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!