FC Barcelona News
Barcelona held to surprise draw in San Sebastián
September 11th, 2011FC Barcelona let slip a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 away at Real Sociedad on Saturday evening. Guardiola’s men had been in total control by half time, leading through goals by Xavi and Fàbregas, but two moments of defensive sloppiness allowed their Basque opponents back into the match.
Blessed with a squad that handle a certain amount of rotation, Guardiola had clearly looked upon this trip to San Sebastián as an opportunity to rest some of his prized talents following a busy international fortnight. This time Iniesta, Villa and Messi all took to the bench, with Sánchez, Fàbregas and Pedro forming an unorthodox front-line. Barça also returned to a 4-3-3, after the successful switch to a three-man defence against Villareal two weeks prior.
Here Barcelona started the first half with real purpose, opening the scoring within the first ten minutes; Cesc dropped deep and spotted the run of Alexis Sánchez, finding him completely free in the area with a ball over the top. The Chilean squared for Xavi, who finished with ease into the empty net.
Just two minutes later, Barcelona extended their lead with a similar move. This time Xavi provided the impetus, clipping a sumptuous lofted pass over the static Sociedad defence for Cesc. The former Arsenal man then laid the ball on for Pedro, before reacting first to Claudio Bravo’s save to finish with ease from seven yards.
Barring a muted call for a penalty when a shot from just outside the area collided with Andreu Fontàs’ shoulder, Real Sociedad offered little attacking threat in the first half. Really, Barça were comfortable, and might have added another goal when yet another high ball from Cesc found Pedro, who saw his attempted lob deflected wide by Bravo.
The second half was a remarkably different contest; Sociedad took to the field with renewed purpose, while a mixture of tiredness and complacency from Barça offered their opponents a route back into the match.
The warning signs were there right from the restart, when Imanol Agirretxe found some space in the Barcelona area before dragging a shot wide on the turn. Barcelona responded with a couple of half chances, for Pedro and Villa, on for the injured Alexis, but the home side was growing in confidence.
Sociedad’s first goal came via a swirling Xavi Prieto cross from the right flank. The flight of the ball caught Sergio Busquets slightly flat-footed, and Agirretxe was able to head the ball home practically unopposed.
Just a few seconds later it was David Villa’s turn to make a gaffe, when he turned just inside the Sociedad half and aimed an ill-advised back pass at Víctor Valdés. Agirretxe latched onto the ball, rounded Valdés and struck the crossbar, but Griezmann was on hand to head the ball home.
Guardiola threw Messi on in search of a winner, but Sociedad were now playing with confidence, and Barcelona had to settle for an unwelcome draw.
0-1 Xavi (min 9)
0-2 Cesc (min 11)
1-2 Agirretxe (min 59)
2-2 Griezman (min 61)
New Arrivals Shine in Impressive Victory
August 30th, 2011FC Barcelona were in breathtaking form on Monday night as they defeated Villareal 5-0 at the Camp Nou. Playing with a new formation, Guardiola’s men were in total control from start to finish. New recruits Cesc Fàbregas and Alexis Sánchez were among the scorers, while Barca’s latest young talent Thiago Alcântara was in excellent shape, weighing in with a goal and two assists.
But it was Lionel Messi who stole the show, as he so often does, providing one assist for Cesc, and scoring two well-taken goals of his own. The performance was a reminder to all that Barcelona are still the team to beat in the Primera División.
Barcelona started with an unorthodox 3-4-3 formation, especially remarkable because it didn’t include a single recognised striker, and, in Abidal, only one experienced defender. The remainder of the three-man backline included Sergio Busquets and Javier Mascherano, defensive-midfielders until only last season. Keita played in front of the defence, occasionally dropping back to offer support. Pedro and Alexis provided the attacking width, while Messi, Iniesta Thiago and Cesc interchanged to devastating effect.
With this formation Barça were able to maintain their usual lion’s share of possession, all the while offering even more penetrating runs from deep. Cesc’s movement, working in tandem with Messi, was especially unpredictable.
The first real chance of the half fell to Messi, after being released by a clever reverse pass from Pedro. The new Argentine captain’s shot was saved at the near post by Diego López, and Busquets grazed the crossbar when he rose to meet the ensuing corner.
Barça’s opening goal came after Thiago was found just beyond the halfway line by Cesc. The young midfielder drove forward in a diagonal direction until he reached the Villareal area. When a pass failed to present itself he lashed a left-footed shot into the bottom right corner.
The goal was followed by an isolated reminder of Villareal’s attacking threat, when Rossi latched onto a lofted pass but smashed his effort into the side-netting. At any rate Barcelona were in full control, and doubled their lead before half-time. Messi caressed a sublime through-ball for Cesc, who rounded López to open his league account for Barcelona on his first start.
Pep Guardiola’s men picked up where they left off after the break. Within seconds of the restart Thiago picked out Alexis with a looped pass from the outside of his boot, and the Chilean winger made no mistake one-on-one with Villareal’s exposed ‘keeper.
Just five minutes after this Messi would get on the scoresheet, when he rounded López yet again, after yet another perfect through-ball, this time by Iniesta. Such was Barça’s dominance that they could afford to withdraw both Iniesta and Cesc with more than 20 minutes of the game remaining.
Messi was on the field and still wasn’t finshed; he exchanged passes with Thiago in the Villareal area before tapping home from six yards to make it 5-0.
1-0 Thiago (25′)
2-0 Fabregas (44′)
3-0 Alexis (47′)
4-0 Messi (51′)
5-0 Messi (74′)
Pep Reigns in Monaco
August 27th, 2011Pep Guardiola became the most successful coach in FC Barcelona’s illustrious history on Friday night, as his team lifted the UEFA Super Cup following a 2-0 victory against FC Porto. Messi opened the scoring just before half time, latching onto a careless backpass before rounding Helton and tucking the ball home, all in one fluid motion. Substitute Cesc Fàbregas completed the job in the 86th minute, trapping a lofted Messi pass before volleying home from close range.
Barça’s ongoing defensive injury problems saw Piqué and Puyol remain on the sidelines for this match, while Sergio Busquets took his place on the bench alongside Alexis Sánchez and Cesc Fàbregas. Already two matches into their domestic league season, it was the Portuguese side that looked the more dangerous in the opening minutes – Valdés pushed a Moutinho shot round the post, before Hulk drove a cross-cum-shot across the goal.
By the 20-minute mark Barça were more comfortable, and both Messi and Xavi came close. Indeed, the opening goal arrived at the end of a period of sustained pressure by Guardiola’s side. Presented with no options in midfield, Columbian Fred Guarin opted to pass back to his keeper, but failed to spot Messi strolling back from an offside position. With his first touch the Argentine star knocked the ball past the onrushing Helton, before producing a composed finished from a tight angle.
The second period began with Porto on top. Another Moutinho effort was deflected wide by Abidal, and this followed by a 35-yard Guarín piledriver, which forced an excellent save from Valdés.
As in the first half, Barcelona regained their composure before long, and might have extended their lead when Villa was released by Iniesta. The Asturian striker pulled in from the left, but scuffed his effort somewhat, and Helton gathered at the near post.
The entire match had been played with a real competitive spirit, which was underlined when Porto defender Rolando was issued a second yellow card after cynically hauling down Lionel Messi as Barça’s forward instigated a counter attack.
Barcelona continued to offer an attacking threat; Pedro was mere inches away from connecting with a fabulous Iniesta pass, while Alexis Sánchez saw a curling effort dip just wide of the far post.
Fàbregas took to the field with just over ten minutes to go, and wasted no time in demonstrating the technique and intuitive passing that made him a transfer priority for almost three years. It was the Catalan midfielder who would add gloss to the result, trapping a looped Messi pass and volleying home from close range.
The red mist descended for Porto moments later, when Guarín capped a miserable night by lunging into a tackle on Macherano just before full time and getting his marching orders.
Barcelona have started the new season in formidable style, having lifted two prestigious trophies in just over a week. Next up is a Monday night match against Villareal, for what should be a challenging league curtain raiser.
Barcelona beats Napoli in Gamper trophy
August 25th, 2011FC Barcelona resoundingly beat SSC Napoli on Monday night in a match that saw Cesc Fabregas score his first goal for the club.The annual cup between FC Barcelona is an invitation match that brings some of the world’s top teams to the Nou Camp.
This year the Gamper Trophy was between two potential Champions League rivals and showed that following Barça’a defeat of Real Madrid in the Spanish Supercup they aren’t taking any prisioners.
The match saw a feast of goals for the Catalans and as well as Cesc’s first goal Leo Messi scored twice. With the player’s strike having postponed the first match of the league last week, there was the threat that the same would happen to the first home match of the season on Monday 29th against Villarreal.
Luckily the two sides have reached agreement and that will go ahead; before that Barça faces Porto in the European Supercup on Friday, which is being played in Monaco.
1-0 Cesc (min 25)
2-0 Keita (min 31)
3-0 Pedro (min 61)
4-0 Messi (min 65)
5-o Messi (min 77)
FC Barcelona Tickets – August 2011
July 4th, 2011We’re still in that awkward point of the year between the end of one season and the start of the next. And while this time last year we had the World Cup in South Africa to keep us entertained, this year there is little but transfer rumours to keep us occupied.
Luckily the fixture list for the Spanish League will be drawn later this month – I don’t yet know the exact date yet – and as soon as I have details I’ll send you an email!
Summer Fixtures 2011
Barça is off to America for a short series of matches and when they return it’s for the Spanish Supercup. This year they face Real Madrid and you can book the first leg in Madrid (August 14th) and the second leg in Barcelona (August 17th) from the website; and they also play an as yet undecided team in the Gamper Trophy on August 22nd.
Transfer Rumours
Talking of transfer rumours, for FC Barcelona that naturally means Cesc Fabregas, who has a long held ambition to return to Barça; he was brought up in the club’s youth academy along side Leo Messi and Gerard Pique and the president of FC Barcelona, Sandro Rossell, seems to be going out of his way to make that happen.
I keep reading that he’ll be signed by this date or that, but it hasn’t come to fruition yet. The other player being linked to Barcelona is Alexis Sanchez, who is also being linked to Man Utd.
However, is a new midfielder or winger what Barcelona needs right now? If I were looking for players I think I’d be looking to strengthen the defence.
Carles Puyol is a great player but years of giving his all for Barcelona are taking their toll and he was out for a good chunk of the season with a knee injury, and when he’s not playing his absence really felt. While I certainly hope that his recent knee operation will allow him to play at the start of the season there is no guarantee that he will be match fit for the entire season.
OK, that’s enough of my armchair analysis, happy Independence Day to all US readers and speak soon to all!
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