Piqué will play against Valencia

Guardiola does not have Alves and Mascherano, sanctioned, but with Busquets and Keita for defensive balance.

After it was one of the notable absentees in the battle of the second round of the Champions League against Bayer Leverkusen, Gerard Piqué has the maximum options to re-occupy the heart of the defense tomorrow, compared to Valencia with the that has a particular balance very positive, four wins and three draws.

Gerard's image in the stands of the BayArena caused some waves, Josep Guardiola himself was responsible for appeasing referring to is a technical decision about someone who is "untouchable" and "important". The exact causes of the rest of Piqué left for the locker room privacy Blaugrana and the ability of a coach to manage its workforce.

But the reality of the calendar says that Barça compete again tomorrow, no less than against Valencia and the cards that were Dani Alves and Javier Macherano in the league match against Osasuna must make them low.

Unai Emery's team still lurking in third place with 40 points, eight fewer than Barça waiting for any slip Blaugrana can bring him to the second position. Hence, the fourth game of the season against set 'che' is as important as the previous three.

The overall balance is good so far: draw at Mestalla in La Liga (2-2) and in the Copa (1-1), and victory at the Camp Nou in the semifinal round of the Copa But perhaps the most 2-0 is important that Guardiola found a way to disable the tandem formed the left flank by Mathieu and Jordi Alba so often broke the Blaugrana defense.

Pep went from the defensive line three to four and, most importantly, sacrificed as a winger Dani Alves to place a player of a more defensive, Carles Puyol. Moving right to the captain, Mascherano and Piqué handled the centre-back axis with Abidal on the left full-back.

Looking to tomorrow, Guardiola has two options. In the case of Adriano Correia has recovered from discomfort in the soleus of the left leg, the Brazilian could take the left lane and Abidal moved to form tandem with Piqué. Thus, Puyol could be repeated on the right side.

Another possibility is that the team into the right full-back of Martin Montoya. If the young canterano if they took over the band, the other members of the defensive line could be maintained with Piqué and Puyol in the center and Abidal on the left.

In any case, we must take into account other positive factor for Barça and is the return of two players in midfield defensive core for balance: Sergio Busquets and Seydou Keyta. Whatever the stakes, it seems clear that Piqué return to the team. The coaching staff continue to see a footballer Gerard key concept for the final stretch of the season, when it will decide the three titles that are still in play. And the first test may come tomorrow, compared to Valencia with Gerard, who missed the meeting in the first round due to injury, has a balance of four wins and three draws. (via SPORT)