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Mar 6, 2011

FC barcelona overcomes a very tough Zaragoza challenge

FC Barcelona went once again ten points clear off Real Madrid with a hard fought win over Zaragoza. The final scoreline of 1-0, could be considered a bit of unfair but all credit to Zaragoza keeper who made at the final count 10 saves. With Tuesday's match being the most important, the eleven saw some key players missing. Victor Valdes as expected started in the eleven. The defense had Alves, Milito, Pique and Maxwell. The midfield has Xavi, Keita and Mascherano. David Villa was rested and Bojan started along with Pedro and Messi in attack. Puyol has not received the all clear from the medical team and it made sense to give some essential playing time for Milito. Guardiola once again made it to the stadium but looked very much in discomfort.

In the 8th minute Pique had to make an desperate intervention after a bad back header from Keita exposed Milito completely. We were struggling to get into the Zaragoza final third in the early exchanges. In the 19th minute Barca had their first shot on target when the keeper pulled out a stunning save to deny Pedro from a Xavi corner. In the 20th minute Xavi forced another save from outside the box. In the 29th minute Keita had the ball headed into the goal but was judged offside, it was a very harsh decision. In the 33rd minute Alves send in a great ball to Messi in the box whose shot was blocked by the keeper. In the 37th minute Mascherano's shot from outside the box was saved by the keeper. Then we had Alves sending a great ball to Pique in the box, but his first touch let him down. In the 41st minute Xavi had yet another shot saved by the keeper. In the 43rd minute Keita put us finally aheaded after Messi send in an excellent cross finding him after a brilliant run into the box.

After the break Zaragoza came out with more vigour. In the 51st minute Pique failed to deal with a simple situation and we almost conceded the equaliser. In the 54th minute Pique saw his good header kept out by the keeper once again. In the 61st minute Victor Valdes pulled out a majestic on one on one save to deny Zaragoza claiming the equaliser after Pique produced another howler. In the 63rd minute the Zaragoza keeper made yet another brilliant save , this time off Bojan. Shortly Guardiola took Bojan off and brought in Villa. In the 66th minute Alves send in a great pass putting Villa through but Villa's chip was too close to keeper. In the 70th minute Villa had another shot saved by keeper off another brilliant Alves ball. In the 73rd minute Messi had a brilliant chance to put the match to bed but shot over the bar. In the 74th minute Maxwell had his shot saved from a shot outside the box and Villa failed find teh target from the rebound. Guardiola took off Maxwell and brought in Abidal to shore up the defense. In the last action of the game Messi went narrowly wide of the near post with a free kick.

Guardiola may have been hoping for a bit more easier game but this was the right test before the biggest match of this season. We may have been unable to get more goals but it was out to some brilliant goal keeping and some desperate goal keeping. The player of the match has to be the Zaragoza keeper, Doblas. Messi had a good night. Two men who were much maligned in recent memory, Mascherano and Milito had excellent night. pique was horrible and should thank his team mates for bailing out in more than one occasion. But the best player of Barcelona was the brazilian on the right wing, Dani Alves. Pedro did struggle but surprisingly came to life onec Villa came in. Bojan apart from forcing one save had yet another lifeless night.

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