Sporting Gijon vs FC Barcelona Pictures

Back On Track; Gijon-1, Barca-6

FC Barcelona registered their first win of this La Liga season with an emphatic 6-1 thrashing of minows Sporting Gijon. FC Barcelona may not have been in total flow as the scoreline suggest; they had real problems against the minows especially in the start of second half. But it was good to see the team scrambling hard when it was tough and in the end it could be said that it was a well deserved victory. And it was good to see Barca scoring many goals from headers and also nice to see FC Barcelona winning emphatically away from home. Guardiola went back to the familiar 4-3-3 formation with Iniesta joining Messi and Eto on top. Puyol, Abidal, Marquez and Alves formed the defense. The midfield was made up of Keita and Xavi who joined Busquests who played the holding midfielder role to perfection. Iniesta undoubtedly for the second match in succession was the best player on the pitch. Messi scored twice and created a goal for Iniesta. But he was far from his convincing best. In fact he came back to life only after the sending off of Gerard. Actually like the Lisbon match he sprung to life in the last ten minutes.

FC Barcelona started the match very quietly. Actually it was Gijon who settled prertty early. In the 5th minute Gijon had their first attack from the left but Castro shot wide of the far post. In the 8th minute Gijon attacked on the counter with Abidal almost getting caught, but he some how managed to intervene. FC Barcelona's passing was tentative in the begining and only became precise after Iniesta started taking control of the game. In the 21st minute Messi dribbled past defenders into the box but he dragged his shot pst the far post. Then in the 27th minute Xavi put Barcelona ahead when a great ball from Iniesta found Xavi in the box. It was such a great ball that even if Xavi missed it Messi could have put it onto the goal. Then in the 33rd minute Eto put FC Barcelona two up. Puyol wins the initial header from Xavi's corner and the ball looked like going into the far post; Eto didn't took any chance and made sure that it reached the back of the net. The first half went without anymore fanfare with Eto shooting wide in the last minute.

For all who expected that FC Barcelona would take complete control after going two up was proved wrong. Gijon came out with full throttle. FC Barcelona defense were repeatedly somehow defending a rampagant Gijon attack. In the 49th minute Xavi's great corner was diverted into goal by Sporting's Jorge. He had too little time to react. Gijon replied back in the 50th minute from a goal from Maldonado after poor defending saw him get away. FC Barcelona players seemed to have switched off after the break and the defense were constantly peppered by Gijon's attacks. But then in the 56th minute Gerard was sent off for bringing down Messi after his Goal Keeper hit the ball straight to Messi. That was god send for FC Barcelona and they took complete control from thereon. In the 62nd minute Valdes has to rush forward outside the box to clear a clear cut chance for Gijon. In the 68th minute Bojan was brought in for Eto. Then in the 70th minute Iniesta capped a great performance with a goal of his own. Messi pas to Iniesta was excellent bu his finish was more exquisite. In the 85th minute Iniesta returns the favour to Messi by providing the cross for Messi to score, it was another excellent finish. Then in the 89th minute, Xavi provided an inch perfect pass after receiving the ball from Bojan; Messi converts from simplest of the headers.

It was a good performance. But FC Barcelona fans should remember one thing before going ecstatic about this - Gijon was expected to lose this match. FC Barcelona still has the problem of players getting switched off from the game like that. Messi's attitude is a real problem and he is proving the great Maradona right again with his antics. FC Barcelona forwards have not yet fired in full cylinder and they are winning because of two guys - Xavi Hernandes and Andres Iniesta. It is time everyone got up and bowed to these incredible talents.

Barcelon - Gijon Match Preview

FC Barcelona would be hoping to to win their first match of this La Liga season when they face Sporting Gijon at El Molinon. FC Barcelona had a rather rocky start to their League season - losing at Numancia and Racing held them to a draw. But last two matches have showed very good improvement in the attitude and we should be able to see FC Barcelona returning bact to some form. FC Barcelona lies now 15th in the table whereas their opponents are the lies at the bottom. Barcelona's inability to lift their game away from home would be the biggest problem for Barca. But still we can realistically hope that Barca will be able to register their first win away from home today. Thierry Henry is not available for this match as he has not yet recovered from a throat infection. The squad picked by Guardiola is Valdes, Pinto, Alves, Pique, Marquez, Puyol, Xavi, Gudjohnsen, Iniesta, Eto’o, Abidal, Toure Yaya, Caceres, Bojan, Keita, Messi, Pedro and Busquets. It is not still clear who will play what position. There has been a spate of criticsm to messi's attitude so he could be stumbling into troubled waters.

The biggest question will be which formation would Barcelona prefer to play? Barcelona may for a second time in succession would be going for a 3-4-3 formation rather than their usual 4-3-3 formation. In that case Abidal will miss out from the starting eleven. Henry should be replaced mostly by Iniesta and Busquests should return back to the midfield along with Xavi and Keita. But Iniesta has been the creative haed of the midfield, so we can see Bojan or Pedro taking Henry's position, whereas Iniesta will remain in midfield. If I had my way I would have dropped Messi from eleven and brought Pedro. The attitude shown by him in last match was pathetic and Guardiola needs to make it clear to Messi.

Barcelona vs Sporting Pictures

Finally The Victory Arrives; FC Barcelona-3, Sporting-1

FC Barcelona started their Champions League campaign with a 3-1 victory against Sporting Lisbon. Goals from Marquez, Eto and Xavi made sure that Barcelona shrugg off their bad start in the League with a good disciplined performance. Pep Guardiola has already shown signs that he is not going to wait for things to happen; instead he is going to make it happen. FC Barcelona changed their formation from the usual 4-3-3 to a 3-4-3 formation. It was more like a 3-1-3-3 formation where Alves played as a Right winger ahead of three man defense but behind three man midfield. This made sure that Barcelona wasn't caught that often on counter. The defense was made up of Puyol on the left, Marquez on the centre and Pique on the right. In the midfield Keita joined the creative force of Xavi and Iniesta. The forward line up was back to the familiar Henry, Eto and Messi combination.

FC Barcelona started the game quite confidently resting the majority of possesion early on. In the 2nd minute Iniesta saw his shot going just wide from outside the box. In the next minute Eto wasted a splendid cross from Henry in the left; he failed to control the ball; had he done that Barca would have been one up early on. In the 11th minute Alves who had a great game found Xavi in the box; but Xavi shot wide from a promising position. In the early minutes it was clear that the three forward weren't looking sharp. Especially Messi, who looked more like disinterested. In the 20th minute FC Barcelona goes one up when Marquez scored from the corner. It was good to see Barca approaching the corner a different way. xavi who took the corner sent the ball to the wide of far post. Marquez then headed the ball into the net. Marquez was clearly trying to reach Keita who was in the centre; but poor defending caused the ball to reach the back of net. After the goal as in Racing game Barcelona dropped the tempo a bit; but their back three and midfield were solid. In the 38th minute Messi fails to control a great pass from Iniesta. It was the third time it was happening with Messi just in the first half. In the 40th minute Henry Shot high from a beautiful pass from Iniesta. Then in the 45th minute Messi cut past two defender with a wonderful run; but he was too greedy tried to take too many defenders rather than passing to other players wasted a golden chance which he himself created. He was justifying Maradona's accusation that he is being too greedy.

After the break FC Barcelona was lucky not to concede a goal when Marquez was compeltely beaten by an aerial ball. Puyol was in the right place to intercept and get the ball to safety. In the 52nd minute Barcelona almost conceded a goal from a familiar position - the corner. One th counter Eto saw his shot deflected wide. Then in the 59th minute FC Barcelona was awarded the most stupid penalty I have seen in my life time. Eto jumped to head a cross from Alves; he was no where near the ball and fell down with the smallest of nudgest. Eto duly converted from the penalty to give FC Barcelona a two goal advantage. In the 66th minute Toure was brought in place of Eto, surprisingly Messi was not replaced. In 72nd minute Sporting scores from a free kick from the right of the box. Absolutely poor defending; usually we never use to pick the guy who scores, but this time there were two players around him, they both missed the cross. Guardiola by this time has allowed the game to drift a lot from Barcelona's control. But he immediately brought in pedro in place of Henry. That changed the tempo and Barcelona was in complete control in last fifteen minutes. Messi who looked like sleeping on the pitch came back to life in the last ten minutes. In the 81st minute, Messi made a wonderful run in to the box taking on two defenders; but his final shot was very well saved by the Goal Keeper. In the 85th minute Messi goes for another great run from the centre of the pitch and passes to Iniesta but he shot wide. Iniesta made ammence for that missed oppurtunity with an inch perfect pass to Xavi in the minute, which Xavi converted to take the lead back to two goals.

No way you can say that this was a clinical performance. I believe they played well against Racing than this one. But still it was a marked improvement and more over the players showed that they can scrap a win comfortably. The most positive of the game was that they did that with none of the three forwards in complete control of their game. Messi in particular was the worst player on the pitch. He looked lazy, appeared not interested and too greedy at many times. Alves, Marquez, Puyol and Pique had a solid game. Iniesta was the creative force. Guardiola immediately needs to talk to Messi and get things straight. If he is not commited then Pedro is a very good option down that right side. Marquez always baffles me, he is like a King on the ground but the moment the balls goes in air he becomes a pauper. And it was surprising to see that the fan's man of the match was Lionel Messi. Come on, Barca fans, wake up.

Start of The Champions League Journey

FC Barcelona starts this years Champions League journey with much hope against Sporting Lisbon at Camp Nou today. FC Barcelona's current form should make this tie more and more interesteing. Barca has not been able to win in the last three matches, whereas Sporting has won three of their matches. But still if FC Barcelona can up the tempo like in the second half versus Racing, they should be able to go past the Sporting challenge. The squad announced for the Sporting tie is Valdés, Pinto, Henry, Márquez, Xavi, Piqué, Iniesta, Puyol, Cáceres, Sylvinho, Bojan, Eto'o, Messi, Alves, Keita, Gudjohnsen, Touré and Pedro. Abidal has been dropped and being replaced by Sylvinho. Dissappointing for Busquests who has been dropped in place for Marquez. Sporting is expected to play the counter attacking style of football with players like Moutinho, Rochemback, Postiga. So Barca players can expect to find more space in comparision with Racing match.

Barcelona is expected to start with the back four of Sylvinho, Marquez, Puyol and Alves. Sylvinho will be a good option going forward but he could be caught out on the defense. But then compared to Abidal he is a much safer option. How the three man midfield will be structured is yet to be seen. Iniesta and Xavi is expected to start, but whom among Keita and Toure will start is left to speculation. Based on last match Keita may find himself ahead of Toure. The front two is fixed with Eto and Messi; everyone expects Henry to start. But I would like to see Pedro starting from the left and Henry coming in as a substitute. It should make Henryt perform in the match. FC Barcelona showed great improvement and attitude in last match against Racing Santander. They should be able to see the Sporting challenge. But the defense problems still remain; but I believe more they play they may gel together and play more effectively. But for the time being as I mentioned in my last post; the best defensive strategy is keep the ball in opposition half.

Setting the Tempo

There are early signs of desperation from FC Barcelona fans across the globe. Their desperation can be justified as the first two results of the season is not what they have hoped for. Especially the pre-season tour with Guardiola gave huge hopes of a complete revival. I have earlier written in those pre-season match reports that FC Barcelona may be flattering them by going by those matches. In all those matches they have showed huge defensive weakness; I do agree they scored more than twenty goals, but all of them were against weak defenses. Then came the Numancia match which went completely wrong for FC Barcelona. FC Barcelona was supposed to destroy Racing and show his intention; but that also does not happen. I have been criticized by many Barca fans for being too negative on Barca; but this time I feel rather positive about the draw against Racing Santander.

Racing was expected to play a defensive style and to Barcelona's credit they did break it on a number of occasions. Yup, you can argue that there was no end product to show for that. Guardiola did the right thing to give a wake up call for Henry and surprisingly Iniesta. Iniesta has been Barca's consistent performer since last season; but completely disappeared in the Numancia match. That looked like done the trick as Iniesta came as a substitute and was roaring down the left flank. Pedro and Busquests were simply revelation. If we analyse the match the best part of the match for Barca came after the break till the goal. FC Barcelona relentlessly attacked Racing and there were some frantic scenes at the Racing Goal mouth. All credits to Racing for not succumbing to that kind of pressure. But on a second analysis we can find that it was the tempo at which Barcelona played in that time made all those pressure. The pace was back and since they are the masters of one touch football they terrorised the defense. I have written in my earlier post titled Watch Out, Pep that if Guardiola is expecting to bring back the glorious times, he first need to bring back that pace and tempo. And we saw first signs of that in the Racing match. Sporting tie in Champions League can be seen as a test to whether they can consistently do the same.

If I am right, Barcelona won almost nine corners. But they could not make a decent chance out of the majority of them. Pep cannot allow this to happen for long. He should make sure that the opposition defense should concede a corner against Barcelona as the last option; not as the first option like it is happening now. Secondly he needs to encourage his players to get into the box more often. Many times very good crosses from Alves found no one as there was only Eto in there. At this moment I don't think we can do anything in the defense. The only option to make sure the defense is solid now is to keep the ball in the opposite half.