FC Barcelona News
Messi Breaks Record to Put Barça Through
April 13th, 2011FC Barcelona are through to the semi-finals of the Champions League after a measured 1-0 victory in the Ukraine. The upshot is a likely encounter with Real Madrid in the next round, with four Clásicos looming on the horizon. It’s proving to be a thrilling conclusion to a campaign that could yield an historic treble for Guardiola’s men.
Tonight the outcome of this quarterfinal tie was rarely in doubt. An early spell of Shakhtar pressure was negotiated thanks to the safe hands of Víctor Valdés, and, when Messi notched a record-breaking 48th goal of the season in the final minutes of the first half, a potentially testing evening became a lot easier for the Blaugrana side.
Still, Shakhtar Donetsk are a club with considerable European pedigree, and had a home record in the Champions League strong enough to suggest that Barcelona still had some work to do. Despite the 5-1 first leg score-line Pep Guardiola certainly wasn’t taking the challenge lightly, selecting his strongest available lineup, with Afellay taking his place on the left of the front three as Pedro continues his careful reintroduction to the first team.
As expected from a side hoping to overcome a four-goal deficit, Shakhtar took the reins in the opening minutes, attacking with style and pace. Much of their best work came though the Brazilian Jadson, who produced an early chance for Douglas Costa, but the winger’s near-post effort was matched by a wonderful reaction save from Valdés. More smart interplay found Jadson alone on the penalty spot, but his shot was easily gathered by the Barça goalkeeper.
They would prove to be Shakhtar’s best opportunities of the match. By the 20-minute mark FC Barcelona had found their feet. Mascherano had slipped back into defence with Sergio Busquets pushing forward into his favoured holding midfield role and the Blaugrana side was starting to look very comfortable, producing opportunities for Adriano and Afellay before Messi capped a stylish move to end the match as a contest.
The Argentine star was found by Dani Alves on the edge of the area, evaded one desperate Shakhtar challenge and dispatched the ball past Pyatov into the bottom-right corner. It was his 48th goal of the season – a new Spanish record, beating his own tally from last season and surpassing Ronaldo’s record for Barcelona in 1996-97, and Puskas’ effort for Madrid in 1959/60.
The second half was largely uneventful. A succession of attacking Shakhtar substitutions failed to loosen Barça’s grip on the game, and the away team nearly doubled their lead when Messi went on a spectacular run, dodging two tackles before laying the ball off to Afellay whose shot was palmed away by Pyatov.
Shakhtar mustered one final chance when Víctor Valdés denied Mkitaryan with a dazzling save to help Barça close out the tie as impressive 6-1 victors. The result also ends a run of eight winless knockout-stage matches for Guardiola in the Champions League.
0-1 Messi (min 43)
Barça Overcome Shakhtar in Emphatic Style
April 7th, 2011There were five different scorers for FC Barcelona as they overcame tricky opposition with staggering ease at the Camp Nou on Wednesday night. Guardiola’s men will take an apparently insurmountable 5-1 lead to Donetsk next week, although the manager will be anxious to warn against complacency.
As the Blaugrana side has experienced in the past, Lucescu’s Shakhtar team are a smart outfit, boasting plenty of pace and creativity thanks to a quartet of young Brazilians and two of Europe’s most exciting attacking fullbacks. And in truth, some stiff resistance had to be overcome in this match.
Iniesta opened the scoring in just the second minute, taking advantage of a deflected through ball to slot home at Pyatov’s near post. As ever, Barcelona were taking the initiative, pressing high and circulating the ball at speed. Messi looked lively, beating three men before having his shot blocked by a last-ditch challenge.
Still, Shakhtar possessed startling pace and directness in the counter attack; Striker Luiz Adriano spurned a one-on-one opportunity, shooting woefully wide after being released by fellow countryman, Jadson. The Ukrainian side also looked dangerous on the flanks through Willian and Douglas Costa, and Dani Alves appeared tentative as he sold Víctor Valdés short with a weak backpass.
Recovering from these early scares, Barça began to tighten their stranglehold on the game, and Shakhtar Donetsk, like so many before them, struggled in the face of such concerted pressure.
Just after the half-hour mark the home side crafted a goal of real beauty. A lofted pass by Iniesta found an angled Dani Alves runs. The Brazilian wingback controlled the ball on the penalty spot with his instep, before rounding the ‘keeper and flicking home to double the lead.
The dormant Shakhtar threat resurfaced early in the second half; Luiz Adriano lacked composure as he failed to control a dangerous deep cross.
Once again the away team was punished almost instantly, as Piqué latched onto a low corner by Xavi and sent the ball home via a deflection off centre half Rakitskiy. Minutes later, the same Shakhtar player scored a potentially crucial away goal at the other end, guiding a neat header past Valdés to make the score 3-1.
Aware that their cushion was suddenly looking a bit slim, Barcelona bit back straight away.
Just a minute after Shakhtar’s goal, Keita increased home side’s lead, lashing a ferocious first-time shot into the top-left hand corner after wonderful work by Messi on the right. The Blaugrana side pushed on and produced their best football of the night during the last half hour, with some lovely combinations.
Although largely subdued, Shakhtar Donetsk did muster one late counter attack, culminating with Luiz Adriano striking the post from an acute angle. Once again Barcelona retaliated with a goal – Alves created space on the right side of the area and found his captain Xavi, who made no mistake from 10 yards and capped a satisfying night’s work for Guardiola’s team.
1-0, Iniesta (min 2)
2-0, Alves (min 33)
3-0, Piqué (min 53)
3-1, Rakitskiy (min 59)
4-1, Keita (min 60)
5-1, Xavi (min 86)
FCB
Tickets