelona in a competitive fixture before, but have played two Spanish teams in the UEFA Cup. A 1-1 group home draw against eventual winners Sevilla in 2005-06 and a 1-0 aggregate victory over Athletico Madrid in 2007-08 that saw Sergio Aguero spit out more than his dummy. Bless.

Match Prediction:

Well, 2-0 is the obvious result as Barcelona have no answer to SKD bulldozing his way through them all.

Next Fixtures:

The kids are at Accrington on Monday and then it all kicks off, both literally and figuratively, at Tuff Dour next Saturday.




Vital F1 Prediction League - Join now for Monaco

Writer: Quentin X Mail feedback, articles or suggestions

Date:Friday August 10 2012

Time: 10:58AM

Your Comments

That Defalouhu is really talented, at least on FM. I loaned him for Bolton and he torn ***** up in the Prem.
Muur
 

Have Your Say

Click here to register an account

Recent Articles

BWFC: Fag-Packet Maths (Saturday May 18 2013)

BWFC: Optimism (Friday May 17 2013)

BWFC: Jedi Mind Trick (Tuesday May 14 2013)

BWFC: Fingers To Keys (Friday May 10 2013)

BWFC: Twiddling Thumbs... (Thursday May 9 2013)

BWFC: You Started It! (Tuesday May 7 2013)

BWFC: You With Me..? (Sunday May 5 2013)

BWFC: The Big One (Friday May 3 2013)

Archived Articles

List All Vital Bolton Articles
Have your say
Click here to suggest an article
Click here to suggest a poll

Vital Members League (view all)

League Results (view all)

League Table (view table)

Team P W D L GD Pts
4. Brighton 46 19 18 9 26 75
5. Crystal Palace 46 19 15 12 11 72
6. Leicester City 46 19 11 16 23 68
7. Bolton 46 18 14 14 8 68
8. Forest 46 17 16 13 4 67
9. Charlton 46 17 14 15 6 65
10. Derby County 46 16 13 17 3 61

Breaking League News

Free Transfer for McCann and Others Leave!
» Burnley : 21/05/2013 20:26:00
LUFC McDermott surprised by McCormack omission
» Leeds Utd : 21/05/2013 20:00:00
McCormack disappointed to be left out by Scotland
» Leeds Utd : 21/05/2013 19:00:00
Midfielder Wanted By Championship Rivals
» Charlton : 21/05/2013 17:40:00
Brentford Friendly Added
» Millwall : 21/05/2013 17:36:00
Wilbraham - We'll Do It As A Team
» Crystal Palace : 21/05/2013 17:26:00
Palace Will Relish Wembley Trip
» Crystal Palace : 21/05/2013 17:19:00

Current Site Poll (view all polls)

Which team is the biggest threat to Bolton's promotion campaign next season?
Suggested By:  
Wigan 31%
Reading 46%
QPR 23%