Rubin continue to make it difficult

FC Barcelona travelled to Russia to face Rubin Kazan, a tie that proved difficult last year, didn't get easier this time round.

Despite both teams having spotkick and hitting the wood work in each half, it was far from an even match up, with Barça having over 70% of the possession.

The Catalans got into their usual rythem from kick off and nearly went ahead on 12 minutes when David Villa played Pedro in and his first time shot struck the bar.

Rubins lack of attack made them look unlikely they would score, until they were awarded a penatly on the 28th minute. Victor Valdes failed to clear a loose ball and it was played back into the path of Vitali Kaleshin who was brought down by Dani Alves. Christain Noboa scored to give the home side the lead.

Pedro then had his and Barça's 2nd chance of the game but his first time volley drifted wide of the goal

Rubin Kazan continued to defend deep and sit back in the second half, Barça didn't panic and continued to pass the ball and look for an opening.

In the 54th minute, Iniesta made a run
into the box and was brought down, the referee award a pentaly and was converted by David Villa, who now has two goals in two Champions League Games.

Shortly after, Messi came on for Mascherano in his first game back from the ankle injury he suffered at Atletico Madrid two weeks ago.

Alves should of gave the three time European Champions the lead when he found himself on the end of a poor back pass, with his back to goal, he failed to score on the turn.

Messi, who was playing in midfield, ran onto a deflected through ball from Iniesta but shot straight at the keeper.

Barça continued to press and could of won the game in the last minutes. Iniesta found space insdie the box but his shot just missed the target.

Rubin Kazan's defensive mentality has once again frustrated Barcelona, similar to how Inter and Chelsea both played last year against the total football philosophy adopted by Pep Guardiola. Rubin Kazan's return to the Camp Nou in a few weeks will be an interesting affair, if Barça are to win the Champions League then they need to beat defensive minded teams, like Rubin.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Barça and Bilbao both see red in Basque country

Barcelona beat Atletico Bilbao 3-1 at San Mamès stadium last night to go second in the league.

The pace was set from kick off, with both teams defending from the front and pressuring well. Atletico's Amorebieta was sent off for a dangerous tackle on Iniesta 34 minutes into the game. Many chances fell to Barça and Atletico but the first half finished without any goals.

Barca did take the lead in the second half a goal from Keita. Xavi then put Barça two up soon after with a little help from a deflection. Villa was then sent off for an off the ball incident. Atletico pulled one back close to full time but it was no use, Busquets sealed the win for the Catalans in injury time.

Barça started and played throughout with great peices of play, perfectly timed balls and a great work ethic.Barça began to cause problems after 9 minutes, Keita came close to putting Barça ahead but didn't catch his shot right and it was easily saved.

Villa, who spends every game lurking, dancing with the offside trap was next to test the keeper. After a nicely weighted pass by Iniesta, Villa struck first time but could only find the post.
Shortly after, Atletico's Amorebieta was sent off for a tackle on Iniesta, deemed to be dangerous by the referee.

10 man atletico nearly surprised the vistors in the second half, when Barça failed to clear a loose ball it fell to San Jose who struck the post.

Barcelona upped the pressure and were ahead on 54 minutes with a goal by Seydou Keita. A great peice of link up play by Xavi and David Villa found Keita who scored his first of the season.
The blaugrana could of scored again when an Alves back heel found Pedro but after having all the hard work done for him, couldn't beat the keeper.

Andres Iniesta then went close in the 64th minute but after finding himself unmarked and in space in the area he could only find the outside of the post.

Xavi, who is not known for his goals or even his attempts on goal, scored with the help of a deflection, after he shot from outside the box to ease the pressure on the champions.

In an act of stupidity, David Villa was red carded for lashing out, this summed up his frustrating game in Basque country.

Gabilondo pulled a goal back for atletico in the closing stages which lead to a nerve racking few minutes for the away side

With Atletico pushing for an equaliser they committed players forward and payed the price when they were caught on the counter attack. Pedro, after beating the offside trap, squared it to Sergio Busquets who finished the game off with a confidently taken finish.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Barça prevail over stubborn Sporting

Barcelona beat Sporting in the Camp Nou last night despite a quality defensive perfomance by the away side.

The action was far from entertaining as Barça set out in their first match without the injured Lionel Messi.

 Sporting didn't mange to get a shot on target, and focused more on packing the midfield and sitting back. 

Barça did break the deadlock however, in the second half, thanks to a goal from David Villa, against his former team.

In the first 9 minutes, Iniesta could of gave Barça the lead in a move similar to the goal he scored in the World Cup Final but his volley was saved.

Keita tried his luck from outside the box but his shot lacked any conviction and was easily turned away.
  

David Villa went close with a shot on his left foot shortly after, his attempt could only hit the side netting, he should of hit the target or found Bojan who was waiting in the box.

Villa, like all good strikers, kept pressing and was rewared in the 49th minute when Dani Alves played a neat ball through Sportings strong back line, which was met and taken with typical Villa style to put Barça ahead. 

The home side kept up possession but couldn't find the end product to build on their one goal lead. Barca were forced into making long range shots for most of the game, which didn't pay off.

Barcelona coach, Pep Guardiola was optimistic despite his team failing to shine.

 "you can't always produce excellence. The team stuck together and we played at a high level". It was a victory built on hard work and the boss insisted: "we played at a high level. We lacked spark, but we kept together. They didn't have a single shot on target and that is an added plus for us. If we defend well, it's because we attack well and vice versa. The team stuck together and we didn't split into attack and defence. You have to take into account that the other team played too and they played very well". 

Mes que un club

Modern football is lost in a sea of economics, money and power. Football clubs that were once owned by the fans or individuals with ties to the clubs roots, now lie in the hands of businessmen, who see the players as nothing more than commodities, readily available to be bought, sold, traded or cast aside. Football isn't and cannot be treated like any other business enterprise, it's hard to image 60,000 Tesco shoppers turning up to their supermarket singing "who are ya!? who are ya!?". Football has a passion and a following bigger than any other sport and this passion has been converted in Pounds and Euro's by club owners. I'm not suggesting that a football club shouldn't have a business plan, that would be a one-way ticket to liquidation, but when you have a club that is owned by an individual or consortium they run a football club like any other business model, with the goal of making a profit, a profit that is not put back into the club.

Take Manchester Untied for example, a club with a great history and a worldwide fan base.. Manchester United was once a PLC (public limited company) and shares were owned by their fans until a buyout from Malcolm Glazer in 2003 forced United fans to sell their shares or they would become worthless, this caused uproar and Manchester United lost fans, including myself. As a result of this privatisation, the price of match tickets risen, interest from the occurred debt grew and United's profit margins decreased. You only have to ask any United fan about the whereabouts of the £80 million from the sale of Cristiano Ronaldo to understand the detrimental effects of the growing trend of billionaires buying our football clubs.


What I find alarming is that more and more fans are welcoming buyouts from consortiums and billionaires, in the hope that this will put some silverware in the trophy cabinet. This may be the case, but in the world of modern football, nothing is free and all the trophies in the world cannot buy back the soul of your club.


Mes que un club.

Messi out for three weeks

Messi's injury will keep him out for three weeks according to La Liga pundit and journalist Guilleme Balague.



Messi had to be carried off on a stretcher in injury time after a wild tackle by Atletico's Tomas Ujfalusi in Barca's 2-1 win.



The injury seems not to be as bad as first feared (or looked from the camera shot of Messi's ankle) but it will keep Messi out the next five or six games, including Barcelona's Champions League away match in Russia, against the difficult Rubin Kazan.



"We are happy with the win but sad about Messi,"  Pep Guardiola told journalists moments after the full-time whistle.

"The TV pictures speak for themselves. It is not only Cristiano Ronaldo who needs protecting. The referees should protect all the players."

These kind of tackles don't belong in modern football and the fact that Tomas Ujfalusi received a straight red doesn't make everything okay, this just emphasises Pep Guardiola's point about player protection. If players think that tackles like the one on Lionel Messi will only warrant a yellow or at worst a red, then we're bound to see more of these cynical tackles. Surely, more harsher punishment must be implemented.

Messi Injured in Barca Win

Barcelona travelled to Madrid to face Atletico Madrid is what proved to be a grueling encounter for the blaugrana with Messi suffering an ankle injury close to full time.


Messi gave Barcelona the lead thanks to a precise finish on the outside of his left foot. Raul Garcia then equalized with a header from a set piece. However, 10 minutes before half-time, Pique put his team back in front with a classy taken goal.


Barca started in usual fashion, dominating possession with slick, one-two passing.
It was David Villa's attempt that struck the post which led to the first goal, scored by Messi.


Pedro's perfectly timed pass was all the little Argentinian needed to slot the ball past Atletico's keeper, De Gea in the 13th minute.


The lead was short lived, with their first attack of the game, Atletico equalized from a corner, headed in by Raul Garcia. Victor Valdes, misjudging the height of the ball, gifted it to Garcia for his first goal in over a year.

Barca didn't panic and continued to play the only way they know and in the 33rd minute were rewarded with a goal. Messi found Pique from a corner, who calmly took the ball on his chest, let it bounce then volleyed it in.


Barca's tirade stepped up a gear in the second half, with De Gea being called into action to make three great saves in the first five minutes to prevent Barca from increasing their one goal margin.


David Villa, who spent most of the game camping in an offside position, went close to scoring a few times but couldn't beat De Gea, who despite conceding two goals, was outstanding and easily Atletico's man of the match.


The seconded half was more heated as Atletico tried to press for the equalizer, Barca's domination of possession lead to deafening whistles from the home crowd. Fouls were plentiful, with Atletico becoming frustrated as the match wore on.


Iniesta was proving to be a handful, on many occasions he skipped past numerous Atletico players with such grace and style. He was substituted in the final minutes and the World cup winner received a standing ovation from the crowd.


What was looking to be joyous journey back to Catalunya was cut short when, in the second minute of injury time, Messi was left in agony by a dangerous tackle from Tomas Ujfalusi, who received a red card. A close up shot showed Messi's ankle to be swollen heavily from the nasty tackle, the seriousness of the injury is yet to be confirmed, lets hope that he'll be okay.

Barca Hit Five

Barcelona's Champions League campaign kicked-off last night with a win against Panathinaikos and are now top of Group D. Three days after the shock defeat by Hercules, Pep's men are back on track.


It was Panathinaikos who took the lead, 20 minutes into the game. A route one ball by the keeper was flicked to the path of Govou, who beat Eric Abidal for pace to score and put the Greek Champions one up.


Barcelona responded immediately with a goal from Messi, who ran onto a perfectly weighted ball by Xavi and placed it past Greek keeper Alexandros Tzorvas.


David Villa gave his team the lead in the 33rd minute after a corner kick, Villa who was unmarked at the back post slotted in for his first Champions League goal for Barcelona. A few minutes later Pedro nearly put the Catalans three up with a sublime header from the edge of the area, only to just miss the target.


Messi missed a chance to double his tally when his shot hit the crossbar. Not to be deterred, Messi scored again 2 minutes before the end of the first half, picking the ball up surrounding by defenders he played a one-two with Xavi then a one-two with Pedro before calmly placing the ball into the corner of the net. This was Messi's 27th goal in the Champions League and makes him Barca's all time top goal scorer in the competition, ahead of Rivaldo.


The Second Half

Barcelona started the 2nd half with the same drive and fluent passing that they showed in the first 45minutes. 

Messi had a chance to get his hat trick shortly after the restart with a penalty but failed to convert his spot kick. Pedro made it four in the 77th minute when Messi's shot rebound off both post, and he was on hand to tap it in.

Dani Alves rounded off a spectacular Barca performance with a goal in injury time, Messi chipped the ball over the defence and Alves lobbed the keeper with a delicate header.

Champions League Group D

                             Group D

	Team	Games					Goals
		Pts	P	W	D	L	F	A
	Barcelona	3	1	1	0	0	5	1
	Copenhagen	3	1	1	0	0	1	0
	Rubin	0	1	0	0	1	0	1
	Panathinaikos	0	1	0	0	1	1	5

Are Barca Missing a Plan B?

                                 Barcelona vs Hercules (0-2)  Goals: Valdez 26' 58'


Barcelona crashed to a defeat against Hercules in the weekend, only the 2nd game into the new season.


Pep, decided not to start Xavi and Dani Alves, and seems that he underestimated the recently promoted Hercules. Without Dani Alves racing up the right flank and linking with Messi, Barca's attack relied more on Adriano's wayward crosses and Messi dropping deep to find the ball.


Barca were punished by a sloppy goal from a set piece in the 26th minute, with Valdes failing to deal with the ball, Nelson Valdez scrambled the ball into the net.

Gerrad Pique, who showed an eye for goal for the first half, nearly put the Catalans level but his header, in the 34th minute, just went wide.

Xavi was brought on in the second half and nearly leveled the scores when he connected to a pedro cross but his effort went over the bar.

To the amazement of the Camp Nou, Hercules scored a 2nd goal in the 58th minute, Valdez grabbing his 2nd of the game, with a great strike on the edge of the area, that left Victor Valdes no chance.

With Barca pushing for a way back into the game, David Trezeguet could of made it 3 for Hercules but failed to convert into an open goal, with only a couple of minutes left on the clock.

Barcelona have once again come undone when facing a team who sit back and pack the midfield, and without the height that Zlatan Ibrahimović and Yaya Toure offered, it's hard to see where Barca's plan B might come from.

Barcelona Get off to A Flying Start

Barca kicked off La Liga with 3 goals against Racing over the weekend, with messi breaking a goal scoring record in the process.

Messi opened the scoring within the first 3 minutes with a trademark flick over the keeper on his right foot, taking him above Rivaldo and Eto'o in goals for Barcelona.

Iniesta followed up with number 2 when Racing's keeper punched the ball directly into the world cup winners path, who, still having a lot to do, calmly converted with a first time, side foot volley.

David Villa pressed hard all game to get on the score sheet and despite an earlier goal deemed offside he headed in Barca's third in the 62nd minute, sealing the win for the Catalans.

Racing Santander played good football and pressed Barcelona throughout the match, the game could of a took a change of dircetion when Barca who were 2-0 up, conceded a debatable penalty. Valdez, who earned his first cap for Spain a week earlier, pulled off a fantastic save to keep out Mohammed Tchite.