FC Barcelona: Camp Nou Awaits the Messi, Xavi and Villa Show Against Hercules

Barcelona will play their first home game in the new La Liga season on Saturday against Hercules.

The Camp Nou is ready to once again welcome its heroes and the fans expect nothing less than a fabulous performance and a blowout victory against Hercules.

It will be David Villa's first home match in La Liga with the blaugrana jersey and he is expected to delight the fans with a top-notch performance and goals.

With David Villa, Barcelona fans believe that it is possible to recapture the magic of the 2008/2009, where Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, Thiery Henry and Eto'o consistently put on amazing shows at the Camp Nou with some of the best football ever seen. Any real football fan lucky enough to have watched Barcelona play in 2008/2009 (even non-Barcelona fans) would unassailably agree. That team was just special.

In 2009/2010, Barcelona won the league again and only lost two points at home, but it was clear that the magic of 2008/2009 had been lost. Ibrahomovic couldn't fill in for Eto'o and Henry couldn't find his best form. Still, Barcelona won La Liga and got to the semifinals of the Champions League (narrowly losing to Inter Milan). For any other club this could be considered a successful season. But Barcelona want more, a lot more. After the glorious 2008/2009 season, the standards were set very high. The blaugrana fans demand nothing less than convincing victories and fabulous football.

With David Villa on board there's every reason to believe that the magic can be recaptured. With Pedro, Messi and Villa in constant movement up front and Xavi and Iniesta pulling the strings, spectacular football is to be expected. The only thing that remains to be seen is whether Messi, Pedro and Villa can equal Messi, Eto'o and Henry's perfect chemistry. If they do, magical nights will once again become regular at the Camp Nou, starting Saturday against Hercules.

Saturday's match can also mark the debut of Javier Mascherano, Barcelona's latest signing, who will be looking to impress the Camp Nou.

Containing this Barcelona squad, currently the strongest in Europe (arguably), will really be an herculean task for Hercules.