It’s difficult to understand how Barça can play so well at home and so badly on their travels, but tonight’s performance at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez was very poor. Barça were in the game for 27 minutes until Getafe’s first goal but after this they were nowhere to be seen.
Barça began the game with the same eleven that had played so well against Rangers but there were early signs that it would not be so easy tonight. The first shot of the game came after nine minutes when Getafe’s Pablo shot over from 25 yards. Barça replied with a neat back heel from Messi to Xavi whose cross was just too high for Henry.
Getafe continued to push forward with Uche causing all sorts of problems. First he had an effort blocked by Iniesta and then he dribbled past Abidal and Milito before getting in a shot that Valdés saved. Puyol then had a half chance at the other end which was blocked.
Barça’s best moment came in the 24th minute. Iniesta beat his man and sent a wonderful pass into Henry’s stride, Henry controlled it nicely but his shot was saved by Abbondanzieri who had come out well to narrow the angle. A couple of minutes later Milito had an excellent chance from a corner but his header went narrowly over.
A minute later Barça went behind. Puyol fouled Uche inside the Barça half, from the free kick no-one picked up Cata Diez at the far post and his header fell nicely to Manu del Moral who was also unmarked , and he had an easy task to put the ball past Valdés. There was poor marking from Milito, Abidal and Toure who were all guilty of ball-watching.
The saddest thing about the game was how Barça completely failed to respond to the goal. It took 18 minutes before anything close to danger was created, just before half time Messi went on a run and passed to Henry in the area, but Henry’s attempted return pass failed to find Messi.
There was no magical half time talk from Rijkaard as things went from bad to worse in the second half. Zambrotta came on for Thuram and Puyol moved to centre-half, and Iniesta began on the left wing with the ineffective Ronaldinho played behind the forwards. However, I can only recall one shot from Iniesta that went wide in the entire second half. Ronaldinho failed to have any impact and was substituted by Giovani, and Messi was guilty of trying to beat too many and was taken off to give Bojan twenty minutes. The youngsters did very little however, with Bojan earning himself a yellow card for diving.
With five minutes remaining Zambrotta received a straight red card after an ugly tackle on Licht, he will now miss Tuesday’s cup game as a result. Getafe continued to have the better of the game and got a deserved second in the 90th minute. Uche got passed Milito who only succeeded in bringing down Toure, this left Puyol on his own against Uche and Albin. Uche squared the ball to Albin who shot past Valdés.
Barça missed the chance to go top of the league tonight and have now given Madrid the chance to go four points clear if they beat Mallorca tomorrow. There was a lot of talk this summer about learning from last season’s mistakes, on the evidence of tonight’s game, along with the other away games so far this season, Barça have learnt nothing.
Barça: Valdes 6; Puyol 6, Thuram 5.5 (Zambrotta m45, 5.5) Milito 4.5, Abidal 4; Xavi 5.5, Toure 5, Iniesta 6; Messi 5.5 (Bojan m71, 5), Henry 5, Ronaldinho 5 (Giovani m62, 5)
Yellow Cards: Puyol, Toure, Iniesta, Bojan.
Red Card: Zambrotta.
10 responses so far ↓
blaugrana // Nov 10, 2007 at 23:33
Barca better start learning their lessons quickly,in the champions league away games are the most vital, if they can keep up this type of away performances they might as well be looking at a knockout stage exit from the champions league, and as for zambrotta for that tackle what in god’s name were you thinking?????
blaugranafan // Nov 10, 2007 at 23:47
This is the worst I’ve ever seen Barca play. I think Barca’s away record and their performances away may justify some consideration of mixing things up in the manager’s box.
I also see now why Cruyff has been publicly remonstrating Messi to pass the ball more. Leo tried to do too much individually, I think, and has shown that he is not yet the complete player. Give the golden ball to Kaka.
Bojan and Gio were terrible today as well. They clearly have a lot more to learn.
Kari Kulmala // Nov 10, 2007 at 23:51
If you were able see the match, what do you think about the referee’s desicions during the game? I saw it with my friends and our opinion was that either the referee was unbelievably stupid or he was bribed. Since this is far from being the first time I have seen unjustise happen in spanish football, I wonder why nobody ever makes any comments about the way referees blow their whistles and decides who will win the game. I agree that Barca deserved to lose the game but I disagree the way yellow cards were given and not given. I believe Getafee would have got away with murder if they had committed one.
Teemu.
Titi186 // Nov 11, 2007 at 0:28
Ronaldinho is fast becoming isolated by his own teamates; they do not want to give the ball to him as he only gives the ball away.
Messi is a very good player but at times like today when he tries to dribble past too many people it wont work because Getafe will put 3 people to tackle him and it worked as he did nothing all game.
Henry only seems to connect with Iniesta in midfield; Deco and Xavi need to be more direct or it makes his signing seem pointless.
Barcelona are becoming too predictable and anyone who watched Arsenal last season will see that we had that problem last season. Teams just put 11 men beind the ball and wait for a set-peice to try and score. Barca need to be able to counter-attack more quickly and play more direct otherwise they wil find themselvesto far behind the boring, yet more effective Real Madrid.
e10 // Nov 11, 2007 at 1:00
I agree with all.
I think that we also need Samuel Eto’o back as soon as possible as Henry isn’t quite settled yet.
I can’t beleive we lost to Getafe and if this keeps up forget the La Liga and the Champions League.
FCB - Canada // Nov 11, 2007 at 4:17
Brutal game to watch. Someone forgot to tell the team that the international break starts after the weekend. By far one of the worst games of the season. I think Barca just showed us why they aren’t going to win anything this year.
Oh…Henry… missing all those opportunities. Does anyone else notice how he always tries to do the same thing on those breakaways? Why not fake and go around the goaltender… maybe chip it over…
Real Madrid aren’t playing pretty but like it’s been said before they get the job done.
blaugranafan // Nov 11, 2007 at 4:31
Good point, Kari. I would say that Getafe should probably have been given 2 or 3 more yellows if the ref had judged Getafe fouls as harshly as he judged Barca’s. The tackle on Ronnie and a tackle in the first half just outside their 18 yard box are ones that come to mind. I guess I personally harp on the ref that much since I just sort of accept biased officiating as part of the Spanish game (or soccer in general), even though it delegitimizes the sport significantly.
Did it appear to anyone else like everyone except Iniesta had suddenly forgotten how to pass?
Speeka // Nov 11, 2007 at 18:54
Yes a terrible game for Barca, but it is only to be expected after all. A lot of player’s are new in Barca & it is just too optimistic to expect them all, to perform week after week, at their finest, which we have already seen many time’s. It takes time to fully adjust to a new league.Hopefully, this loss will hasten that process. Getafe played a great home game & earned their win.
No need to panic just yet, ive seen this many times in La Liga & it’s what makes it so fantastic, year after year. Imo the best in the world.
DANSKI // Nov 14, 2007 at 6:07
i think what needs to be done is, henry needs to play on the left. This is where he played for arsenal (great succession on that side) and also france. But will happen to ronaldinho? good question that only the coach can anwser. I do agree with e10 that eto would be the ideal player to play as the stricker. What is happening is that messi is losing the ball to much, right now all the teams know he wants to dribble and are placing 2 or 3 players on messi, which then makes it an impossible task for messi. So maybe if he was to pass more he would free himself up, and could then dribble when the opportunity comes tom. Not everytime he gets the ball! This is what makes ronaldinho such a fine player, he makes the correct decisions because he is able to dribble at the right times and also gives the ball off at the right times
SIMONATOR // Nov 15, 2007 at 11:04
i totally disagree with danski on this occasion, although i do regard his opionion very highly. you see, what i think needs to be done is they should play a two-man attack, with messi and ronaldinho just playing behind eto’o and henry. with this, barca can use both messi’s and ronaldinho’s playmaking talents. indeed, if you include xavi, deco, toure in the centre of the park, this provides the appropriate attack which provides them with the success they need on the road. the trouble is, they are failing to score away. i believe the formation should be 3-3-2-2. you can contact me on sbs; www.theworldgame.com.au. i write a weekly column. thanks for reading
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