Barcelona Match Report
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FC Barcelona extended their winning streak with a not so convincing 3-1 victory against Real Mallorca. On a night when tempers where running pretty high on the pitch, Goals from Henry, Iniesta and Toure saw Barca overcome a determined Mallorca side who took the lead from an Aritz Aduriz goal early on. This is the second time in succession FC Barcelona is coming down from a goal down to win the match, that sounds very good as far as the rest of the season is considered. Mallorca boss prior to the match had said that they couldn’t hope for a much betetr time to play the League Leaders; he was proven right with some scrappy play by Barca players, who all have yet to achieve the full flow. Guardiola also was to be blamed partially for going a goal down in the begining as he looked to have slotted Victor Sanchez in the central defense. Victor Valdes was at the goal. The line up showed Puyol and Marquez as centre defenders; Abidal as Left-back and Victor Sanchez as Right-Back. But during the game Victor Sanchez moved to the centre and Puyol to right. The midfield was made up of Xavi, Toure and Gudjonsen. Henry, Eto and Hleb formed the front three.
The match had a very cold start. Both team were struggling to create any good chance; particularly Barca were struggling to go through Mallorca defense. The first attack from Barca came in the 13th minute when Eto shot wide from a very promising cross by Toure. In the 15th minute Aritz put Mallorca in the lead stunning the Camp Nou faithfuls after Toure gave away the ball cheaply; Artiz got the ball in the half line, then got past Victor Sanchez with ease, ran past him and flicked the ball over Victor Valdes head.In the 27th minute Gudjonsen great strike from a Xavi corner hit the cross bar. In the 29th minute Mallorca goal keeper Lux produced a magnificient save to deny Toure. In the 31st minute Thierry Henry equalised for Barca from a Xavi corner; Puyol won the initial header which fell to Henry on the left side of post; Henry’s first touch was excellent but his finish was much better. In the injury time of first half Lux produced another good save to deny Eto from a great ball from Xavi.
The second half started the same way like the first half. Both the team failed to take the initaitive early on. In the 49th minute Eto saw another of his shot blocked from a good Puyol cross. In the 52nd minute Puyol send in a great ball spotting Xavi’s run but he couldn’t control it properly, even then the ball went aganisingly close to goal. In the 56th minute Sanchez was replaced by Alves. In the 62nd minute Iniesta came in for Hleb. In the 76th minute Iniesta put Barca in lead after he finished well from a Gudjonsen cross. The build up had a bit of luck, the initial Xavi shot hit Eto and fell to Gudjonsen who crossed it to Iniesta who looked on level with Gudjonsen when the cross was made. In the 88th minute Henry’s back flick from an excelelnt Alves cross went just wide of the goal. In the 92nd minute Toure completed the score-line with a finish which would have made Eto happy on any day. Toure skipped past three defenders in the box after receiving Eto pass and fired the ball to the right hand corner of the goal.
This may not be a very convincing victory for Barca, but still it retains the lead at the top. Secondly the players are only back from holiday and it will take some time before they hit the top gear. But they better hit the top gear as soon as possible as they have a mid week match against Athletico Madrid in the Copa Del Rey competition.
Written by Bibin on January 4th, 2009 with no comments.
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Barcelona moved ten points clear of their nearest rival with a hard fought win at El Madrigal. Goals from Keita and Henry helped Barca to continue their unbeaten streak after Barca have gone behind from a goal from Cani. To make things worse Barca’s Pique was sent off and had to hold off with ten men in the final ten minutes. But overall it was a very satisfying, tough and hard fought victory. Pep Guardiola chose Busquets ahead of Toure. Alves, Pique, Puyol and Alves formed the back four. The midfield as expected were packed with defensive players with Xavi partnering, Busquets and Keita. Henry, Messi and Eto formed front three. Messi had another quiet game by his standard but it was good to see Xavi hitting top form.
Barca as expected dominated possession from the beginining, but couldn’t break an organised defense. Majority of the chances in the first half fell to Henry and he did waste a few of them. There were questioned raised about Barcelona’s ability to respond after going behind against quality team; that should temporarily subsidise now. Just after the breakCani put Villareal forward with a neat finish afetr the defense failed to keep hold of him. Barca responded vigourously and was rewarded by the goal in the 54th minute when Keita lept bravely in front of Diego Lopez to head into the empty net. Then in the 66th minute Henry put Barca ahead with a great volley from a Xavi cross. Then in the 74th minute Pique was sent off picking his second card in a space of three minutes. Reduced to Ten men Guardiola brought Caceres for Henry and re-organised the defense. With the one man advantage Villareal started pressing in the final moments and should have equalised but Nihat and Franco wasted their chances.
Written by Bibin on December 21st, 2008 with no comments.
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For all those including myself who expected FC Barcelona to roll-over a confused Real Madrid side, this may not have been a great performance but neverthless FC Barcelona has won their first El Classico in three years and most importantly is now twelve points clear off Champions eal Madrid. This was a match where Barca were desperate to win and Madrid desperate not to lose. It took two late goals from Eto and Messi to seal the first edition of the “El Classico” this season. Real Madrid’s new coach knew that he have to stop Messi to make sure that Barca ran away with the game, and his adfvice to his players were to kick Messi. Messi was kicked really aggresively by Madrid player’s and it was a shame that referee Luis Medina Cantalejo never booked a player for those challenges. It was clear that Madrid players were taking turn in kicking Messi. This could be a style which the best in Europe will also employ stop him; and it did worked as after the initial burst that kept Messi quiet. But neverthless Messi had the last laugh. The starting line-up was exactly same as the one which started against Valencia. Valdes started in the goal and ahead of him Abidal, Puyol, Marquez and Alves formed the defense. Gudjonsen, Xavi and Toure formed the midfield. Eto, Henry and Messi formed the front three.
The match started with Barcelona dominating completely. In the 6th minute Messi cuts across Ramos inside the box but Iker Cassillas produced a diving save to deny him. In the 7th minute Henry shot went agonisingly wide of the near post. Madrid’s tactic was to tight mark the creative players and that resulted in Puyol and Toure bringing the ball forward but none of them could find Eto. In the 24th minute Valdes was suddenly brought into action when he had to tip over Sneijder’s excellent shot. In the 26th minute Valdes demonstrated how good is he in one-on-one situation. Raul played in Drenthe ahead and puyol made a mistake of diving to get the ball early put Drenthe with acres of space infront of Valde. Valdes kept his coll and brought in an excellent save one resembling the save he brought out against Henry in Champions League final. In the 33rd minute Henry saw his effort easily saved by Iker. The referee ended the game without playing any injury time. Overall Barca dominated the first half but the better chances fell to Madrid.
The second half also started in the same fashion. In the 48th minute Eto shot was saved by Casillas after a great cross from Messi. In the 49th minute Puyol produced excellent defending to dent Madrid a sniff of a chance. In the 63rd minute Guardiola took off Gudjonsen and replaced him with Busquets. That instilled pace into the side and in 69th minute Busquets won a penalty when he was brought down by Salgado. But Eto’s penaly was very well saved by Iker. In the 72nd minute Eto almost made up for that penalty miss but his shot was saved by Casillas and he produced another save to deny Messi from the rebound. In the 78th minute Valdes made another save to deny Palanca. In the 79th minute Referee didn’t give a clear handball against Metzelder in Madrid’s box. But in the 83rd minute finally curtains fell on the wait to win the “El Calssico”. Puyol did well to win the initail header from a Xavi corner and the ball fell to Eto who reacted quicly to get the ball past goal line. In the 88th minute Hleb was brought in for Eto. In the 91st minute Keita came in for Xavi. In the 92nd minute Messi seals the victory by chipping the ball over an advancing Casillas after Henry placed the ball in Messi’s path from a counter attack started by Hleb.
This victory leaves us nine points clear off the rest of pack. Villareal have a chance to bring the gap down to six points tonight. This may not have been a performance everyone was hoping for, but then nobody expected to have Real Madrid playing like a second division side. There was a lack of pace in the match which was majorly due to Madrid keeping Xavi very quiet. Gudjonsen had a good night but was unable to substitute Xavi’s creative skill in the middle. Messi was kicked out off attack and he suddeny went quiet. But there are good news with Iniest coming back and we will have more options in the middle of the pitch. The best players for me were the defenders along with Toure.
Written by Bibin on December 14th, 2008 with no comments.
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All good things comes to end so does FC Barcelona’s unbeaten run. A substantially understrength Barca side has been beaten by a highly competitive Shaktar Donetsk side; Shaktar now have qualified for the UEFA cup. There is no need to ring any alrm bells as none of the starting eleven players would be starting against Real Madrid. In the preivew to the match I have written that the match will be decided how we handle the physical strength of Shaktar player’s. Shaktar made most of their oppurtunity from counter attacks. Guardiola gave Jorquera the oppurtunity to guard the goal. Ahead of him Caceres, Sanchez, Pique and Sylvinho formed the defense. The midfield was made up of Vasquez, Keita and Busquets. Pedro, Bojan and Hleb made the front three.
Galdkiy scored twice in the 31st and 58th minute to take Shatar two goals up before Sylvinho pulled one back in the 59th minute. In the 75th minute Fernandinho increased the lead back for Shaktar. Eventhough Busquets reduced the lead in the 85th minute, Barca never managed that crucial goal to keep their unbeaten streak alive. From the player’s perspective Pedro showed much enthusiasm and skill; Bojan was really hard working but a very physical Shaktar team kept him on bay. Caceres and Jorquera had a forgettable night, both were at fault for most of Shaktar goals. Sylvinho showed that he is a handy back up to have in the left back position.
Written by Bibin on December 10th, 2008 with no comments.
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FC Barcelona extend their lead at top to six points with a 4-0 thrashing of Valencia. Earlier on the night Villareal made an unbelievable comeback to grab a draw against Getafe after going three goals down. That draw means FC Barcelona would have a comfortable lead of six points when they will visit Bernabeu next week. Thierry Henry scored a hat-trick and Dani Alves scored one to complete the destruction of Valencia. Barca played so well that Valdes hardly made a decent save throughout the match. Guardiola decided to field Abidal as left back and he had one of his best games of the season. He was improving when he got injured; that made me worried he would let go off all the good work he did; but he looks like improving very well. Puyol moved to centre along with Marquez and Alves as usual was stationed at the right. The defense was same as I wrote in preview with Gudjonsen and Xavi joining Toure. The forward line up was made up of Hleb, Henry and Messi. My first impression was that Henry was slotted to play the centre role; but he occupied pre domiantly the left position with Hleb and Messi constantly inter-changing their position.
FC Barcelona dominated the game from the very first whistle. In the 2nd minute the make shift Valecia Centre-Defense gave away the ball to Xavi who found himself in a one on one situation with the keeper Renan; but his well placed shot was denied by the post. In the 3rd minute Henry saw his shot from outside the box comfortably saved by Renan.In the 19th minute Alves shot was saved by the goal keeper after a great 1-2 with Messi. But in the next minute Barca went deservingly ahead with a great finish from Henry. Toure found Henry with a great long pass who chipped the ball over an advancing Renan. That was a vintage Henry goal which we were so used to see while he was in Arsenal. In the 21st minute Joaquin wasted a great chance to equalise when he sent ball high but it seemed like it was Marquez desperate defending which made that mistake. In the 28th minute Barca extended their lead from Henry’s second goal of the night. Hleb placed the ball in Henry’s path after receiving Alves pass and Henry made no mistake with the finish. In the 34th minute Messi starts his trademark run skipping past defenders and earn a free kick outside the box; But Messi’s free kick hit the wall, that could be one attribute he could look to improve along with his aerial ability. In the 37th minute Messi was denied by Renan after a great run.
Barca extended their lead early in the first half from a controversial goal from Alves. Alves received the ball from xavi on the left and finished it well past Renan into far corner; but Hleb who put the ball back to Xavi looked to have backtracked from an offside position. In the 53rd minute Alves free kick went brushing the bar. In the 63rd minute Hleb was denied by Renan after a defensive mix-up gave the ball to Hleb. In the 72nd minute Bojan came in place of Hleb. In the 79th minute Henry compleetd his hat-trick courtesy of the hardwork done by Bojan. Alves sent in Bojan on the right; Bojan skipped past two of centre-back before pulling the ball back to Henry for a simple finish. In the 81st minute Messi was replaced by Pedro and in the 84th minute Xavi was taken off to be replaced by Keita. In the 92nd minute Keita saw his header going high from an Alves cross.
The performance against Valencia can be simply described as Majestic. But as Puyol said “We haven’t won anything till now”. So everyone have to keep their foot firmly placed on the ground. Guardiola would have his best team to chose from against Madrid barring Iniesta and Milito. We have a mid-week match against Shaktar; with already securing the first place in the group, this could see a bunch of members getting rested.
Written by Bibin on December 7th, 2008 with no comments.
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FC Barcelona notched up their tenth consecutive away victory in all competition with a truly impressive display against Sevilla. Eto scored early in the first half but the victory was sealed by the in-form magician Lionel Messi with his two second half strikes. Actually the entire match can be said as a tale of two halves. FC Barcelona went into the second half with really in back foot eventhough they were leading by a goal. But the second half performance was truly amazine and they completely shut out Sevilla. With Real Madrid losing to Getafe FC Barcelona have opened a huge six points lead with Real Madrid. Guardiola selected his strongest eleven for his toughest challenge since he took charge at Camp Nou. Alves, Pique, Marquez and Puyol formed the back four ahead of Valdes. The midfield was rather defensive with both Keita and Toure in along with Xavi. But then that was kind of a sensible decision especially considering how tough it is to play at Sevilla. The forward line was as predicted in my preview - Eto, Henry and Messi. This match did threw up some problems. Especially with Puyol; he did job on left defending hardly but was always undone by the fact that he is a roght footed player playing on the left flank.
The first half opened pretty slow; both the defenses held their base but slowly the physical strength of Sevilla players along with the tactic of playing ball high was troubling the Barcelona defense. Fabiano regularly got past his markers and it took some desoperate defending to keep him quiet. Adriano on the left flank was destrutive; every move by Sevilla in first half came through him. The Sevilla players kept Xavi and Messi under constant check. Messi was so well marked that he has to move to the centre to organise play. The first chance of the half fell to Sevilla when Luis Fabiano touch took the ball high of the bar from a great cross from guess who Adriano in the 8th minute. FC Barcelona’s attacks were limited to some shots from outside the box; first it was Henry in the 13th minute who shot high then three minutes later Messi shoot wide of near post. Then in the 20th minute Eto scored to take FC Barcelona 1-0 up. Messi who dropped into the middle played a delightful ball to Xavi; Xavi’s pass to alves was intercepted by Navarro and the rebound fell in path of Et; Eto did well to poach on the ball ahead of defense and scored with a great finish. In the 24th minute Fabiano wasted a great chance to equalise when he dragged the ball wide of far post after Kanoute have played him on ahead of defense. In the 28th minute Eto great shot from outside box was saved by Palop. In the 30th minute Eto picked up a silly yellow card for distracting the Goal Keeper Palop while taking a goal kick. That yellow has made sure that he will miss the next match against Valencia. In the 31st minute Henry shot from outside was saved by Palop. In the 42nd minute Kanoute was unlucky not to have equalised after his header from free kick hit the cross bar. That was the luck which Barca needed.
I feared Barca would concede more grounds in the second half; but those fears were put to rest from a great team display. The key was to holding on to possession and making the Sevilla attack frustrate. Henry was very much active on the left but his shooting left a lot to be decided. In the 58th minute Alves free kick was saved by Palop. In the 65th minute Henry shot straight at Palop after an excellent run from Messi. In the next minute Henry sent in a great cross from left Sevilla defense conceded the corner. In the 68th minute Messi sets on a great run but his shot was saved by palop. After the hour mark Messi suddenly woke up and was creating havoc on the Sevilla defemse. In the 75th minute Guardiola decided to bring on Busquets in place of a below-par Keita. In the 78th minute Xavi played Messi through with a great header but if the header was great then Messi finish was out of this world. Messi volleyed the ball past a hapless Palop. In the 79th minute Eto wastes a simple chance surprising everyone after a great run from Messi and places the ball to Eto. That should have been a simple finish. In the 86th minute Fabiano was sent off for an elbow on Busquets. In the 88th minute Gudjonsen replaced Xavi and Then after two minutes Henry was taken off for Hleb. In the 92nd minute Messi capped a brilliant performance with another excelelnt finish after Hleb played a delightful ball tp put Messi ahead of defense; Messi dragged an advancing Palop to the left and put the ball past him tin to the goal with a great finish from a very tight angle.
This sensational performance would increase the player’s confidence by so much. But they need to keep their feet on ground. I wasn’t that much impressed with Pique; he was lucky not to be sent off and not to have conceded a penalty. With Eto out for match against Valencia it is yet to see how the team cope with that.
Written by Bibin on November 30th, 2008 with no comments.
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FC Barcelona assured themselves of the top spot in their group and hopefully increased their chance of meeting an easier challenge in the second round with an emphatic 2-5 victory against Sporting Lisbon. With both team assured of a second round place the only thing that was at stake was the top spot. There is no guarantee that we will have a easy second round opponent; but there is a high chance of that happening. Hnery, Pique, Messi and Bojan all got into the score sheet; a Caneira own goal completes the tally for Barca. For Lisbon it was Veloso and Leidson who scored the goals. Guardiola fielded a very strong side at Portugal. Valdes guarded the goal; in front fo him Alves, Marquez, Pique and Caceres formed the defensive line; the midfield was made up of Xavi, Busquests and Gudjonsen; Messi,Henry and Hleb formed the forward line.The presence of two attack minded players helped FC Barcelona but there is no question of the fact that Messi was the main reason for such emphatic display. This victory would go well for a great display at Sevilla this weekend.
FC Barcelona dominated proceedings from the begining. In the 13th minute Busquets stole the ball from Lisbon and the ball reached Messi on the right; Messi unleashed his trademark dribbling run upto the goal line and pulled back the ball to Henry who completed the formalities. The second goal came in the 17th minute when Pique latched on to the end of a Xavi cross from corner. FC Barcelona went with a two goal lead to the half time. In the second half Henry was replaced by Bojan. In the 49th minute Alves played in Messi with a quickly taken free kick who rounded off Rui Patricio before slotting Barca’s third of the night. Guardiola immediately took Messi off and put Pedro in his place. That move looked to have backfired with Sporting pulling two goals back in quick time. First it was Veloso who curled a free kick into the corner; the second came from Leidson after a Marquez’s mistake. The recovery was short lived with Barca increasing their lead courtesy of a Caneira own goal after he tried to clear the ball off Busquets. In the 73rd minute Bojan was brough down by Patricio; he was expelled and a penalty was awarded. Bojan slotted the penalty to take Barca’s tally to five goal and a welcome personal relief too.
Written by Bibin on November 27th, 2008 with no comments.
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FC Barcelona finally conceded their winning streak in la Liga to a really tough and hard working Getafe defense. Meanwhile Getafe has extended their unbeaten streak against Barca to a season and a half. FC Barcelona yet haven’t found a way to deal with this tough and tightly packed defense. A Seydou Keita header in the second half saved a point for Barca after Manu put Getafe infront in the 19th minute. Sure the absence of players like Messi and Iniesta could be blamed for the result, but that was precisely the point I was making in my previous post Is It Too Early to Dream about Silverware, the absence of two of our big four did looked like affecting us. What was more dissappointing about the match was the way Hleb and Bojan who got the first League start of the season played. Eto did work hard but was undone by the lack of service. I have written in my preview to this match that with Messi absent it would be disastrous to put two defensive minded players in the middle. That tactic effectively took Eto out of the match; and we have to see Eto dropping back to create some attacking moves. Guardiola gave Sylvinho a rare start on the left, Puyol moved to the centre to partner with Pique and Alves occupied the righ back position. The midfield was made up of Xavi, Toure and Keita. The forward line was formed by the combination of Bojan, Eto and Hleb.
Barcelona dominated possesion in the first half but did not create any meaningful attack in the early exchanges. Getafe meanwhile settled into their game plan and was looking to hurt Barca on the counter. In the 19th minute Pique gave away the ball to Manu whose initial pass came off from Pique and then he curled a superb strike past a hapless Valdes. That goal stunned the players and the crowd. FC Barcelona tried to reply back immediately. In the 21st minute Bojan’s volley from an excellent cross from Eto was deflected for a corner. In the 28th minute it was Bojan again who wastes another great chance when he was caught in two mind. In the 31st minute Bojan wastes another good chance by shooting high after a Alves free kick hit the wall and the rebound fell perfect for Bojan. In the 35th minute it was Sylvinho whose stunning shot from the left of the box was saved by Abadonazzeri. In the 38th minute Barca was almost caught on the counter but Albin’s effort was saved by Valdes. In the 39th minute Puyol produced a magnificient run into the box and places the ball to Eto who was on the edge of the box; Eto produced a magnificient, precise shot which beat the keepre but the bar came to his rescue.
In the second half also Barca could not produce any of their free flowing movements. In the 56th minute Guardiola brought in Henry for Hleb and Pedro for Bojan. That move started to instil some pace and an already tired Getafe defense looked a bit shaky for the first time in the match. In the 62nd minute Pique heads wide from a Xavi corner; that was an open chance. In the 64th minute Toure gave ball away in a dangerous position; somehow Barca was lucky to see the chance wasted by Getafe. In the 70th minute Valdes produced his trademark mistake (which was missing in recent matches); Albin picks up a lose ball and shots from a distance; should have been a regular catch for Valdes but as expected he spills but was real lucky to see it go wide. His expression after that was real funny. After narrowly escaping the chance of going 2 nil down Barca equalised in the 72nd minute when Keita got to the end of an excellent Alves cross with a good header. In the 73rd minute Sylvinho was taken off and was replaced by Gudjonsen. FC Barcelona was pressing rigorously for the victory and Getafe defense was having some tough times. In the 79th minute great cross from Keita in the left was cleared by Defense ahead of Henry. In the 80th minute Abadonezzeri produce another magical save to deny a Pique header from a corner. I still can’t understand how he manged to save that. For the last minutes of the game Getafe defense hold their fort and FC barcelona struggled to find any movement.
FC Barcelona prepare for the tough fixtures after losing their winning streak. But there is not much to be dissappointed. We still are three point clear; but it is now essential for us to beat Sevilla next week. The absence of Messi and Iniesta, and the lack of fortune and great goal keeping the Argentinian international can be attributed as the reaon for this result. But one have to admit that Guardiola did some tactical blunders; first was to bring Hlen and Bojan, tow non-regulars together in this match. It was enough to get one of them a start. With both struggling Barca really struggled to make an impression early on and created chances only after Eto started dropping back. Secondly was the decision to club Toure and Keita together especially with Messi absent; this could be a sensible decision next week but not in a home match and that too against a team which are looking to drop back and defend. What that move did was opened up Xavi as the lone creative polayer and Getafe marked him well out of the match.
Written by Bibin on November 24th, 2008 with no comments.
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FC Barcelona beat Recreativo Heaulva courtesy of two second half goals from Lionnel Messi and Keita. Everyone expected FC Barcelona to ram through the Recreativo defense, but that wasn’t the case to be. It took an exceptional strategy employed by the FC Barcelona players to break through the determined Recreativo defense. Doubts were raised about Barca ability to tame determined and packed defenses; the performance against Recreativo would reduce all those complaints. Lionel Messi scored from a great free kick and Seydou Keita scored in the dying moments to capture vital three points. In a weekend where all of the title contenders went off-colour Barca did well and now have a three point lead opened at the top. With Villareal drawing early on the day and Valencia and Real Madrid losing yesterday FC Barcelona was expected to increase their lead and they exactly did that. Guardiola lined up the strongest eleven available to him in the match. The defenese was formed by the combination of Alves, Marquez, Pique and Puyol playing as left back. In the midfield Busquests joined hands with Toure and Xavi. The front three remained unchanged with the mercurial Messi on the right, Eto on the centre and Henry on the left. With Xavi having being off-colour for the majority of the game; Guardiola choice of Toure and Busquests in the middle made it difficult to generate an attacking move from the middle. All the attack started and was organised by Lionel Messi. I have earlier written about the problem with having Toure and Busquests in the starting eleven. Both of them play similiar kind of role - the defensive midfielder and Guardiola should stop employing them together. With Keita only returning from injury it is understandable to have them together in this match but in the future I expect the midfield would be a choice between Busquests or Toure and Guidjonsen or Keita. This is all till Iniesta returns.
FC Barcelona struggled to find a way past the Recreativo defense early in the first half and on many occasion they were caught out on the counter. It was Recreativo who had the first shot on target with a free kick staright at Valdes in the 8th minute. In the 14th minute Barca was caught out on the counter with a great move which involved multiple Recreativo players but luckily that move only resulted in a corner. In the 20th minute Messi had the first Barca shot on target when he thundered a shot from outside the box straight at Goal Keeper Riesgo. In the 22nd minute Toure found Messi with a great pass in the box but the Recreativo goal keeper produced another brilliant save to deny Messi. In the 23rd minute Eto was denied by great defending by Bouzon after a great interchange between Messi. In the 27th minute Busquets saw his volley go high; the move started with Alves sending a great cross from the right side, Henry put that in Busquets path with a neatly cushioned header. In the 28th minute Eto shows great skill to get past defenders in the box but his shot was agains saved by Riesgo. The compact defense made Eto changing his position constantly from right to left and then center. On the other end Recreativo Player Sisi was diving all over the place getting alves booked in the process. In the 36th minute FC Barcelona was awarded their first corner and we almost conceded goal from that; it was a poorly taken corner which reached Toure at the middle of the pitch; Toure gave away the ball creating real panic but luckily the Recreativo players could not capitalise on that. In the 37th minute Messi produced his trademark run skipping past defenders and laying the ball to Henry but henry shot straight at the keeper. The first half finished with not much fanfare.
In the second half it was clear that it would take a moment of brilliance to break the Recreativo defense. In the 51st minute Barca was awarded a free kick for a foul on Eto on the right side five yards outside the box. Alves and Xavi both lined up to take the free kick; Alves’s theatrics made everyone believe including the camera man that he is going to take the free kick; but instead Xavi laid the ball to Messi who by then have moved to the right behind the wall; that move put Messi one on One with Riesgo; Messi thundered a shot from the tightest of angles into the top left corner of the goal to break Recreativo defense. It is not still clear whether they used to practice something like this in the training or the players came with this tactic at that moment. Either way it was sheer brilliance. Recreativo immediately made double substitution and was rewarded with a double chance in the 62nd minute. First a great move was somehow deflected away from the post; but from the resulting corner Javier Camunas produced a great header which was denied by the bar. In the 64th minute Xavi produced a brilliant pass to Eto who was closed down by the brilliant Bouzon. In the 65th minute Eto saw another of his effort saved by Riesgo after a neat exchange between Busquets. In the 70th minute Sylvinho was brought in place of Puyol. In the 75th minute Eto shot wide after a great run by Xavi. In the 79th minute Guardiola took off Toure and brought Keita in. In the 86th minute Keita scores to make sure that FC Barcelona would lead the table by three points. Henry produced a great cross to Eto whose volley was off target but fell straight to keita who had only the job to tap it into the goal. Guardiola took off Eto and brought in Bojan. In the 2nd minute of injury time Marquez was denied by the post when his header from an Alves free kick beaten the Goal Keeper.
It was necessary for Fc Barcelona to open up some good gap between themselves and others to the build up of the toughest weeks. Now we have to face Getafe next and then Valencia the week after. The players will be leaving for International duties and hope they all return back without getting injured.
Written by Bibin on November 16th, 2008 with no comments.
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FC Barcelona put their rampaging train back on track after a small technical snag against Basel with an explosive performance against Real Valladoid. Real Valladoid could not find a single answer to the attacking powers of Barca and saw the host putting six goals past them. Eto scored four times in the first half, Gudjonsen and Henry compleetd the scoring list. The surprising fact about this season is whenever we think FC barcelona has reached their highest level of play they simply raise the bars. The performance is yet to improve as Xavi didn’t have a great game yesterday and Iniesta was out injured. Guardiola looks like have decided Puyol as Left back in the absence of Abidal, and he will not regret that decision. Alves, Marquez, Pique and Puyol formed the defense ahead of Valdes. Toure was slotted in as the defensive midfielder. Gudjonsen and Xavi paired to be the creative heads in the midfield. Henry, Eto and Messi formed the attacking trio.
It was Real Valldoid who had the first atatck of the match.In the 2nd minute Valladoid free kick from the right corner of box was collected well by Valdes in the second attempt. That woke up Barca and they replied immediately with Gudjonsen heading high from a great cross from Xavi in the 8th minute. In the 12th minute Eto entered into the scoring chart; Daniel Alves played a sensational ball in behind the defense, Eto rounded off the defenders and scored through the legs of Goal Keeper Sergio. In the 22nd minute Marquez guarded ball well to Valdes hands after a great pass put Valladoid in an atatcking position. In the 23rd minute Valdes had to make an great intervention to stop Valladoid from having the shot after a Pique mistake. FC Barcelona looked like a bit rattled by the much more crowded valladoid midfield and was giving away ball cheaply. In the 26th minute Messi sets up on an excellent run on the counter; Messi then provided a great pass to Eto whose shot was well stopped by an advancing Goal Keeper Sergio. In the 30th minute Etos scored again to calm Barca nerves after an excelelnt all round play. Messi provided a great pass to Eto in the edge of box; who lobs the ball over the defense to Henry; the resulting shot from Henry was saved bu Sergio but the rebound fell perfectly for Eto to finish. In the 36th minute Henry should have made it 3-0 but his first touch on an excellent pass from Messi was pathetic which gave time to Segio to block the ball. In the 40th minute Henry wasted another great chance from another excellent pass from Eto. But for all the disappointment Eto made it 3-0 in the next minute after rounding off Goal keeper from an excellent pass from Messi.In the 44th minute Eto made it four for the night with the easiest of finish.It was once again excellent play from Messi who run past defenders; Messi shot hit the defender and fell perfectly for Eto.
In the second half everyone expected FC Barcelona to slowed down the tempo. To an extent they did but they didn’t abandon the idea of attacking play. In the 70th minute Marquez was taken off and Ceceres replaced him. In 72nd minute Gudjonsen brought the match back to life with an excellent finish after the defense gave the ball stupidly to Henry who placed it to Gudjonsen. In the next minute Gudjonsen was taken off and was replaced by Keita. In the 76th minute Eto was taken off and in came Hleb. The Belarusian started getting involved in every move from the right. Hleb was instrumental in the sixth goal after playing a neat one-two with Messi he squared the ball to Henry for easiest of tappings.
This was an excellent performance and it came on a day when the midfield general Xavi was having an off-day. That shows the variety of atatcking options. The only thing Guardiola have to be careful is that to make sure that they don’t get carried away with these results. They should be still win some games very tough and ugly.
Written by Bibin on November 9th, 2008 with no comments.
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FC Barcelona extended their winning streak with a not so convincing 3-1 victory against Real Mallorca. On a night when tempers where running pretty high on the pitch, Goals from Henry, Iniesta and Toure saw Barca overcome a determined Mallorca side who took the lead from an Aritz Aduriz goal early on. This is the second time in succession FC Barcelona is coming down from a goal down to win the match, that sounds very good as far as the rest of the season is considered. Mallorca boss prior to the match had said that they couldn’t hope for a much betetr time to play the League Leaders; he was proven right with some scrappy play by Barca players, who all have yet to achieve the full flow. Guardiola also was to be blamed partially for going a goal down in the begining as he looked to have slotted Victor Sanchez in the central defense. Victor Valdes was at the goal. The line up showed Puyol and Marquez as centre defenders; Abidal as Left-back and Victor Sanchez as Right-Back. But during the game Victor Sanchez moved to the centre and Puyol to right. The midfield was made up of Xavi, Toure and Gudjonsen. Henry, Eto and Hleb formed the front three.
