FC Barcelona vs Seattle Sounder Pics

Seattle Sounders - 0, Barca - 4

FC Barcelona rounded up a sound 4-0 victory against Seattle Sounder at the Qwest Field in Seattle. This is the second match of Barca's US Tour and will round up the tour with a macth against Chivas on Sunday. In front of a full house of 67,000 people Barca produced one of their best display in the pre-season. Lionel Messi definitely was the pick of the players and proved once again that why the club is determined to keep him happy. Guardiola fielded a mix of youth and experience in the first half, but it was the strongest side which we have seen in any of these friendlies. In the first half Pinto kept the goal; Alves, Puyol, Fontas and Abidal formed the defense; Xavi, Busquets and Victor Sanchez formed the midfield trio; Messi, Bojan and Henry fomed the attacking trio. In the second half as expected we had a complete different team with Jorquera keeping the goal; Henrique, Muniesa, Pique and Maxwell formed the defense; Jeffren, Keita and Yaya formed the midfield; Pedro, Gudjonsen and Dos Santos formed the attacking trio.

The homes side had the first attack with a counter attack in the third minute. Puiyol failed to clear a through ball but luckily the effort from outside the box was really poor. Barca responded immediately with messi putting Bojan through with a clever pass but Bojan's effort was saved by goal keeper, Keller. In the 12th minute Henry wasted a great chance from a good Xavi corner. In the 15th minute Messi somehow got past two defenders from the right and skipped past a thrid one but his curling effort was well caught by Keller. Then in the 21st minute Messi put Barca ahead with an exquisite goal. Messi received the ball from Xavi and then curled the ball into top right corner. Barca started dominating the match more. Messi had some decent chances but was not lucky with his finishing. But in the 41st minute he put Barca 2-0 ahead. He received a Xavi cross and finished it effortlessly between Keller's leg. In the second half Barca continued their dominant play but the lack of quality attacking players were evident. In the 73rd minute Jeffren put Barca 3-0 ahead when he chested down a Pedro cross and finished with a cool head. In the 88th minute Barca completed the tally when Jeffren's initial attaempt was saved but the rebound fell to Pedro, who made no mistake.

FC Barcelona - 2, LA Galaxy - 1

FC Barcelona started their tour of the North Americas with a tough 2-1 victory against Los Angeles Galaxy. Again as expected Guardiola experimeneted with the team giving ample amount of oppurtunities to the young players. And to Guardiola's credit it was two of the younger players who scored for Barca - Pedro and Jeffren. The game didn't had the smooth, silky flow which you normally associate with Barca. The US club did well to close down Barca players at the earliest. Guardiola started the match with Pinto in the goal. Alves, Muniesa, Marquez and Maxwell made up the defense. Jonathon Dos Santos, Toure and Keita formed the midfield. Messi, Bojan and Pedro formed the attacking trio. The team had a mix of youth and experience and did struggle at times to create any meaningful attack.

In the 11th minute Pedro put Barca ahead with a great move. Pedro received the ball in the far right and set in a Messi like run into the box. He turned inside the defender and shot but straight at the Goal Keeper; La galaxy keeper, Saunders fumbled the ball and it fell to messi whose shot was blocked but the rebound again fell to Pedro who made no mistake with the tap-in. In the 18th minute Keita wasted a good chance to go 2-0 ahead and was made to pay at the 45th minute when Beckham equalised with a stunning free kick from 25 yards out.Pinto was left strandled as the free kick curled past the wall; but I still doubt about his position, especially seeing where Beckham stood before taking the free kick. But still I don't think he would have been able to stop the free kick. Guardiola brought in wholesale changes in the second half. It was more like a complete new team. Valdes kept guard of the goal. Puyol, Fontana, Pique and Abidal formed the defense. Busquest, Victor Sanchez and Xavi formed the mifield. Upfront it was the combination of Jeffre, Gudjohnsen and Henry. FC Barcelona restored the lead in the 67th minute with a neat finish from Jeffren. Busquest received teh ball from xavi in the midfield and producued a neat throughball to Jeffren who made no mistake slotting the ball past an advancing keeper.

Catch the highlights here - FC Barcelona vs LA Galaxy Highlights