A God Send Victory

I don't think there is anything which is more God send than this victory at Zaragoza. The second Barcelona Goal came through a penalty, which got even the most optimistic Barcelona supporters surprised. Barcelona entered the match after receiving the good news that Real Madrid has slipped in Betis. Earlier I have written a post Accepting The Inevitable in which i described how difficult is for Madrid to lose matches now. I was proven wrong in the second successive occasion when Madrid lost their second consecutive away match. In that post I have written that it is hard for this Barcelona team to win all the matches, I was again proved wrong by God this time. AnywayBarcelona successfully cut down the lead to five points as if now. Zaragoza may feel hard done by luck as they expected to take away atleast a point from this match, but then inability to convert for the second time from a string of chances might have proved their nemesis.

Barcelona started with Giovani, Henry and Messi upfront and Deco, Xavi and Edmilson in the middle. Rijkaard made another return to his trademark ploy of using Puyol as a Right Back. Why is he persisting with Deco is a mystery, he has been one of the worse players on the pitch eventhough he made the Henry Goal. As expected Zaragoza had the majority of oppurtunity in the early exchanges. In the 4th minute Marquez did really well to cut off a wonderful run from Brazilian Oliviera. In the next minute Diego Milito had the first shot of the game when he shot straight at Valdes.In the 6th minute Zaragoza should have gone one up, Oliviera rounded off the defense wonderfully and sends a cross from left side of box, but Sergio Garcia makes a mess of it by shooting high. Zaragoza were always successfully isolating Messi, whenever he gets the ball he is sorrounded by three defenders. This also has been the Deco's worst season in terms of Goal scoring for lat eight year, and he was giving a very well crafted display of why. In the 15th minute Puyol makes a wonderful run from the right, a run which is a trademark of Messi. He has seriously improved as a Right Back, but still send him back to where he belong Frank. As usual Deco wastes the free kick. In the 20th minute Messi failed to control a very good long pass from Abidal, has he been successful in doing so that would have been interesting. In the 24th minute Oliviera shoots just wide from the box, after he created a seemingly non existent angle. In the 26th minute Barcelona got the first shot at goal when Messi played a wonderful through ball to Giovani, which was well saved by Zaragoza Goal Keeper. In the 34th minute Sergio Garcia reacted very slowly to receive a wonderful cross from oliviera. In the next minute Henry finds the net from an exquisite Deco pass. The chest control of Henry was awesome and he never wasted a single second there. In the 39th minute Valdes does well to come sliding forward and collect a through ball to Diego Milito. In the 40th minute, deco saw his shot saved after an excellent exchange with Messi. In the next minute Marquez conceded a penalty which Diego shoots high. There was no doubt about the penalty claims.

Zaragoza came back from the break with a sense of purpose. In the 52 minute Diego denired by Valdes legs, the rebound was shot wide. That was an excellent save by Valdes. In the 53rd minute Oliviera scores from a great pass from Sergio Garcia. In the 58th minute Edmilson was taken out and Yaya was brough in. In the 60th minute Diego Milito heads a free header wide. In the 66th minute Barcelona almost conceded the second goal when Valdes failed to reach the ball from a free kick - Milito somehow scrambled the ball away. As in the earlier matches Barcelona passing has become somewhat like school children, actuall they will pass better. In the 73rd minute Xavi sets up Deco but he shoots wide, he should have atleast tested the Goalie from that angle. In the 74th minute Ronaldinho camein place of Giovanni. In the 75 th minute Sergio Garcia long range effort went high after Abidal gave away the ball, if it had gone in it would have been the Goal of the season. In the 79th minute Henry shoots high after Ronnie beautifully sets him up. But the most controversial decision came in the 81st minute when Barcelona was awarded the penalty after the referee somehow got convinced that Juanfran has handled the ball. Replays suggest a completely different thing, but the worst thing was there was no Barcelona players around him and none appealed also. In the confusion and mayhem which arose after that i don't knbow exactly how many zaragoza player got yellow card. Ronaldinho as cool as ice converts the penalty to take barcelona 2-1 up and five points near to leaders. But there was no doubt thet the penalty was very harsh, when considering that not even a single barcelona players was in any kind of position to use the ball. The last chance of match went to Ronnie when he shoots wide after an excellent pass from Puyol, Ronnie's control and technique was awesome.

For some game running, Valdes was the best player on the pitch. But for me the man of the match should be Oliviera, whenever he got the ball our defense simply trembled. Ronaldinho looked very sharp today as he was trying to setup other players rather than trying to score by himself. He should get a much better playing time against Celtic. In the end my conclusion was that was a very undeserving victory but a very important one.

Ronaldinho Penalty

Barca penalti
by mk171982

courtesy:www.futbolcuyuz.com

Rijkaard's Future and The Mourinho Option

After his failure to win a substantial trophy last season, Rijkaard is under immense pressure to avoid the same this season. His best chance lies in landing the Copa Del Rey cup. Many sections in Media and fans are asking for his removal, but does removing Rijkaard will solve Barcelona’s entire problem? Rijkaard for me have been very soft on some of the superstars in the team, but then it does not surprise you - as they have done so much for him. Or in other words, they all together have climbed many heights. A person who has been linked too much for the Barcelona job in the wake of Rijkaard leaving is - José Mário dos Santos Félix Mourinho. Everybody expected Mourinho to fill the job for his previous experience with Barcelona. But anyway John Laporta for the time being, rightly has put an end to all those rumours by giving the boards backing for Frank Rijkaard. But by the end of season, especially if they can't create a spectacular turn around in the League, we might hear those calls for Rijkaard's head again.

But if in any case Rijkaard leaves, Is Mourinho the man we want to see at the helm of Barcelona? I would prefer anybody except him. Firstly it is because of the fact that he is a very defensively minded coach. Will he fit into the current playing style of Barcelona? Especially when we consider the young players available in Barcelona - the likes of Messi, Iniesta, Bojan, Giovanni etc, they will never fit into his style of play where even the centre striker is expected to defend in the box. So obviously when he arrives he has to bring a group of players who fits into his style, which also automatically forces many of the above mentioned players leaving Barcelona.

Secondly, his relationship with Barcelona is not any cordial level. Barcelona players and fans I believe hate him to the core. So it will be difficult for him to work along with them, especially if he suffers some early setbacks. Barcelona players can be expected to be professional - but I don't think Messi will ever forget the way he called him names after the leg at Stamford Bridge. This wonderful persona was solely responsible for making the Barcelona- Chelsea matches in recent times so violent, in and off the pitch. He calls himself a "Special One ", but for me if there is a special one in today's coaching fraternity it is undoubtedly - Guis Hiddink, he can do wonders with whatever you give to him. If we decide to call him the "Special One" for his achievements, then the current English National Coach - Fabio Cappello is a "Very Very Very Special One".

Thirdly and most importantly, I don't think that he will fit into the Barcelona club values. F C Barcelona indeed is something "More Than A Club". The commitment for the club not only is in the soccer front but also is in the social front. The recent agreement with ACNUR and UNICEF are testimony on this front. Barcelona on all fron believes in the fact of giving respect to their opponents and competitors. I am not saying that no untoward incidents have happened which involve Barcelona players and fans, but they are so few in between. If Mourinho arrives, he will change all these. This "Special One" is indeed known more for his verbal taunts and will take out all the respect the world has for Barcelona players and the club. He has done that with Chelsea and almost made Chelsea the most hated club in the world (consider only non Chelsea fans). There may be people who argue that people are jealous of Chelsea's success, but then why people around the world are not that jealous or critical of the Barcelona (previous two seasons), Milan, Brazil teams. They all have tasted success at a rate very similar actually more than Chelsea has. Wise men says "Its difficult to be grateful in defeat rather than victory", but Mourinho can't do both. Rijkaard to a great extent has upheld his personality and the Clubs pride with the way he dealt with his opponents and has been very graceful in both victories and defeats.

Mourinho on doubt is a good tactician, but there is no guarantee that he will bring success. When ManU and Arsenal slowly started to find parity with Chelsea he had no idea to deal with it and it resulted in his exit from Stamford Bridge. Mourinho according to me, if he arrives in Barcelona will do more bad than good to the Club. The above mentioned views are my personal ones and everybody else is welcomed to either agree or disagree with these. We can have a great debate on these. But sitting at a distance of almost 6000 miles from Barcelona (in India), bombarded with all the English premier League details left and right if I am addicted to F C Barcelona - there should have been something more to the Club than its players and achievements. And I truly don't want to see F C Barcelona lose its soul and become "a typical another" club in Europe.

"Will always remain a Cule, despite of whatever happens".

Hard Luck Sevilla: Sevilla-1,Barcelona-1

Sevilla might be cursing their luck after Barcelona managed to take a draw from a match in which they shut off barcelona completely till the 75th minute. Sevilla showed the signs of the previous season, which took them to enormous sucess. If it was not for a sudden, unexpected Goal from Xavi and sending of Keita, Barcelona might have staing again at a nine point lead. Now it will only become eight point lead, is that too much of variation - God Knows? In contrast to Sevilla's goal, which came everyone expected it to come, Barcelona's Goal came from no where. Sevilla will have only themselves to blame as they could have shut off Barcelona with atleast a dozen goals. The official Barcelona site reports " With commitment and a desire to win, Barça managed a draw in the always difficult Sevilla stadium. " Maybe I was sleeping as I didn't see any above mentioned commitment or desire. Maybe only the clever gets to see it, and obviously I am dumb.

Rijkaard staretd with Oleguer at Right Back joining hands with Thuram, Milito and Abidal. The midfield position was occupied by expectedly Edmillson, Xavi and Iniesta. Messi started in the centre along with Henry on left and Giovani on Right. The game started with Barcelona matching Sevilla with some agressive running into the Box, but soon Sevilla was to shut off Barcelona. Luis fabiano and Kanoute was creating havoc for Barcelona defense, with an understanding which remembers the way Eto and Ronnie used to play two season ago. As expected almost all the problem for Barcelona was coming from the wide angle in the two wings, especially Capel was at his menancing best. In the ninth minute Capel gets a free kick for a foul on him by Oleguer, Dani Alves took the resulting free kick and valdes has to produce the first of string serious of saves he made yesterday. The rebound somehow found fabiano and Valdes produce another good save to deny him. Barcelona responded with Xavi placing a cut through pass to henry in the 12th minute, but he couldn't find a final pass to Messi in the box. In the 14th minute kanoute misses a very good chance in the box from a cross from the left. By that time Sevilla has taken full control of the game and every time the ball reaches Dani Alves or Capel Barcelona defense were having nightmares. In the 18th minute Milito gets booked for a desperate lunge on Keita. In the 21st minute Xavi finds Giovani in the box but he is blocked comfortably by the Goal Keeper, he should have taken the shot a bit earlier. By that time Luis fabiano was creating havoc in Barcelona defense - 25th minute he gets a free kick in a very promising position but Alves wastes it. In the 30th minute Alves finds Kanoute through a long pass, who places the ball back to Fabiano whose shot was saved by Valdes. In 32nd minute Valdes throws up another wonderful save to deny Kanoute header from a Capel cross. then in the 35th minute as everyone expected Capel scores with an easy tapping from Jesus navas cutting cross across the goal mouth. Again it was Alves who cleverly slipped the ball to Navas. If anyone expected that barcelona would be shaken by the Goal, they were all wrong - Barcelona was struggling to find the ball. In the 41st minute Keita fails to convert from a free header of a corner. Barcelona was really lucky not to have a much bigger goal difference by half time.

After the half time the only thing that changed was Sevilla allowed Barcelona to take a little more of position. barcelona players looked not interested in getting the goal back. Its one thing that Sevilla was shutting them off, but not trying hard has no excuse. Rijkaard put on Ronaldinho and Marquez in place of Thuram and Edmilson but things did not improve much. To top it all every one of them is ready to fall over for the slightest of touch by defenders. In the 50th minute iniesta found Henry on the left of the box with a wonderful pass, who did well to cross the ball across the Sevilla goal mouth but none of other players seemed to be interested. In the 61st Xavi's long range went wide. In the 58th minute Gudjohnsen came on for Henry and messi moved to the right - he looked so comfortable there. In the 68th minute milito saves Barcelona with a desperate intervention which some how save navs wonderful run and subsequent shot. The frustration of Barcelona players were eveident when Messi got booked for an unwanted challenge. In the 75th minute Marquez almost scored the goal but in the wrong goal, when he truned a Luis Fabiano shot to his own Goal. Valdes was sheer lucky to save that and that save proved so dearly as Barcelona against the run of play found the equaliser within 3o seconds. gidjonsen placed the ball to Messi who placed a absolutely inch perfect pass to xavi who made no mistake. In the 78th minute Keita was sent off after a second yellow card for a foul on Messi, who suddeny seemed to woke up from his deep slumber. Keita was really unlucky as his first yellow came for nothing. That sent off changed the match and Barcelona slowly took control of the game. Messi was finding so much space ahead of him and utilising it. In the 81st minute another woinderful Messi run creates havoc resulting in another free kick, this time Ronnie hits high. In the 84th minute Oleguer makes a mess of a high bouncing long ball and let Capel free with the ball who shoots high. In the 85th minute Ronnie free kick earns a corner, Messi plays back the resulting corner on to the Goal line, but nobody reaches it. In the 89th minute messi gets another free kick and Ronnie again hits on to the wall.

Barcelona should consider themselves very lucky to get a point out of this match. The lack of commitment from players was evident throughout the match. If it was not for valdes we would have been in deep trouble. Messi looked like he was not at all interested to play along with the team till the first goal came. Its time he start from the bench. The Sevilla forward line were defending upfront but Barcelona forwards were not willing to do that.