Barça gave a vastly improved performance from the last time they visited El Madrigal and were perhaps unlucky not to achieve more than a 0-0 draw to take into next Thursday’s second leg at Camp Nou. Carles Puyol had to pull out hours before kick off due to a heavy cold which meant a game for Lilian Thuram in defence, and Frank Rijkaard preferred to reserve Leo Messi for the second half.
Barça started the game in determined mood and showed the aggression and concentration needed against an opponent of the level of Villarreal. After just five minutes Deco crossed to Iniesta who tried to dribble through a crowd of defenders and the ball broke back to Thierry Henry but his side-footed shot went just wide. Villarreal had their first shot in the 12th minute but Valdés saved easily from Nihat’s effort.
After 18 minutes Deco passed to Giovani but his shot from the edge of the area lacked the power to cause Diego Lopez many problems. Barça were struggling to get through Villareal’s defensive line and gradually they started to concede ground. Rossi forced Valdés into a diving save in the 20th minute and then a mistake from Deco led to Pires shooting wide.
Marquez was booked after 28 minutes for following through on the goalkeeper after he had played a neat one-two with Henry, but the rest of the half belonged to Villarreal. Rossi’s shot from an angle was easy for Valdés but after 37 minutes a cross from Pires was headed down to Nihat and this time Valdés had to produce a magnificent save to keep the score at 0-0.
Messi came on for Giovani at the startof the second half and Barça began to take control of the game. Henry had a hopeful shot well over, and in the 62nd minute Iniesta had a great effort saved by Diego Lopez. Deco shot over from the corner and then Bojan came on for Henry. In the 72nd minute a fine run from Messi sent in Iniesta but the keeper came out and saved with his feet.
Villarreal had done very little in the second half but on 75 minutes Senna who had come on as a substitute forced another fine save from Valdés with a swerving shot from 25 yards. Bojan had a shot wide in the 77th minute and then a minute later he set up Iniesta on the right but his shot went wide of the far post.
Gudjohnsen came on for Xavi in the last ten minutes as Villarreal pushed forward in search of a winner. Capdevila shot over on 85 minutes and then Messi had Barça’s last chance but his handball to flick the ball past the goalkeeper was seen by the ref and he received a booking. In the last minute Valdés was forced into another fine save from Nihat’s free kick but it will now all have to be decided in the game at Camp Nou next week.
This was a pretty good performance from Barça against a difficult opponent. Valdés was superb, stopping anything that came his way but the defence were more or less solid throughout. The attack looked better in the second half after the introduction of Messi and Bojan, but they lacked a bit of luck to get the all important away goal. Barça can be satisfied with the result but should not be over confident as a score draw in the return game will see them go out.
This was not the easiest game to report as there was a drunken idiot who kept getting in the way of the screen during the second half. After telling him a couple of times he decided to steal my pen with which I was taking notes. The bar staff had warned him a couple of times and then he started to try and pick a fight with me. I told him that all I wanted was to watch the game but he continued to try and stare me out and insult me until the bar staff kindly ejected him from the premises. Please forgive me if I have missed any details from the match but being a blogger is not always an easy life.
Barça: Valdés 8, Zambrotta 6.5, Thuram 6.5, Milito 7.5, Sylvinho 6.5; Xavi 6.5 (Gudjohnsen m81, –), Marquez 6.5, Deco 6; Giovani 6 (Messi m45, 6.5), Henry 6 (Bojan m68, 6.5), Iniesta 6.
Barça yellows: Marquez m28, Deco m73, Messi m88.
21 responses so far ↓
Speeka // Jan 25, 2008 at 1:34
Sorry to hear that Nic, theres always one.
Nesta // Jan 25, 2008 at 3:10
Tough game man…good to see you pull through it
Blaugrana // Jan 25, 2008 at 3:10
Hey nic i got my first correct prediction yipii
Merv // Jan 25, 2008 at 3:45
Thought the guys did well away from home. Thuram had a good game in the absence of Puyol. Too bad we didn’t have a little more luck with the shots on goal. I’m hoping we will have the home field advantage though.
Phil and Ray did mention during the game that the game against AB would be moved to Sunday, so hopefully the extra day will do the players some good.
Certainly hope Thierry’s groin isn’t going to keep him out of the next game. He looked as if it caused him a deal of pain when he slipped.
Sorry you had a run in with one of those types. Kudos to you for perservering and bringing us the story
Blaugrana // Jan 25, 2008 at 6:26
Why didn’t you just watch the game at home nic?
Youssef Gazia // Jan 25, 2008 at 10:54
These kids are overblown by the media, and before they can prove their worth they get recognition which gets to their heads! Sell Dos Santos, Burn Deco, make messi realize he is just another player not god send, not maradonna, and finally bring ronaldinho back, at least he knew how to take a freekick which could win us the game sometimes…enough nonsense with the kids, bring barca back to its glory days frank!!
With the exception of messi, ronaldinho in his current form plays better than any other barca player in the squad rite now…!! henry?
Youssef Gazia // Jan 25, 2008 at 10:57
With the exception of messi, ronaldinho in his current form plays better than any other barca player in the squad rite now…!! henry?
Youssef Gazia // Jan 25, 2008 at 10:57
“just because we didn’t score doesn’t mean it wasn’t [a good game]”
thats exactly the attitude thats bringing this team down…this kind of a result is becoming quite common to tell u the truth…the dogs beat them at elmadrigal 5 - 0…thanks to all these ‘good scoreless games’ they are 7 points ahead…to think that the barca players will go home tonight thinking they had a ‘good performance’ is pathetic, will barca ever go back to the dream team days?
Youssef Gazia // Jan 25, 2008 at 10:58
IM SORRY IF IM TOO PESAMISTIC… BUT THIS IS HOW I FELL AND I COULDNT HELP IT BUT POST MY ANGRY COMMENTS…
Barca o Murte…
Blaugrana // Jan 25, 2008 at 12:13
Gaiza i think u went overboard there,glory is stil in our hands we are big favorites for the copa our defence is solid, bojan and giovanni are investments for the future so you can’t really point at them,deco about him i don’t know
Merv // Jan 25, 2008 at 14:12
I must disagree. I don’t think enjoying a game, be it a goaless draw or not, is having a bad attitude. And I honestly don’t think the players, if they are proffessionals, will ever be happy at “not winning”. I think they always want the best result. I don’t think it’s plausible to expect your team to always annihilate the opposition. It’s just not going to happen. You are setting yourself up for dissapointment if you do feel that way.
There are way too many great players in the world of football for any one team to dominate them all. They all can’t all be on one team and certainly they can’t all be in the same starting 11.
Just my own opinion and feelings on the matter. The team needs to know the fans are behind them so they can get on with improving their performance and not worrying about getting castigated from their own fans and the media.
Barca are in 2nd place. There are many teams that would relish being in that position. I’ve never been disappionted in the players, only disappointed for them. Perhaps I’m naive, so be it. I’ll leave the tactical and technical for the coach to deal with since, undoubtedly, he is better suited for it than myself.
I just want to watch a good game between two great teams. And on that note I have to be off. Have a great day and don’t lose Faith!
Hilal // Jan 25, 2008 at 14:23
Youssef, you cannot always play beautiful football, sometimes against teams like Villareal you have to play more aggressive football. With our team in its currents state, with key players injured and missing we cannot play the type of football you want to see. Not yet anyways. What you are seeing now though is a more organised, compact, aggressive and hard working team. THAT CAN ONLY BE A GOOD THING. Once Etoo, Ronaldinho and Messi are back at 100% we will see the best Barca. A Barca that fight, like they fought against Villareal and a Barca that score because we will have our fromt 3 back. This is how we played 2 seasons ago, the only difference is that we had the quality up front to balance out the team. U cannot expect Henry, Bojan and Dos Santos to play the same way that Etoo, Ronnie and Messi play….. give it time
P.S Real Madrid beat Villareal with their full strength team, we had 5 starting players who did not start this game so it is unfair to make that comparison. Do you think Real would have won 5-0 if Raul, Ruud or Robinho were missing??!?!
Youssef Gazia // Jan 25, 2008 at 14:57
I see where you going with this Hilal, Im not saying we must play beutiful football, all im saying is that the we didnt meet with the expectations that we had in the begging of the season. Plus, with this super-duper sqaud we are expected to beat Villareal easily…
”The team needs to know the fans are behind them so they can get on with improving their performance and not worrying about getting castigated from their own fans and the media.” I agree with you 100% Merv. But the players need to give barca all they have in order to regain the fans trust. The players are playing without HEART.
I have always said this and im going to say it again… Change needs to come from ”within”.
Visca el Barca…
FCB - Canada // Jan 25, 2008 at 16:20
I kind of have to agree with Youssef. I think the games of late have been rather dull and uninspiring. They’ve been rather low scoring affairs and even the game between Murcia is deceptive. Murcia just didn’t come out to play in that one. There doesn’t seem to be much creativity, free kicks are definately terrible without R10. What can I say about Deco and Gio, meh nothing special.
I don’t know… I get the feeling the players just aren’t enjoying themselves out there, and are lacking heart. The season is lost (Madrid is just too strong) and I think they will win Copa and maybe Champs League if the decide they really want it.
Youssef Gazia // Jan 25, 2008 at 16:54
Finally someone who agrees with me. With all due respect,FCB- Canada, the season is far from over.
One thing that i have learned last season is that ‘its over till its over’
Visca el Barca…
Nic // Jan 25, 2008 at 17:33
Interesting debate guys. I think it is clear to everyone that Barça are not at their best, but we have to be realistic. In the season Barça won the Champions League there were a couple of months between October and December when the team played brilliantly, however it is impossible to play so well all the time. We should accept this and appreciate that the team are not playing badly at the moment, the attitude seems much better and hopefully if Messi and Eto’o, when he returns, can stay fit and in form there is a good chance in both knockout competitions. The league is more difficult due to Madrid’s fantastic run of results, but it is not over by a long way and Barça need to keep plugging away, Madrid’s luck cannot last forever.
I don’t have a problem with fans criticising the team or individual players on this blog or in debates anywhere. What is important is for the fans to support the team when they go to the matches. The whistles against Murcia were really not necessary and do nothing to help the team go forward. Reports suggest that Ronaldinho is working very hard to get fit again, I would love to see him back to his best to prove his critics wrong.
Blaugrana, I congratulated you for the correct prediction at the end of the comments on the preview post. At the moment we have Chris, Nick, FCB-Canada, Blaugrana and myself on one correct prediction, e10 is in the lead with two. I didn’t watch the game at home as I don’t have pay-per-view and it wasn’t on any of the free channels. Maybe if drunks keep picking fights with me in bars I will have to consider signing up for the pay channels.
One last thing, in my original report I said that the first great save from Valdés (min 37) came from a shot from Josico, it was in fact from Nihat and I have now corrected the text.
Blaugrana // Jan 25, 2008 at 20:15
Oh i my apologies we have a different televison scheme here in africa,you buy a tv and must buy a viewing package in order to use it, kinda like buying a pc without windows bundled.but the package c0mes wth sport chanels covering,EPL&laliga etc.
FCB - Canada // Jan 25, 2008 at 20:54
Sorry for being a pessimist but I look it more as being a realist.
The way I see it is this. Real Madrid has played the majority of the “big clubs” away from home and have won - Villareal, Barca, Valencia, Sevilla, Athletico Madrid, etc… they have more games at home left and have mainly the bottom of the table to contend with. If Villareal can’t beat them this weekend it will be a big blow.
The thing is I watch the Madrid games as well and while they also have not played spectacularly well or pretty football they know how to get the job done. They could be down 2-0 or in the 80th minute in a drawless game and they will still come out on top. While Barca could be 2-0 up and at times you could be there biting your nails till the end. What happens when Madrid really click into gear?
Anyways don’t really want to sound so negative. I still have hope that, if anything we will see better football from Barca. Cheers.
Speeka // Jan 25, 2008 at 23:11
Before you sign up to pay for football, dont bother.I watch every Barca game on the internet for free.
Youssef Gazia // Jan 25, 2008 at 23:17
I Agree with nic 100% about the fans whistels… it doesnt help or change the team for the better… all it does is bring more and more problems in. As an ‘ultra ahlawy’ (leading football club in Egypt) i know a thing or two about fans support. You will be amazed how much the fans can affect the team for the good, or for the worse.
And by the way, great debate guys. We might have diffrent oppinons but the most important thing is the good of BARCA.
Yes Blaugrana fan, in africa we have ‘al jazeera sports channel’. We pay a fee each month in order to watch the la liga games.
Visca el Barca…
p.s how did u manage to do that speeka?
Bobby // Jan 27, 2008 at 5:50
hey hey hey leave gio alone his not in his best give him time…… he needs to get confidence with the team…….. coooommmoon when he gets the ball and tries to do what messi does once the whole world says ” oh my god hes a ball hog’ common give the boy time…. his just scared tryin to do his game because his to busy tryin to impress people and he feels pressured by the club and fans…. the fans want a new messi when he bearly started playin a full game when messi got injured………..it took messi 2 -3 years to be were his at not 6 -10 months
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