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Nov 7, 2011

It took an injury time goal from Lionel Messi to salvage a point for Barca at San Mames. With this draw Barca found themselves trailing leaders Real Madrid by three points. This is the first time Guardiola's team is trailing their arch rivals by more than two points. This result has put the emphasis in the league back to Real madrid as they could aproach the home match against us on December 10 with a bit of ease. For us that tie has already become a must win match, until and unless Real drops point in the build up to the Clasico. Even though in the final analysis we have dropped two vital points, a draw at San Mames is not a bad thing for the team. Especially considering the conditions out there. Many places in the field resembled a swimming pool and that completely negated our tiki-taka style of play. Especially in the second half the Bilbao box was clearly full of water and that at times prevented our midfield maestros from attampting through balls which woul have split the defense. Even Messi and Iniesta found it difficult to dribble and continue on their mesmirising runs.

But to credit the conditions for the draw would be unfair. Athletic Bilbao took the game back to Barca from the word go. They pressed relentlessy in the midfield and on the wings they were quite a threat. Especially Iker Muniain, who tormented Abidal whole night. Lorrente was a nuisance to Pique on every occasion and it also raised question of which is our best eleven at this present moment. San Mames has always been a tough place for us to visit and it was surprising to see Guardiola start with Adriano instead of Villa upfront. From the start of the season I have beleieved that Guardiola is placing too much emphasis on rotation that we still don't know which is our best eleven. Experimenting Adriano as an attacker agaist Plzen and Athletic Bilbao are two different scenarios. Not suprisingly Adriano ended up as a waste in that position, whereas Villa when introduced definitely brought in the necessary adjustments.

The first goal from Bilbao came from the right wing when Alves lost the possession and allowed the attack to take place from left via Susaeta. Ander Herrera made no mistake with a brilliant finish ending Valdes' record breaking streak. The goal shook us a bit and we responded within four minutes. Abidal escaped the defender on the left and send in an absolutely brilliant cross into the box which was directed home by Cesc Fabregas. It was really unfair to us that when we started to increase the tempo after the break, almost most of the Bilbao box was kind of flooded. That cut all our brilliant passes out of picture and we struggled. We were facing our first defeat of the season when an unfortunate own goal from Pique gave Bilbao a 2-1 lead. But the godess of fortune finally smiled us at in the injury time when an unfortunate clearance from Bilbao found Messi in the box and he made no mistake with his finishing. The biggest plus for me is that Messi has finall put the away goal drought in league to rest. That's going to ease the huge pressure on him a bit.

All About FC Barcelona


AllAboutFCBarcelona.com is a Blog dedicated to the Most prestigous Club in the world, FC Barcelona by an ardent fan. Here I discuss about the Latest happening surrounding our Club and present my Views about the same.

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