Barça rises to second place in the league
Barça finished the weekend second place in the league after beating Athletic Bilbao 3-1 away in miserable conditions thanks to torrential rain.
As usual the hosts played hard and by the end of the match both teams were down to 10 men. First off was Amorebieta after 35 minutes, although the replay looked like the referee was wrong; with a string of red cards to his name – he has one of the worst records in the Spanish league ever – perhaps his reputation meant the referee just didn’t give him the benefit of the doubt.
Keita meanwhile was working hard, and that work finally paid off in the 55th minute when the ball went home. Barcelona kept up the pressure and possession remained high throughout. Although several chances were wasted, eventually Xavi made it 2-0 in the 74th minute.
David Villa received a red card just 4 minutes before the end. It didn’t look like too much, but the reply clearly showed him throw his fist; what preceded that I’m not sure though.
And just when it looked like that was going to be it, Gabilondo scored for Athletic, suddenly putting the three points in danger. However, that threat was short-lived, with Busquets putting the ball home to make it 3-1 for the visitors.
0-1 Keita (min 55)
0-2 Xavi (min 74)
1-2 Gabilondo (min 89)
1-3 Busquets (min 92)
The squad is heading of to Kazan today for their Champions League match on Wednesday against Rubin Kazan. They faced them last year in freezing temperatures, but this year the away leg is six weeks earlier than last year and so the temperature expected to be in the double digits (that’s Celsius for our American readers!).
The great news is the Lionel Messi has been included in the squad after making a much faster than expected recovery from his ankle injury. Whether or not he plays is a different matter, but it does show that he’s coming back to strength FAST.
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
|
1
|
Valencia |
5
|
4
|
1
|
0
|
9
|
3
|
13
|
|
2
|
Barcelona |
5
|
4
|
0
|
1
|
9
|
4
|
12
|
|
3
|
Real Madrid |
5
|
3
|
2
|
0
|
6
|
1
|
11
|
|
4
|
Atlético Madrid |
5
|
3
|
1
|
1
|
9
|
4
|
10
|
|
5
|
Villarreal |
4
|
3
|
0
|
1
|
7
|
2
|
9
|
|
6
|
Espanyol |
5
|
3
|
0
|
2
|
5
|
8
|
9
|
|
7
|
Sevilla |
5
|
2
|
2
|
1
|
7
|
5
|
8
|
|
8
|
Hércules |
5
|
2
|
1
|
2
|
5
|
3
|
7
|
|
9
|
Athletic Bilbao |
5
|
2
|
1
|
2
|
8
|
7
|
7
|
|
10
|
Getafe |
5
|
2
|
1
|
2
|
8
|
8
|
7
|
|
11
|
Mallorca |
5
|
2
|
1
|
2
|
4
|
5
|
7
|
|
12
|
Málaga |
4
|
2
|
0
|
2
|
9
|
8
|
6
|
|
13
|
Almería |
5
|
1
|
2
|
2
|
4
|
4
|
5
|
|
14
|
Osasuna |
5
|
1
|
1
|
3
|
3
|
5
|
4
|
|
15
|
Racing Santander |
5
|
1
|
1
|
3
|
3
|
6
|
4
|
|
16
|
Real Sociedad |
5
|
1
|
1
|
3
|
5
|
9
|
4
|
|
17
|
Sporting Gijón |
5
|
1
|
1
|
3
|
4
|
9
|
4
|
|
18
|
Levante |
5
|
1
|
1
|
3
|
4
|
10
|
4
|
|
19
|
Deportivo |
5
|
0
|
3
|
2
|
2
|
5
|
3
|
|
20
|
Zaragoza |
5
|
0
|
2
|
3
|
3
|
8
|
2
|
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La Liga, Match report Monday, September 27th, 2010
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Tags: Athletic Bilbao, Busquets, Gabilondo, Keita, Messi, Villa, Xavi
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