3 more points, 8 on Madrid, and Catalan independence!

FC Barcelona played their 4th match of the 2012-2013 season last night against Getafe and earned three more points to stay at the top of the league classification table.  It was a great match for Barça because of who played and how they played.

The match started with some surprises in the lineup (for me at least) due to some injuries and a week of World Cup qualifying matches.  Alexis Sanchez and Andres Iniesta both came back from their respective qualifying matches injured, so neither of them were in the lineup today.  Head coach Tito Vilanova also decided to rest Leo Messi and Dani Alves, leaving a few more spots to be filled in the starting lineup.  Barça started the match with Fabregas, Pedro, Tello, Thiago, Xavi, Busquets, Montoya, Pique, Puyol, Adriano, and Valdes.  Tito had an interesting strategy for the game with Cesc playing the center forward position, Tello playing before Villa, Montoya at right-back, and Thiago returning to the midfield.  I guess anything without Messi just looks strange!

Look who's on the bench!  Photo from Sport.es

Barça dominated the ball the first half in their customary manner and managed to get off a few shots as well.  Tello beat his defender on the left a couple times but couldn't sneak any past the keeper.  Thiago had two great shots, one off the crossbar and another stopped by the keeper.  Xavi even tried once with a nice shot, also blocked by the keeper.  The only goal of the first half came when Fabregas went into the left side of the area with the ball and two defenders trying to stop him.  Adriano played it brilliantly, cutting inside Cesc and going towards the goal.  Cesc lost the ball but it went straight to Adriano, who didn't hesitate to shoot on his first touch and surprised the keeper for Barça's first goal.  Great play and shot from Adriano, who has scored two beautiful goals in the last two matches and definitely isn't going to give his spot up to Jordi Alba easily!

Perfect run and shot from Adriano.  Photo from Mundodeportivo.com

There was only one important  refereeing mistake in the first half and one that I personally hate because I think it encourages diving.  A defender trying to take the ball from Cesc swung his arm out to his side and caught Cesc in the neck, knocking him back and pushing him off the ball.  It was definitely a penalty but Cesc kept fighting for the ball and never went down.  The ref never blew the whistle and a million people collectively said, "he should have fallen down!"  Oh well, I love to see a player who fights before he falls, it's just a shame that they will hardly ever be awarded a penalty in that situation.

The second half started with no changes for Barça  and everyone wondering when Leo Messi would take the pitch again.  The half started with more of Tello beating his defender but not quite able to get the ball around the keeper.  The worst news of the day was in the 56th minute, Puyol tweaked his knee while stretching for a ball and it looks like he'll be out for up to 6 weeks with an injured ligament.  Mascherano replaced Puyol for Barça's first change of the day, and Messi came on for Thiago a couple minutes later.  

In the 65th minute the referee let Getafe get away with another penalty, this one even clearer than the first.  Messi got away from his defender and was tripped from behind, inside the area.  Clear foul, easy to see, the ref missed it.  

Seriously, you didn't see that?  Photo from Mundodeportivo.com

Luckily, the ref didn't miss the next one just a few minutes later.  Pedro made a great move in the area, going right and quickly cutting back left behind the defender.  The defender lifted his foot and caught Pedro's ankle, bringing him down.  The ref finally called one and Messi converted for his first goal of the night.  In the 77th minute, Montoya (who actually made me forget that Dani Alves wasn't playing) took the ball down the right side and crossed it into the middle.  The ball was slightly deflected by a defender, and Messi was there to easily score his second of the night on the first touch.  Messi makes it look easy, but he's a master of being in the right place at the right time.  Less than 20 minutes for Leo and he already had 2 goals!

Leo scores from the penalty spot.  Photo from Mundodeportivo.com

Of course Getafe couldn't go down that easily and got a goal in the 80th minute that looked like it was created in a pinball machine.  The shot deflected one way off Adriano's foot, then another way off Mascherano's head, Valdes didn't know which way to go and the ball found the back of the net.

Villa got to play for the last few minutes of the match and as I said before, I was surprised he didn't start.  He didn't take long to take advantage of his opportunity by scoring a beautiful goal in the 90th minute.  Controlling a pass in with his chest, he touched the ball once with his right foot to get behind the defender and then absolutely killed it with his left foot to score Barça's 4th goal of the night.  Beautiful goal and I was very happy to see it come from David Villa.

Killer.  Photo from Mundodeportivo.com

The highlights of the night were definitely the return of Thiago and Villa's goal.  The bad point was Puyol's injury.  He was already playing with a mask from another injury and now he'll be out for 5 or 6 weeks.  Dude's having some bad luck.

Great game boys!  I also have to comment that Madrid lost again last night and now have a whopping total of 4 points after 4 matches.  I wish I could say that Malaga are going to be our toughest competition this year, but I know Madrid will be moving up the charts soon enough.

Trouble in Madrid!  Photo from Sport.es

Who lost? Me??  Photo from Sport.es

One last comment with regards to the recent demonstration here for Catalan independence.  As a foreigner, I'm really not very interested in politics, only in football.  I did however see that both ex coach Pep Guardiola and current president Sandro Rosell support the movement.  Guardiola ok, he isn't working in football at the moment, but in my opinion Rosell shouldn't be mixing FC Barcelona with politics.  He even said that he supported the movement for independence, but he would still want Barça to play in the Spanish League.  Yaa, right Sandro, like Spain is really going to allow one team from outside the country to play in their league when they have the possibility of winning it?  I don't think that will happen.  Spain will never let Barça stay in La Liga if Catalunya becomes independent, and a Catalan league would definitely be a little too boring.  In my opinion it will be devastating for Barça if Catalunya becomes independent.

Wednesday night we start Champion's League!!

¡Visca Barça!

How you start a season. But don't make me nervous!

FC Barcelona had their second match of the 2012-2013 league yesterday when they took on Osasuna in Pamplona.  Osasuna has never really been a great team, but for some reason Barça has struggled in this stadium in the past.  The lineup for Tito Vilanova's Barça was Valdes, Alves, Pique, Puyol, Jordi Alba, Busquets, Cesc, Iniesta, Tello, Messi, and Alexis.

The action started a little too quickly for the taste of most Barça fans yesterday when Osasuna almost scored in the first minute.  Puyol and Pique both looked like they weren't quite ready yet and got burned on a play that left Valdes to make a great save.  As the beginning of the first half progressed, it was easy to see that the Barça players were affected by the strong Pamplona sun, shining directly in their eyes.  Mix that with the ambitious start from Osasuna, and things were looking dangerous.  Barça did manage to get off a few shots in the first part, but with no luck.  Iniesta combined with Alexis on a great play only to see Alexis shoot right at the goalkeeper.  Iniesta had the first goal of the night at his foot in the 12th minute, alone with the keeper inside the area and he launched it over the goal.  Not a mistake you normally see from Andres Iniesta, but as the minutes passed it was clear that he wasn't in his best form tonight.  Tello took a great shot in the 15th minute, cutting in from the left side and firing one, only to be denied by the post.  Soon after, Barça was definitely robbed of a good opportunity when Leo Messi broke out past the Osasuna defense to get a perfectly passed ball with lots of space between him and the keeper but the line judge called it back for offsides.  After seeing the replay several times, it's easy to say that Messi definitely wasn't offsides. 

Dealing with the Pamplona sun.  Photo from Sport.es

Osasuna finally struck in the 17th minute when they crossed the ball into the area from the left side and Joseba Llorente scored from just in front of the goal.  When the cross came into the area, Pique and Jordi Alba both showed their backs to Llorente.  This gave him the space to sneak past both of them and get a foot on the ball.  Bad mistake, and there was really nothing Valdes could do.  

The rest of the first half showed more control and more shots from Barça.  Messi and Tello both found the goalkeeper a couple more times but just couldn't get past him.  Iniesta also had more opportunities but couldn't make it work out.  In the 25th minute he actually shot another ball over the goal after a great pass in from Alexis Sanchez.

There was only one more scare from Osasuna in the first half.  In the 33rd minute Iniesta lost the ball in the midfield and Osasuna attacked quickly.  They got off a shot from the left side that was blocked by Valdes but rebounded straight back for another shot from in front of the goal.  Pique, who had fallen down on the first shot, was able to get a leg out to block this shot but it bounced right back for a third shot which Pique, still on the ground, blocked with the family jewels.

Here comes the jewel shot!  Photo from Sport.es

It was a long first half as Barça wasn't at the top of their game and Osasuna was really pushing hard.  Apart from the bad shots from Iniesta, he also lost the ball 4 times in the half, not normal for one of the world's best players.

Not a good day...  Photo from Sport.es

The second half started with the same players on the pitch and although Barça definitely improved with the ball control and possession, they weren't having any luck finding the goal.  In the 17th minute Pedro came in for an invisible Cesc Fabregas and Xavi for Iniesta in the 25th.

In the 25th minute Busi lost the ball on Osasuna's side of the pitch and they attacked quickly, had a good opportunity to make it a 2-0 game, alone with Valdes but denied by the post.  Tito Vilanova apparently thought Busquets was fouled when he lost the ball and raised his hands in protest, which got him his first red card (unmerited) of the season and he took an early leave from the stadium.

Who, ME??  Photo from teinteresa.es

David Villa came in for Tello in the 30th minute of the second half, and Barça got their first goal one minute later.  Great work from Alexis and especially Pedro who passed and ran around the Defense on the right side.  Pedro was finally able to cross the ball back into the middle to Alexis, who found a running Messi to put it in the goal and make it a 1-1 game.

Leo, always Leo!  Photo from Sport.es

The middle of the second half was a little rough.  Pique got a yellow card for lifting his elbows on a jump, and Osasuna got one for the exact same thing less than a minute later.  Puyol also received a blow that fractured his cheek bone.  It's not the first time this has happened, we've seen Carles wearing a mask in the past for the same problem.  Maybe now they can get him a new one with some captain's stripes on it!

In the 35th minute, and after a very nervous and long second half, Leo Messi hit the mark after a good pass from Jordi Alba on the left side.  Messi shot hard from the front of the area on his first touch.  The ball hit the net, Osasuna's keeper wasn't happy, and all of Barcelona breathed a collective sigh of relief!  Although Osasuna did see one red card (their captain) for complaining, Messi's goal was really the end of the match.

Barça suffered to take the three points today but the final score is all that matters.  Stressful game, good result.  We're also getting a little help in other places as Getafe was able to beat Real Madrid last night.  After two matches Real Madrid has a whopping one point.  Way to go guys!

Not a picture of FC Barcelona, but I liked it anyway.
Photo from Sport.es

With the results from the first two matches, Madrid is definitely going to want to win the return leg of the Spanish Supercup on Wednesday.  They will come out with something to prove, the only problem is that they have to play against Barça!

All for the first trophy of the season on Wednesday night!

I'd also like to add that it was nice to see our new signing, Alexandre Song, on the bench.  I can't wait to see this guy get some action.  I was also happy to see Thiago Alcantara back at training today with the rest of the team.

FC Barcelona bench including Alex Song!  Photo from Sport.es

Thiago back at work!  Photo from Sport.es

¡Visca Barça!

Spanish Supercup leg 1! Dirty Madrid and Bad Referees!

The Spanish Supercup started tonight with the first match here in Camp Nou.  Tito Vilanova decided not to hold any big name players back and Barça started with Valdes, Mascherano, Pique, Alves, Adriano, Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, Pedro, Messi, and Alexis.  Beautiful team!

Cover your eye Tito!  Image from  Marca.com

The first half was really marked by three things. 
1.Barça's unbelievable (but normal) ball control.
2. Madrid's unacceptable (but normal) dirty play.
3. The referee's inability to get his yellow card out of his pocket for the first 42 minutes.

Barça was by far the better team of the first half and demonstrated it with precision passing, good play, and a few nice shots on goal.  It started in the 17th minute when Pique took a long shot from in front of the area.  It was nowhere close, but nice to see the ambition from his right foot.  Two minutes later, Alves took the ball down the right side and made a great pass across the middle to Messi.  I'm still asking myself how Messi missed the target on that one, but his shot sailed wide to the left.  Although Messi didn't score, Casillas definitely wet his shorts a little with that shot.  Messi had another great shot in the 29th, when he took the ball across the front of the area with his classic move to the left side and left footed shot to the far post.  He barely missed the far side of the goal and the wet spot on Casillas's shorts grew a little.  The last shot for Barça in the first half came from Pedro in the 32nd.  Great shot but Casillas was there to make the save.

Madrid came out dirty from the opening whistle and never let up.  9 minutes into the game Xabi Alonso slid into Busquets, flipping him completely over and the referee missed his first chance to take out his yellow card.  Coentrao ran over Alexis in the 13th minute, taking him completely out of a play and the ref missed it again.  Albiol should have seen yellow in the 23rd minute with a dirty tackle on Pedro but the ref let that one fly too.  Finally, in the 43rd minute the referee punished Albiol for his continuous dirty play.  After kicking Xavi's legs out from under him just in front of the area he received a yellow card.  Arbeloa joined the party with a yellow card of his own two minutes later with a dangerous tackle on Busquets.  I'm the first to admit that Busquets can act with the best of them, but this half he was getting beat up all over the pitch.

The second half played a little different than the first as Madrid was a little more into the game and actually made it exciting.  Still a little dirty, and Albiol should have seen his second yellow card (and the dressing room) in the 5th minute after he took Busquets out once again.  Luckily for Madrid the ref let that one go too.  In the 9th minute the ref missed a clear penalty when Alexis beat Arbeloa but the Madrid defender wrapped a leg around Alexis from behind and took him down inside the area.  Clear penalty, referee missed it.  Things heated up in the 11th when Christiano Ronaldo got his head on a corner and put Madrid on the scoreboard first. 0-1.  Bad defense from Barça, they never should have let Ronaldo get near the ball on a corner kick.  Luckily, Barça struck back less than a minute later when Mascherano made a beautiful pass from midfield to a running Pedro.  Coentrao was left behind and Pedro easily slid it past Casillas to tie the game. 1-1.

Pedro scores! Image from Mundodeportivo.com

The referee finally saw something in the 24th when Sergio Ramos (and his cute new hair cut) took Andres Iniesta down in the area.  A penalty was called and Leo Messi scored.  2-1.

Messi scores, everybody's happy! Image from Mundodeportivo.com

Iniesta was absolutely brilliant tonight and showed it again in the 33rd minute with an incredible run and pass to Xavi, leaving him alone with Casillas from a spot that he couldn't miss.  Xavi's goal made it 3-1.  Barça almost got another one in the 39th when Messi got the ball in front of Madrid's goal with no defenders to stop him, but Casillas made a great save to keep Madrid in the game.  Unfortunately for Barça, in the 41st minute Adriano passed the ball back to Valdes and he tried to be pretty with his feet when he should have cleared the ball away.  Angel Di Maria was able to step around Valdes and steal the ball, tapping it into an open goal and making in a 3-2 game just a few minutes before the final whistle.

No Valdes, No, No, No!  Image from Marca.com

Show us the way Tito!  Image from Mundodeportivo.com

Overall it was a great game for Barça.  3-2 is a good score and the second half was exciting.  Unfortunately, the error from Valdes at the end of the game will make the second leg of this Supercup a little more nerve wracking next week in Madrid!

Good game boys!

¡Visca Barça!

Masters of the Penalty

Two of the world's best!

Barça took on Manchester United today in Gothenburg, Sweden.  Once again, it turned out to be another goal keeping exhibition.  Barça came out with a heavy lineup.  Valdes, Alves, Puyol, Mascherano, Adriano, Iniesta, Busquets, Sergi Roberto, Alexis, Tello, and Messi all took the pitch from the start.  What a beautiful team!  It was a little surprising to see Xavi on the bench, but what a great pre-season Sergi Roberto is having, and today was no different.

Manchester United also came out with their stars today, but the first half was all Barça .  It didn't take long for them to get started, Iniesta took a great shot in the first minute and set Messi up with a beautiful pass in the fifth minute that Leo missed by one step.  Iniesta and Messi continued hooking up beautifully throughout the first half, in the 23rd Iniesta left a perfect heel pass for Messi, who barely missed the far post with a curving shot.  In the 31st minute Man U's Paul Scholes was booked with a yellow card for a tackle on Busquets that was definitely a little rough for a friendly match.  Barça almost found the goal two minutes later with yet another great combination between Messi and Iniesta, taking the defense with them to the right side and Messi left a spectacular ball on the left for a streaking Cristian Tello.  Unfortunately, Tello's shot was deflected for a corner kick that didn't turn into anything.  The only real scare for Barça came in the last minute before halftime when Tello was called for a penalty and Rooney lined up at the spot.  Tello made a terrible decision, sliding in to try and steal a pass inside the area.  At the moment he slid, nobody was directly in front of him but Nani quickly stepped in and got clipped by Tello's feet.  The ref definitely could have let it go, as Nani stepped into Tello's slide when it could have easily been avoided.  Hopefully a lesson was learned here as it is always dangerous to make a sliding tackle in the area!  Luckily, Barça's great streak of blocking penalties continued as Valdes dove to his right and made a brilliant stop on Rooney's shot, saving Barça from going into halftime down one goal.

Alexis!

The first half finished 0-0.  Iniesta seemed to be the best player of the half, but Messi, Alves, Alexis, and Sergi Roberto all looked pretty good!  Barça's domination of the ball was phenomenal, Man U hardly ever touched it and when they did they couldn't keep it.

Although it's big to play against a team like Manchester United, today's match was a friendly and Tito Vilanova made some changes at halftime to give some other players a chance.  Pique, Xavi, Cesc, Pedro, Pinto and Afellay all came on for Puyol, Sergi Roberto, Iniesta, Tello, Valdes, and Messi.

The second half wasn't quite as exciting as the first half and Barça didn't show the same ball control with the new players on the pitch.  Dani Alves and Alexis Sanchez looked like the strongest players, tearing up the right side together.  Man U pushed up the field early and tested the defense with a shot on goal in the 49th minute, but Pinto was there to make the save.  More changes were made for Barça in the 66th, when Bartra, Jordi Alba (finally!!!), Rafinha, and Montoya all came on for Mascherano, Alves, Alexis, and Adriano.  It didn't take long for Bartra to show us once again why he should be playing with the big boys this year.  In the 68th minute, Pinto (who is not known for his footwork) lost the ball just outside the area and Bartra had to step up and make a play, stealing the ball back before Man U could even get a shot off.  In the 70th minute, Busquets and Nani tangled up in the midfield and both received yellow cards.  They were away from the ball and Busquets grabbed Nani's arm, then Nani tripped Busquets.  Unnecessary play from both players in a so called "friendly" match.  The last 20 minutes of the match were quite slow and neither team really controlled the ball or looked like they may win the match.  Afellay took two shots, one went just outside the near post and the second was blocked by Man U's Spanish keeper, De Gea.  In the last 5 minutes Barça had two good crosses into the center of the area but nobody could get a foot (or head) on either of them and the 90 minutes finished with 0-0 on the scoreboard.  It was great to see Bartra continue to play well, but the highlight was definitely when Jordi Alba stepped on the pitch sporting blaugrana for the first time!

Jordi Alba comes on!

Just like our last match against PSG, this one had to be decided by penalties and once again Pinto proved to be the master of stopping shots from the spot.  Nani took the first shot and was obviously intimidated by Pinto, shooting directly into the crossbar and watching the ball bounce back.  Xavi stepped up next and had no problem connecting for Barça .  Man U sent Ashley Young to the spot next. Pinto dove to his right, and continued his amazing streak of blocking penalties.  Gerard Pique finished it off, easily sneaking his shot past De Gea and Barça left Gothenburg still undefeated in the pre-season!  Good work boys!

Pinto saves the day!

Our boys continue the pre-season on Saturday when they take on FC Dinamo Bucharest!

¡Visca Barça!

Good Vibrations

Image from Sport.es

FC Barcelona had their third test of the pre-season today, taking on Paris St. Germain in Paris.  The game had a lot of hype as PSG has added a few big players to their lineup this summer.  Ex Barça player Zlatan Ibrahimovic being the biggest signing, making this game a bit of a grudge match.  Thiago Silva, the other big addition to PSG this summer wasn't in attendance as he was playing in London with the Brazilian national team.

Barça started the first half with Valdes, Planas, Mascherano, Puyol, Alves, Sergi Roberto, Sergio Busquets, Rafinha, Alexis, Afellay, and Messi.  Planas probably only made the starting lineup due to a recent injury to Adriano.  Hopefully Jordi Alba will be playing the left back position full time very soon.

It didn't take long for Barça to get started.  In the 7th minute Alexis took the ball into the right side of the penalty area and crossed it over to the left. Rafinha brought the ball down off his chest and was easily able to beat the keeper to make it 0-1.  Terrible play from the PSG defense, who should have intercepted Alexis's cross but just completely blew it, leaving Rafinha all alone with the keeper.

Rafinha

In the middle of the first half there wasn't too much action.  Barça absolutely dominated the ball and we saw a couple dirty fouls.  In the 21st minute, another new PSG signing, Ezequiel Lavezzi, took Sergio Busquets down with a rough kick to the shin that should have seen a yellow card.  Three minutes later, Rafinha also should have received a yellow card for a foul against Ibrahimovic, but the referee wasn't in the mood for cards today as it was just a friendly match.

There was a bit of a scare for PSG in the 41st minute.  Javier Mascherano stole the ball from Ibrahimovic with a perfect tackle, but Ibra fell a little awkward and stayed down with what looked like an injured knee.  In the end Ibra was able to walk off and come back on the pitch shortly after.  A knee injury to Ibra could have meant tragedy for PSG.

The first half finished 0-1, but Barça definitely was the better team.  The highlight of the first half was the ball control displayed by Barça.  Messi, Alves, and Alexis were probably the most active players in the half.  Messi only shot twice as the PSG defenders kept him covered pretty well, but he contributed a lot in the middle of the field.  Puyol and Mascherano looked good in the central defense positons, and Planas wasn't really seen much in the left back spot.  Rafinha was much more active than in the last match, when he was almost invisible, and made a great play for Barça's first goal.  Afellay touched the ball a few times, but didn't really contribute much.  If he manages to stay in Barcelona through the end of the transfer window he is going to have a tough time getting minutes in the regular season as he'll be competing with Andres Iniesta and David Villa. One of the other revelations of the pre-season is Sergi Roberto.  He played great again today, really showing poise and looking like an old pro in the midfield.

The second half started with nine changes for Barça.  The only two players who didn't leave the pitch were Messi and Alves, who will more than likely see 90 minutes in almost every game this season.  Pinto, Bartra, Montoya, Dos Santos, Pique, Cesc, Iniesta, Pedro, and Xavi all came on.

Once again, Barça got started quickly.  The referee called a penalty in favor of Barca in the 51st minute.  It looked like a dive from Alexis, but the referee blew the whistle and Messi converted.  This put Baçra up 0-2 and it was starting to look like they were going to have another easy win.

Leo scores again!

Unfortunately, PSG started a comeback in the 59th minute when Martin Montoya went for a ball with a high kick when he should have used his head.  He was inside the area and his kick tripped up a jumping PSG forward, giving Zlatan Ibrahimovic a shot from the penalty spot.  Ibra converted easily, making it a 1-2 game.

The middle minutes of the second half were pretty slow.  Interestingly, with ball controllers Xavi, Iniesta, and Cesc in the game Barça didn't dominate the ball as much as they did in the first half.  Cesc took three great shots, all blocked by the keeper.  Two of the three were from several meters outside the area.  There was an interesting change for Barca in the 78th minute when Cristian Tello came on for Dani Alves, leaving only 3 defenders.

In the 81st minute, PSG escaped with the ball down the right side, made a good cross to the center and forced Pinto to make two nice saves.  Pinto's second save crossed the back line and gave PSG a corner kick which Zoumana Camara was able to head into the top right corner of the net.  Pinto never had a chance, didn't even move his feet, and the game was tied 2-2.  It was a great shot from Camara, but he never should have had so much space on the corner kick.

One highlight of the second half (once again), was the poised and patient play shown from youngster Marc Bartra.  He ran down a PSG counter attack in the 88th minute, stealing the ball and saving Barça from a dangerous situation.  In the last minute of the game he was in perfect position to block a last second shot from PSG that could have been a disaster.

Being a friendly match, it was settled by penalties after the ref blew the 90 minute whistle.  Pinto proved to be a mental ninja by blocking the first two shots from PSG.  He is excellent at playing mind games with penalty shooters and he was at the spot, personally handing the ball over to each player for PSG before they took their shot, and sometimes even telling them which way he is going to dive.  Whatever he does, it works!  Barça never failed from the spot, and won the penalty shootout 4-1, completing their third victory of the pre-season. The next match is a big one!  We face Manchester United on Wednesday in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Well done Pinto!

¡Visca Barça!

The Return of the King

Source

The best player in the history of football returned to the pitch today as FCBarcelona took on Raja Club Athletic in Morocco.  Apparently Messi and Afellay caused quite a stir (as Leo always does) upon their arrival in Morocco today and went on to show why on the pitch.


Barça started the match with regular starters Messi, Alves, Alexis, Mascherano, and Adriano.  Pinto, Bartra, Dos Santos, Sergi Roberto, Rafinha, and Afellay made it 11.  


It didn't take long for Messi and Barça to get started today.  There was also a little (unnecessary) help from the referee.  In the 13th minute a great combination between Messi, Alves, and Alexis ended with the ball in the back of the net and 0-1 on the scoreboard.  There was a clear offsides on the first pass that the referee missed, then Alves found Alexis, who converted a goal he couldn't miss.  It was already looking like Alves and Alexis were going to have another great game, and adding Messi to the mix is a dangerous combination.

A great combination, image from Sport.es

In the 35th minute Barça found the goal again and didn't slow down until the referee blew the whistle for halftime. The second goal came from a great through ball from Ibrahim Afellay to a running Leo Messi who easily beat the keeper and made it 0-2, scoring his first of many goals to come in the 2012/2013 season.  It was beautiful to see Messi as the most active player on the pitch once again, and in the 39th minute he hit his second goal with a great give and go combination from Alexis Sanchez.  The festival continued just two minutes later when Messi found Afellay, who took a shot which was blocked by the Raja keeper.  There was another clear offsides missed by the referee here and the rebound came straight back to Alexis, who easily converted his second goal of the night, making it 0-4.

Alexis Sanchez, Image from ElMundodeportivo.com

Once again proving why he is the greatest player in football, Messi completed his first hat-trick of the season in the 45th minute.  This one came from a great pass from Messi to a wide open Alexis Sanchez, who probably should have shot, but very unselfishly gave the ball back to Messi for his third goal of the night.  The first half finished 0-5.  Long live Leo Messi!

Image from Sport.es

The second half started with no changes in the lineup or Barça's pace.  In the 49th minute Afellay had a great opportunity to score but he couldn't get it past the keeper.  One minute later Dani Alves made a great steal and found Leo Messi, who chipped the ball over the keeper and bounced it off the crossbar, missing his 4th goal of the night by a few centimeters.  A few minutes later Leo broke away from the defense once again in another great individual play.  This time he tried another chip shot but nobody's perfect and this one didn't get over the keeper's head.


In the 57th minute Alexis Sanchez took the ball into the area and made a quick cut to his right, got tripped up by a defender, and set Barça up for an opportunity from the penalty spot.  Surprisingly, Dani Alves lined up to shoot the penalty instead of Messi.  Alves' aim was true and Barça went up 0-6.


Over the next few minutes Barça substituted every player on the pitch except Pinto.  First Espinosa, Deulofeu, Femenia, Planas, and Gustavo came on.  Then Balliu, Sergi Gomez, Lombán, Patric, and Lobato completed the new eleven and made it look more like a Barça B match as all the regular first team players left and took a seat on the sideline.  The young guys who started the match and left the pitch at this point hadn't really done much with the exception of Marc Bartra.  Bartra is quickly making most Barça fans forget about Javi Martinez, the young defender Barça has shown interest in signing from Bilbao.  Bartra had two excellent steals in the first half, played great defense, and looked as comfortable as any veteran player on the pitch (watch out Gerard Pique).  Sergi Roberto was also quite active in the midfield during the first half, looking like he may be able to help the team during difficult moments throughout the season.  The other two young players, Dos Santos and Rafinha, didn't contribute much.  Dos Santos made two terrible passes which were lost in the midfield and could have led to goals if Barça had been playing against a better team, and Rafinha was completely invisible.


After all the substitutions, the match looked like it was going to be similar to the second half of the last match against Hamburg, lacking the spark provided by the star players.  This all changed in the 42nd minute when Barça lined up to take a free kick from a few meters outside the area.  Sergi Gomez took a great shot which should have been stopped by the keeper, but it slipped past him, making it 0-7.  Gerard Deulofeu was definitely the most active player on the pitch during the last part of the second half, and he made a beautiful run in the 89th minute which led to Barça's 9th goal of the night.  Gustavo put a great pass through the defensive lines to Deulofeu, who took a very precise shot from the right side and beat the keeper.  Once again, keep an eye on Deulofeu, we're going to see a lot more of this kid in the future.


That wrapped up an impressive win against a rather weak Raja Club Athletic.  Messi was definitely the star of the game, but Alexis, Alves, Bartra, and Deulofeu also looked very impressive.  Great game boys!  The next match will take place next Saturday and should be more exciting as we take on Paris Saint-Germain.  It should be interesting to see our boys go up against ex-Barça players Maxwell and Ibrahimovic! 

¡Visca Barça!

A Win for Tito!

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                                                                                                                                         "Tito"








FCBarcelona started the preseason on a good note today by beating Hamburg 1-2.  Barça started the match with a few of the first team players including Dani Alves, Javier Mascherano, Adriano, Ibrahim Afellay, Pinto, and Alexis Sanchez.  The rest of the pitch was filled with Barça B players Marc Bartra, Sergi Roberto, Jonathon Dos Santos, Gerard Deulofeu, and Javier Espinosa.  The big surprise being the absence of Leo Messi who apparently injured a calf muscle in training on Monday.


Although playmakers Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta, and Sergio Busquets didn't travel to Hamburg, Barça started the match in their usual manner by controlling the ball with precision passing.  It didn't take long to put up the first goal of the Tito Vilanova era.  Barça received a corner kick in the 5th minute that cleared the defenders' heads and came down perfectly for Alexis Sanchez to feed Dani Alves for a rocket shot from the front of the area.

From sport.es

Beautiful goal but a good defense never would have left both Alexis and Alves with so much space.


There was a little surprise in the 21st minute as Ibrahim Afellay lost the ball near the midfield line, giving Hamburg a 3 on 2 counter attack which they easily converted into a goal, making it a 1-1 game.

Barça didn't slow down, led by a brilliant Dani Alves, youngster Deulofeu, and Alexis Sanchez who took the ball into the area in the 31st minute where the referee missed a clear Hamburg handball which should have given Barça an opportunity from the penalty spot.  One minute later Alexis arrived again, putting the ball in the back of the net, only to be called offsides and the goal annulled.  At this point Alexis was on fire, taking another shot at the goal two minutes later, and making a beautiful steal soon after which led to Barça's next goal.  Alexis got the ball directly to Afellay, who made a great move and took a shot that the keeper blocked.  Unfortunately for the non-existent Hamburg defense, Gerard Deulofeu was in perfect position to put the rebound in easily, making it a 1-2 game.

From sport.es

Deulofeu has captured the interest of several Premier League teams this summer, so it was great to see him get his first ever goal with Barça's first team.  I'm sure we're going to see a lot more from this kid in the future.

There were several changes at the half, with all first team players except Pinto being taken out. Barça B players  Oier, Balliu, Sergi Gómez, Muniesa, Planas, Sergi Roberto, Rafinha, Patric, Ilie, Joan Àngel Roman and Cristian Lobato came on.  The ball control continued (nice to see from the young guys) although the only real opportunity for a goal came in the 73rd minute when Cristian Lobato beat the keeper but failed to hit the open goal.

Possible tragedy struck in the 60th minute when Marc Bartra had to come back on (don't see that very often) to replace Marc Muniesa who was injured from a rather harsh Hamburg tackle.  Muniesa may have damaged a ligament in his knee, which could be terrible as he is very possibly looking at a lot more first team playing time this season.  We'll know more in a few days.

The stars of the match today were definitely Dani Alves, Alexis Sanchez, and Gerard Deulofeu, but some other young players including Marc Bartra and Sergi Roberto also played quite well.

It was a good way to start the preseason for Barça, although Muniesa's injury could definitely hurt a little as Barça still hasn't picked up another central defender in the summer transfer window.

Some interesting facts...Barça was set to receive 1.3 million euros for this match but due to the fact that Leo Messi didn't travel with the team, they will only be getting 30% of that.  Hamburg has promised to refund the ticket price to all fans who didn't attend because of Messi's absence.  Although this is a strange circumstance, it leaves no room for doubt about the greatness of Leo Messi.  Please, please, please give this guy his well deserved 4th consecutive Balon de Oro!

Barça's next preseason match will be against Raja Club Athletic from Morocco on Saturday, July 28th.

So after the first preseason match of 2012, I have to say congratulations Tito and.............

¡Visca Barça!