Barca favorites against Betis, with or without Messi

 MADRID, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- The moment of nervous silence that filled the air of the Camp Nou Stadium when Leo Messi crashed to the ground holding his left knee against Benfica on Wednesday night will remain as an anecdote¹, all be it one which chilled the blood of FC Barcelona fans all over the world.

As Messi hit the ground and failed to get up after colliding with Benfica goalkeeper, Artur, it did look as if the injury was serious and for a while the question on the social networks was whether or not Barca would be able to continue performing without their star player.

Three days later and Messi is preparing to face Betis in the BBVA Primera Liga on Sunday and attempt to beat Gerd Muller's record of 85 goals in a year.

The Argentinean needs just two goals to beat the record and has said he wants to play from the start, whether or not Barca coach Tito Vilanova will risk him or start with the striker on the bench remains² to be seen.

Messi has trained for two days in the gym and given the incredible powers of recovery he has shown previously³ in his career, the surprise would be if he didn't play.

Vilanova has other options: David Vila has scored whenever given the chance to play and Alexis Sanchez is also available after injury, while Dani Alves has also shaken off his muscle problem to give options in defense⁴.

Sergio Busquets is suspended in central midfield and his absence would give the chance to Alex Song to step into his favored role in front of central defenders⁵ Gerard Pique⁶ and Carles Puyol.

Barca will be wary⁷ of Betis, who are enjoying a fine season and are currently fifth in the table. Vilanova will also be aware of the fact that Real Madrid recently lost in the Benito Vilamarin Stadium and that in Jorge Molina and Ruben Castro, the side from Seville have two excellent attacking players.

However, he will also know that his side has 40 points from a possible 42 this season and that with or without Messi they are favorites. Many talk about 'Messi-dependence" among the league leaders, but the numbers don't back that up. In fact in the last three years, Barca have played 19 matches without Messi and have lost none of them.

1 anecdote   

n.轶事，趣闻，短故事

参考例句：

• He departed from the text to tell an anecdote.他偏离课文讲起了一则轶事。
• It had never been more than a family anecdote.那不过是个家庭趣谈罢了。

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

4 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

5 defenders   

n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者

参考例句：

• The defenders were outnumbered and had to give in. 抵抗者寡不敌众，只能投降。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• After hard fighting,the defenders were still masters of the city. 守军经过奋战仍然控制着城市。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 pique   

v.伤害…的自尊心，使生气 n.不满，生气

参考例句：

• She went off in a fit of pique.她一赌气就走了。
• Tom finished the sentence with an air of pique.汤姆有些生气地说完这句话。

7 wary   

adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的

参考例句：

• He is wary of telling secrets to others.他谨防向他人泄露秘密。
• Paula frowned,suddenly wary.宝拉皱了皱眉头，突然警惕起来。