Monday, September 28, 2009
Barcelona overcome physical Malaga
Ibrahimovic scored his fifth goal in as many games, and super-sub Pique added a second to give Barcelona a 2-0 victory in a hard-fought game at Malaga.
The game was extremely difficult for Barcelona due to the uncompromising nature of the Malaga defenders. And this is just putting it mildly. Messi got stepped on thrice, Henry and Chigrinskiy walked off injured and the referee literally ignored every bad tackle by Malaga.
Though Albert Luque did get a red card late on, the real culprit was Wellington who was guilty of some truly horrible challenges.
However, the negative and despicable tactics of Malaga did not prevent Ibrahimovic, who replaced an injured Henry after 25 minutes, from becoming the most successful signing in the club's history by scoring his fifth goal in five games.
Another impressive performance and three points. However, Barcelona are second in the table on goal difference over Real Madrid.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Atletico thrashed 5-2, Messi stars in rout
Yet another Barca-Atleti fixture. Yet another goal-fest. It is a fixture that has the word "GOALS" emblazoned all over it.
This time, it finished 5-2 in favour of Barcelona, with goals coming from Ibrahimovich (who called him a flop?), Messi, Alves and Keita.
Barcelona started with Valdes in goal, Alves, Pique, Chiggy and Maxwell in defense, Xavi, Busquets and Keita in midfield and the attacking trident of Messi, IBra and Henry.
Ibrahimovich started off proceedings in the second minute with a superb chip that Eto'o could not have scored even in his wildest dreams, showing why Barcelona bought him for that ridiculous amount at the start of the season.
Messi then reaped the rewards of a brilliant Xavi cross to make it 2-0 within 20 minutes. He ran onto the exquisite pass, used his pace to beat his marker and slotted it coolly past the hapless keeper.
On the half hour mark, Alves then scored another excellent free-kick which went in off the post.
Ibra was involved again in the move that led to Barcelona's fourth goal. After a run down the left wing, Ibra stopped, watched Messi's run and then coolly chipped the ball over his marker to the little Argentinean. Messi did the rest. With three superb touches, he beat his man, ran to the touchline and gave an excellent cross to Keita to make it 4-0.
Barcelona's clean sheet record was broken before half time however, as Busquets' error led to an Aguero goal.
Barcelona geared down in the second half, despite the introduction of Andres Iniesta. They conceded another goal due to a poor clearance by Valdes which put Forlan in acres of space to find a finish.
However, Messi completed the rout just before full time with a goal befitting a nifty little set of touches exchanged between Alves and Xavi.
Another win and another superb performance by Barcelona. They remain at the top of the table with 9 points out of 9.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Lionel Messi agrees extension till 2016
Lionel Messi has agreed a contract extension with Barcelona that will tie him to the club till 2016. He is expected to sign the contract today.
"It's an immense piece of news for the club and for the player that Messi is renewing his contract," said Barça manager Pep Guardiola. "As it also was when Victor Valdes and Xavi did so.
"People go to football to see the best and that's what they are. It's
a privilege for Barça to have some of the best footballers like Messi."
Messi will be paid an improved salary of 10 million euros a year, and his release clause will be increased to 250 million euros from its previous sum of 150 million euros.
Inter's Bus Holds Barca to a 0-0 Draw - My Thoughts
The parked bus has struck again. Barcelona were once again, undone by the strong organisation and commitment of an opposition defense (though some poor finishing also helped in getting Inter off the hook).
Dominating the game for the course of the entire 90 minutes with a possession ratio of 67:33 in their favour, one might have expected Barcelona to take the game. And they probably would, against a coach less wily than Mourinho.
Jose, knowing that Barcelona was far superior to his own side, did what a certain Mr. Hiddink did with Chelsea last season - he parked the bus. At any point of time, I counted seven-eight Inter players in the penalty area, just waiting for Barca's concentrated attack to break.
What I saw was, that despite this, Barcelona had their chances. Messi broke through very quickly in the 1st minute itself to test Cesar with a shot that would have beaten most keepers. In the 7th minute, Ibra had a half chance, but made a real meal of it. However, the guiltiest party in the lineup was Seydou Keita, who squandered the best chance of the match (it was a chance I could have finished off).
The game progressed with Barcelona attacking at every gap they could possibly find, and Inter blocking them off. The result was a disappointing one indeed, but not the worst result in the world.
What worries me is the reaction of Barcelona players after the game. A lot of them were whining about Inter's "negativity". Yes, Inter played negative. As would any other team if facing opponents of Barcelona's stature. As did Chelsea, and almost came away with a win. As did Man City, and actually won. As did Shakhtar and almost took Barca to penalties. Barcelona need to understand that the parked bus, though not yet a feature of Spanish football, will always be employed by foreign opponents to stop them from weaving their magic.
Pep Guardiola needs to work out a plan B to use in these situations. It is easier said than done, agreed, but otherwise there is a high likelihood that Barcelona will get embarrassed sooner or later by opponents who restrict them, cut them off and then finally score a fluky goal on the counter.
I would like to end by saying - this was not a bad result. It was an away draw against a good team. However, the parked bus is something that, if not countered now, will certainly cause Barcelona's downfall in the not-so-distant future.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
