Barça could manage no better than a draw against relegation candidates Valladolid tonight at the José Zorrilla stadium. Barça continue with their unimpressive form away from Camp Nou and now find themselves four points behind leaders Real Madrid.
Bojan Krkic came into the team for the injured Thierry Henry and nearly won it for Barça in the second half but his shot hit the base of the post. Sylvinho came in for Abidal, and Carles Puyol moved to right back with Marquez alongside Milito in the middle.
There was very little action worthy of comment in the game. Valladolid created more chances and went ahead after 16 minutes, a move down the right ended with the ball arriving to Llorente whose initial effort hit Valdés but the ball bounced back off Llorente and Puyol and ended in the back of the net.
Bojan had one early opportunity but failed to control the ball after good work from Messi. It wasn’t until the 42nd minute that Barça created another decent chance. This time Xavi slipped the ball through to Ronaldinho in the centre forward position, and Ronnie held off a defender well before shooting past Alberto for the equalizer.
In the first half Barça had been consistantly outnumbered in midfield, and the wings were well defended by Valladolid. In the second half things opened up a bit as players tired. After 56 minutes Bojan shot high and wide from 20 yards, then a couple of minutes later Messi for once escaped from his marker and fed Bojan who cut in from the left before hitting a shot against the post.
It seemed then that Barça would go on to win, but as the second half went on it was Valladolid who continued to create more chances. Four times in the last half hour Victor Valdés had to make saves to keep Barça in the game.
I could probably write a bit more on the game but my concentration was affected by sitting behind a complete idiot in the bar. Why is it that the guy who talks the most and has the loudest voice is also the guy who knows least about football? I don’t have a problem with normal banter during a game, but when someone swears at the TV after every single refereeing decision and screams at every player to pass it throughout the entire game, it does my head in. I think I was totally justified in setting fire to what remained of his hair at the end of the game.
Barça: Valdés 7; Puyol 6, Marquez 5.5 (Zambrotta m60, 5.5), Milito 6, Sylvinho 5; Xavi 6, Toure 6 (Gudjohnsen m69, 6), Iniesta 5; Messi 5.5, Bojan 6.5 (Giovani m72, 5.5), Ronaldinho 6.
4 responses so far ↓
Speeka // Nov 2, 2007 at 11:10
I was disappointed by the Barca performance last night. Although i never set anyone’s hair on fire, I was very frustrated by some of the player’s performances. The best player for me was Valdez, who made some incredible saves to keep us in the game. Milito also played very well, putting in his best performance so far.
Thank God Roni, scored that sweet Goal to pull us level.
raj // Nov 2, 2007 at 11:28
obviously a disappointing game, but it always puzzles me to why Barca almost always struggle away from home?
The defence seemed shakey and even more so when Toure came off. But i felt that Iniesta and Xavi where non existent in creativity (excluding the one xavi pass to ronaldinho) and Messi needs a rest to rejuvenate.
But Real Betis @home on Sunday so hopefully Real lose to Seville and we thump Betis
dayib // Nov 2, 2007 at 15:02
it was disappoited game for both barca players and their funs ,realy i didn’t watch the game some reasons , before the game my hope was to nigth huge score ,and also i didn’t think for draw and loss, after few hours i visited barca pages at that time i estimated how many goals and also who player to got score ,when my eyes hit the; Valladolid 1 Barça 1, realy i have got angry …..
and also i didn’t get good sleeping……nonetheless … our quantatiy isno’t including third draw ….. but still i have mood … i will hope good performence next games …….by one of barca funs…………
FCB - Canada // Nov 2, 2007 at 19:00
Yes it was disappointing that Barca did not win, but Valladolid played well and remember they almost beat Real Madrid at the Bernabéu. Ironically it ended with the same score result. Barca can thank Valdez for this one for his outstanding goalkeeping. Bojan was the other bright spot in the game. Boy is he fun to watch.
My gut feeling says that Barca will win all of their games right up until the encounter with Real Madrid (not sure about this one yet). I hope I am right because I don’t see Real Madrid relinquishing their lead. It will be a fight to the end and if Barca drops 2-3 more games I think it will be over. I can’t wait for the game on December 23!
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