I Don't Feel Like It, Maybe Next Week

While all the news coming out of the Camp Nou today had to do with Barcelona up on Sevilla by three points and the in-form display put on by Ronaldinho, the Spanish press is grumbling about Samuel Eto'o and his refusal to play in the match against Racing Santander. In a press conference after the game, Frank Rijkaard said that Eto'o simply didn't want to go in.

The Dutchman said the he had sent his assistant, Eusebio Sacristan, over to tell the Cameroon international to start warming up and get ready to enter the match as a substitute. A minute later, Sacristan returned saying that Eto'o didn't want to play. Rijkaard ended up putting Oleguer in for Juliano Belletti.

While I don't think much should be made of this little episode, it makes me wonder how ready Eto'o is to play. He only played for five minutes last week, and with no playing time today, how ready can he really be for Liverpool? I imagine that this question was on Rijkaard's mind when he said that "every minute is important."

Ronaldinho strikes twice as Barca pull clear [Reuters]
Eto'o refuses to go in against Racing (in Spanish) [Marca]

-ac