Extended hiatus
I haven’t been around. Or updating, as you must have obviously noticed.
I’m putting the blog on extended hiatus for now. It’s becoming way too much work for one person to maintain, research, compose, write, edit, de-spam, moderate and publish. You never know how much work goes into one lone entry.
Anyway, I will reinstate the blog once the dust around my life has settled a little. Meanwhile it’s still viva la Barcelona, which isn’t playing all that great but the eternal champions are the ones that make it past all odds. I’m extremely happy that Eto’o is back in the fray… Now all Barça needs is for Lionel Messi to come back.
Till then.
Add comment January 28, 2007
Christmas Break!
Hi all,
Valerie On the Ball is going on her first year end break! Since there will be no be Barça matches till 7 January 2007, reviews will resume on that day.
Have a good Christmas and a great New Year. Thanks for everyone’s continuous support and insightful comments.
Merry Christmas!!!
Valerie
Add comment December 23, 2006
And the Championship dream stays alive
Even the wall falls for Ronaldinho.
This was the most nerve wrecking match for anyone who remotely cares about Barcelona. Werder Bremen vs Barcelona. A draw means elimination, a lose is a most definite elimination. Only a win would ensure Barça to stay on till the knockout stage of the UEFA Champions League.
The final score is 2 – 0 with Barcelona being the winners.
And it was a performance by champions indeed. Granted that I began to fall asleep during the second half. It was already 4.30 am and I was running a fever, but nevertheless, I shall do the best I can to report.
Determined to win
The match started with Barcelona dominating very strongly. The commentators for the match were eagerly jabbering about how the first twenty minutes would go a long way to determine the winners of the match. I hated to admit it, but they were perfectly correct. Anyone with sufficient experience in match watching will know this and it is especially true for big matches. Barça definitely knew this too and they went all out to secure the first blood.
It was stunning night in Camp Nou. I remember how the fans were cheering SO loudly and determinedly, “Barça! Barça!”. Normally, I never hear any audible words from the spectators, but that night there was no mistaking that the word ‘Barça’ was on everyone’s lips.
The minute the whistle was blown, Barcelona launched straight into attack mode. There was no hesistation and the ball only went in one direction, towards goal. It took Barcelona no time at all to find their rhythm. In comparison, Werder Bremen looked somewhat disorientated and there were pockets of inconsistency.
First blood: Ronaldinho’s cunning free kick
In the 13th minute, Ronaldinho had just won a free kick for Barcelona. Some people had words to say on how the free kick was won but no one could deny that contact had indeed been made. As usual, Ronaldinho took up his position behind the ball. Just as everyone expected him to do his usual left curling overhead free kick, Ronaldinho tucked the ball under the wall! During the split second when everyone was wondering where was the ball, it burst through from under the wall and beyond Bremen keeper, Tim Wiese’s reach.
The entire Camp Nou gasped at that bit of artful trickery.
Compounding goal: Eidur Gudjohnsen’s goal
Before the rest of Camp Nou could put their hand over their hearts, Barcelona broke through with another goal. A long cross from the right by Ronaldinho reached Giuly. Some artful planning and Giuly skipped being offside by giving the ball to the waiting Gudjohnsen. Gudjohnsen, having a good run with strikers Eto’o and Messi out, made the best of his chance and scored the second goal of the night. During that 18th minute, Barcelona never looked stronger.
Nervous game
The night wore on and everyone was still horribly nervous. While Barça scored two convincing goals in the determining 20th minute window, the ball is round and anything can happen. Werder Bremen, shell shocked by the two goals that occurred in such quick succession were reacting badly. Barcelona continued to dominate the ball and went for the attack time and again. Then at the half hour mark, Werder Bremen began to snap to action. Wome of Bremen delivers a threatening cross that was swept away by the alert Gio van Brockhorst.
Giuly, a slip up
Late in the second half, Giuly missed a great chance to make the tally 3 – 0 before half time. Deco shone with all the midfielder prominence and brilliance. He tore up the midfield with such speed and grace, the Werder Bremen midfielders were just trying to catch up with him. The waiting Gudjohnsen relieved Deco of the ball and sidestepped four Bremen defenders with supreme agility and attempted a shot. The ball glanced off the post and landed within Giuly’s reach, but Giuly screwed it up. And it was an open goal too. A dreadful finish to a great buildup.
The rest of the ten minutes were unremarkable as the game folded into half time.
Second half, the German domination
To be honest, I paid scarce attention to the second half. Partly because I felt slightly relieved as Barcelona had already bagged a convicingly lead in the first half. The other part of the reason was because I was getting drowsy from my medication.
The Werder Bremen players clearly had a rousing pep talk during the half time break. They came on very strongly, determined to dominate and score. In the first half, they played a slow, cautious game. Their initial strategy was probably to gain ball possession, retain possession and wear out the Catalans with the ball chasing game. But they underestimated the power of the offensive style that Barcelona is so feared for. In the second round, tactics have changed and Werder Bremen was ready to show the world their glittery lineup of offensive players.
Diego, a diamond in the rough?
Early second half, Diego had a brush with Carles Puyol. Apparently, Puyol had been too eager to defend and had landed an ugly challenged on the midfielder. Diego was a consistent player in the match with an eye for goalscoring chances. He showed that when he attempted an overhead scorer in the 48th minute. His efforts flew wide but it went a long way to show that he’s not afraid to try to score. If he brushes up on his finishing, he might become a true force to content with.
Klose, not close enough
The man to be feared from the Bremen side. I saw him perform during the World Cup for Germany. Young, sharp and terribly swift within the box, Klose is indeed almost every team’s dream striker. In the match this night, Klose breached the Barça more than couple of times and on one memorable occasion, responded too late to an effort by his team for goal.
In the 54th minute, Klose worried the Barça defence and made Valdes sit up as he had to race to thwack the ball away with his hand. Klose has a sharp eye for gaps. Many players have that too, but he shines for he can actually utilise them to his benefit. He made me nervous when I was watching. I felt if there was one single Werder Bremen player that could TRULY worry the Barça defence that night, it was only him. And perhaps, some assisting from the very willing Werder Bremen midfielders. But I’m not dismissing the rest of the Bremen team.
So I end this
I don’t want to go on about this match forever. Then isn’t even much to analyse. The match is simple. It a match between a German side and a Spanish side. A Spanish side that is VERY sure of they want and very insistent on achieving it. For now, that much is clear. I will supplement this post with the respective videos when it’s up.
In response to readers
I’m SO happy to have so many people reading my reports. Yes, I will try to post as soon as I can. With regards to the videos, it is very much dependent on the availability in Youtube. Usually within 3 days of the match, videos will be available. Once again, many thanks for reading and posting observations.
Shiren
Thanks for your very rich insights. I have to agree about Victor Valdes not being the best that Barça should have. But Valdes has a spirit that shows he will be willing to die for Barcelona if need arises. I do suppose loyalty counts for nuts in times of the crunch. But soccer being one of the most emotional sports in the world, I’d gladly have a loyal keeper than one who can fly by night at the lure of a 30 million pound transfer fee.
On the attacking front, when Eto’o and Messi return, we can only expect it to become more colourful and awesome. I’m looking forward to that. On Larsson’s departure, it’s a shame but Barcelona can still shine without him. The idea of signing Buffon is something that’s very interesting to contemplate. Yes, the Barcelona defense could do with a more vibrant defense and more responsive and energetic midfield. I always feel that the Barcelona midfield lacks something to shine to brilliance. It’s a lot better now, used be to just shameful. Especially during the times when Barcelona lost to Chelsea and Real Madrid in quick succession.
Lastly, Ronaldinho scored two goals that night. The first one with the 5-0 hand sign is the penalty that he scored. After careful observation, the still image is not the one he scored the bicycle kick goal. It should have been taken when he scored the penalty. Thanks for pointing it out.
Source of report: FC Barcelona, ESPN Soccernet, Youtube
4 comments December 10, 2006
Undeniable champions
Ronaldinho nets his 50th goal in the league
Barcelona has done it again! For their latest game against Villareal in La Liga, Barça achieved more than 4 goals, more than a clean sheet and more than anything else, they’ve cemented their ability to score and STILL play beautiful football.
Final score: 4 – 0, Barcelona wins.
Early action
For this match, Barça sheds all her passivity and plays in an offensive formation of 433. Villareal plays it safe with the common 442 line up. The games starts with the visiting team charging forward like mad bulls (as usual). Within 2 minutes, Valdes got challenged to show his goalkeeping skills as Forlan darts near to goal. Again at the fourth minute, Valdes performs another save with a quick deflection. In the eighth minute, Barça makes the first shot on goal. Ronaldinho wins the ball and sends it to Deco who transfers the balls to Gudjohsen. But Gudjohsen was unable to convert it to goal
Access Denied
At the 15th minute, Deco tried a long pass from the opponent’s goalpost. It was the most amazing long pass and incredibly accurate for a long pass. Giuly picked up it’s trail and blasted after the ball. But alas! He was offside. Ronaldinho tried to set Gudjohnsen up for goal two minutes later but it was firmly denied by Barbosa, who IS indeed hungry. Hungry for some power goalkeeping, that is.
First blood!: Ronaldinho’s penalty kick
In the 34th minute, Gudjohsen was tripped by Cygan in the box. The referee, Lasa, awarded Barcelona a penalty kick. Ronaldinho was up to the task and he let loose a solid shot into the net. It was too much even for hungry Barbosa to handle. Later, Cygan was awarded a yellow card for unsportsmanlike behaviour. The sign Ronaldinho was making indicates that that was his fiftieth goal in the league for Barça.
‘Hand of God’ goalkeeping
A header from Gio van Bronckhorst nearly burst through to make the tally 2 – 0 before half time, but something amazing happened. Barbosa, in the effort to stave off the ball, leapt into the air and punched the ball over and beyond the crossbar. It was absolutely stunning. When I watched it, I went, “Oh. My. God.” Unfortunately, I cannot find any videos on Youtube to supplement this section, but do take my word.
Second half
The second half remained almost like the first half, but the Barcelona rhythm actually became stronger after the break. In my earlier reviews, I always lament that Barça tend to slack after the half half. Not in this match. Deco had a very near chance to score but it was dashed away by Barbosa.
Second goal: Header by Gudjohnsen
Ronaldinho had just sent the ball into the wall after a free kick. The ball sailed skywards from the impact. Meanwhile Iniesta finally was ready to get his boot into the scoring pool. He darted up and sent a shot from the right side of the field. But it was slightly offmark. Just then, Gudjohsen comes up and heads the errant ball into the net. 2 – 0.
Third goal: Scissors kick by Iniesta
Not content with his missed chance, Iniesta outdoes himself. A great cross from Zambrotta was converted to goal by Iniesta. Iniesta performs this amazing scissors kick with his right foot and the ball flew into the net, not unlike a Chinese kungfu movie. That was some neat footwork by Iniesta. This man just keep getting better match after match. This is his third consecutive goal in 3 matches.
72nd Minute Backlash
Almost in response to all the goals by Barça, Villareal steps up on the attack and attempts 4 consecutive shots on goal in one minute. In the 72nd minute Forlan tries an attempt on goal but was blocked by an alert Valdes. Barely seconds later, Marcos Senna who had assisted Forlan earlier attempted another shot on goal from the center of the box. Valdes deflects this shot quickly. But just as quick, Forlan gets up and attempts YET another shot from the left side which bounces off the post. The ball bounces off but Senna wins the ball quickly. He assists Franco who attempted a right footed shot on goal but he misses. The flurry stops only after Gudjohnsen was called to be replaced by Ezquerro.
This was the longest minute. With Villareal’s repeated surges to goal, it seem imminent that Barça would concede, but Valdes held strong. Kudos to him. Never seen him with a quicker reaction time.
Final flourish: Ronaldinho’s grand bicycle kick
This is the goal the left the entire Camp Nou waving their white handkerchiefs in solemn approval and respect for the awesome goal by Ronaldinho. Xavi, from midfield sends the ball to Ronaldinho in a long, decisive kick. Ronaldinho catches the ball with his chest. While the ball was still airborne, he swung himself around and with his right foot, performs a classy overhead bicycle kick which propelled the ball beyond Barbosa’s reach.
As a memorable touch to this very memorable goal, Ronaldinho strips off his jersey and flings it around like a lasso, all the while running and screaming around the pitch. Everyone leaps onto Ronaldinho and celebrates in a mad frenzy.
Then he was awarded a yellow card for excessive celebrations.
So…
Not much has to be said except that it was a BRILLIANT match with very little dry moments. And I didn’t know you couldn’t strip off your jersey during the match, much less know that it was a yellow card offence to do so! But it was brilliant watching this match. Precisely because the forwards were all so lively and effective today, the midfield effect wasn’t really felt in the game. Villareal’s performance was just totally eclipsed by Barcelona’s brilliant goals. Villareal, without Riquelme is a machine without it’s core. While the parts are added to make up for the missing core, the machine functions but never reaches it’s optimum capacity.
On a sidenote, the EPSN Soccernet review for this match is incredibly inaccurate and contains factual misreporting. What a disappointment and dip in standards! It mentions this:
This time Iniesta changed from provider to predator, finishing off a Deco cross with a fabulous scissor kick and thereby making up for missing a much simpler chance just minutes before.
It was not Deco that supplied the cross. It was Zambrotta. Refer to video if you doubt me.
Watch highlights on Valerie On The Ball!
What’s the point of reading reviews without being able to visualise them correctly? Valerie On The Ball is taking the next step in her match recaps and reviews. From now on, I will include videos for all goals and highlights (availability from Youtube). Currently, this is still in evolutionary phase, so patience everyone.
Source of report: Youtube, FC Barcelona, ESPN Soccernet
11 comments November 28, 2006
Barcelona still in Champions League
Iniesta weeps with joy after scoring.*
The match against Levski Sofia was a very important match for Barcelona. Losing it would mean they were almost definitely out of the Champions League. Drawing it would their fates would be decided by the result of the Werder Bremen – Chelsea match. Only winning it would secure their place in the CLs, for now.
As fate would have it, Werder Bremen beat Chelsea with a 1 – 0 score. But the Barça team did not disappoint, they won Levski Sofia with 2 – 0 thus ensuring they would be in to face Werder Bremen on 5 December.
Despite this match being a crucial match for the Blaugrana, it wasn’t a spectacular match. The entire match was fraught with a sense of cautious playing and a wait-and-see approach. The cold weather was probably another reason. The home team, on the hand, gave it all they’ve got. They swarmed time again against the Barça defence but a lack of big match experience and a lack of strategy thwarted all their efforts.
Barcelona held an unusual formation for this game. The formation was 4321. A defensive formation, said Mr. X. True enough, it was indeed a passive gameplay by Barcelona. The opponent had 4231. A similarly defensive approach too. Most minnow teams when up against offensive teams like Barcelona, they employ defensive stances, which may or may not work…. results occur in varying degrees.
Levski raring to go right from the start
Levski Sofia bared their intent to win or at best, give Barcelona a hard time right from the blowing of the whistle. Levski kept the ball to their side of the pitch by playing the passing game. They’re pretty good at the passing game too. Levski would rather get the ball cleared than let it to slip to their opponents. But during the 2nd minute, Deco shot the first shot on goal, perhaps trying to emulate the early 3rd minute goal in the earlier game against Chelsea. But the shot missed. Not to be outdone by the Blaugrana, Levski grabbed the ball upon re-entry and darted horribly close to goal. They missed.
First goal
Barcelona drew first blood in the fourth minute when Giuly seized the right cross from Zambrotta. Levski failed to intercept the ball in time. In my opinion it was a goal that should have not happened but too bad that Levski did not intercept the long cross from Zambrotta in time. Good for us, bad for them. Good for Giuly who seized the moment perfectly. If it were Gudjohnsen, he might have missed the chance for Gudjohnsen has a tendency to hesitate in the box.
Face-off
Later in the sixth minute, Gudjohsen was tripped and a free kick was awarded to Barcelona. Ronaldinho was unable to get the free kick into the net this time. Just two minutes later, Ronaldinho had his face mashed by a Levski defender. Ronaldinho looked visibly annoyed as he clapped a hand over his blinded eye. As though one fash mashing incident was not enough, Gudjohnsen had his face mashed too during a free kick scuffle in the twelfth minute.
Valdes saves
A couple of times Levski got too near to goal but Valdes was always there to save the ball in time. Sometimes when the defenders got distacted and Levski seized the chance to try to score, Valdes proves to frustrate their efforts. While Levski seems to finish rather poorly, running out of steam just before the goalpost, Valdes left no room for accidents.
Missed chance by Barcelona
Gudjohnsen fumbled a chance to score by hesitating for one second too long in front of the goal. He had gotten ahead of the defenders, should he had taken a decisive kick towards goal, he might have scored. But he dawdled and the defenders caught up and wrangled the ball from him.
Second goal
The second goal was from Iniesta, man of the moment. Deco had the ball and decided it was time to go for goal. But he missed by just a bit. Just as everyone thought the ball would surely be cleared soon, Iniesta burst right up and finished the goal in an extremely classy fashion. Once again, Iniesta left his opponents slackjawed as he danced around celebrating with his team. Iniesta has proved himself to have a sharp eye for finishing and a certain speediness and agility in his movements. In the days to come, watch this man, he will become an essential gear in the Barcelona structure, if not already a major gear.
Well, so what I think..
I did not watch the match to full time because I felt certain that another goal was not likely to happen. Rijkaard obviously told his players to play it low key and prevent overstretching themselves. That was being practical for Levski Sofia is hardly a team to bring out all the artillery for. The ball possesion was a mere 46% for Barcelona. They were hardly touching the ball yet managed to score two goals. A perfect showcase of watching waiting, effective goalscoring. There were barely any wasted movements from Barça. Levski Sofia was owning all the football teams in their own home league, but they’re still long way from becoming world class, apparently. Perhaps if they were in another group, they might have stayed a little longer in the league.
I was surprised at first that Chelsea lost to Werder Bremen. But upon reflection, I realised it wasn’t so surprising either. Werder Bremen won by a penalty and Chelsea was without Frank Lampard that night. But above everything, Chelsea no longer needed any points to advance to the knockout round, unlike Barcelona. They could afford to take it easy, play it slow.
For now, we are safe. The next match against Werder Bremen has several factors to our advantage. One being that the match will be played in Camp Nou. The support from the home crowd will be even more uproarious and passionate than usual, given the nature and severity of this match. The other being Rafa Marquez attaining his Spanish citizenship. This enables Barcelona to acquire another non-EU player for the senior squad. With our long list of casualties, another player for the flanks is most welcome.
Next match for Barcelona is against Villareal. This match looks to be a challenging one for Barça given that Barça has never won Villareal with a crushing victory before. One thing for sure, Barcelona will give it all they’ve got.
* I REALLY wanted to put a naughty caption like “Deco and Iniesta, what a sensational duo!” or “Deco tries to give Iniesta some much needed comforting”. But I’ll leave you all to wonder about that strange photo by yourselves.
Updates: Mrs. Ronaldinho is back from her shopping téte a téte. I will squeeze opinions from her to supplement the reviews again.
Source of report: FC Barcelona
2 comments November 26, 2006
Controversy in Camp Nou
And finally, the long awaited Barcelona vs Zaragoza match review.
Ronaldinho finds his form again
Final score being 3 – 1, Barcelona wins.
This match would be best remembered as the match Motta got sent off, as the match Messi broke his foot, as the match Edmilson sprained his leg, as the match where right up to the ninetieth minute no one gave up trying to do the other team in.
At kickoff Zaragoza imposed themselves on the pitch. The two teams are so similiar in playing style, if not the jerseys, at 200 feet in the air, they look like a team of 22 men playing the same side. Zaragoza and Barcelona both play in the fiery, offensive style.
Zaragoza spills first blood
The first half was tame in comparison to the explosive second half. The shocker came when Zaragoza defender, Gabriel Milito displayed some amazing reflexes and scored the opening goal. It was a corner for Zaragoza. Milito positioned himself just before Valdez and behind the Barça line of defence. When the ball glanced off his head, Milito appeared to head the ball but at the last minute, let the ball drop to his left foot and he kicked it into the net past Valdez. The proximity of the point of scoring was so close, Valdez could not have reacted in time. Despite Puyol’s best efforts to haul Milito down, the goal still happened much to Valdez, Puyol and thousands of Barcelona fans’ horror.
Zapater the Bruiser
Alberto Zapater of Zaragoza had a hand in giving Iniesta a large bruise on Iniesta’s shin, causing Edmilson to sprain his leg and worst of all, clashing with Messi resulting a broken metatarsal for the Argentinian. A brief summary of The Bruiser’s major clashes:
Clashing with Iniesta
Being a midfielder, Zapater would inevitably have a clash with Iniesta. But this clash was so impactful, Iniesta was flung from the impact like a flying ricesack. He rolled quite a while before finally coming to a stop. When he got up, Iniesta looked really bewildered. While it wasn’t really yellow card worthy, this clash gives us some indicator of The Bruiser’s brute strength.
Edmilson sprains his leg
Barely seconds after his clash with Iniesta, The Bruiser barrages on and goes head on with Edmilson. Edmilson was unable to break his fall properly and landed heavily on his leg. As Iniesta was recovering from his clash with Zapater, Edmilson remained motionless on the pitch, face twisted in pain. He left the pitch on a stretcher for a few minutes before returning. Later, he was replaced with Motta who would be an instrument of the red card controversy in the second half.
Breaking Messi
In the 20th minute, Zapater delivered a rough but fair challenge to Messi for the ball. Messi lost his footing in the skirmish and fell hard on his left foot before going down as Zapater danced away with the ball. Later he sat up and tried to stand, wearing a look of utter blankess on his face. He struggled to walk for a while. Two minutes later, Messi was filmed sitting down suddenly and yanking off his left boot. He then got up and left the pitch unassisted. Giuly replaced him. Replays showed that the impact from Zapater’s challenged may have been a factor in Messi’s accident.
Later in the match, The Bruiser was awarded a yellow card for another rash challenge on Deco and possibly for all his rough play too.
Barcelona levels
15 minutes after the ghastly slipup by Barcelona, Barcelona regained her graces through Ronaldinho’s head. Yet another corner for Barcelona. As the ball came in from the distant corner, Ronaldinho leapt up and headed the ball decisively into the large gap in the Zaragoza defence. The ball actually hit the pitch just before the net and bounced hard into the net. Zaragoza was dismayed at the hole in the defence. More embarrassing for them because Ronaldinho could afford to dish some flourish as he scored the equaliser for the Catalans.
Motta and the red card controversy
In the second half, towards the seventieth minute, Motta was embroiled in a tussle with Diego Milito (not to be confused with Gabriel Milito). Motta flung an arm and hit the CHEST of Milito. But Milito was caught on camera grabbing his FACE as he rolled on the pitch like an invalid. Referee Iturralde Gonzalez sought the advice of his IDIOT linesman Rafa Carrera. According to the commentator, this Rafa Carrera (spelling may be erroneous as there are few written records about this moron) is famous for ruling situations like this without analysing or considering the factors leading up to the incident at hand. The linesman ruled the Brazilian to have caused malicious hurt to Milito for whacking his face and Motta was issued a red card. Kudos to the referee for following his garbled advice too.
The entire Barcelona team went bonkers. Puyol, Ronaldinho and Deco cornered the referee and began yelling angry words at him. Meanwhile Rijkaard left his seat and went to argue passionately with the match officials. Motta stood away from the hullabaloo and kept running his hand through his hair. Even Thuram, who was on the bench, joined in the ruckus. Replay after replay after replay in every imaginable of the incident was aired. From some angles, it did look like Motta’s hand caught Milito’s face. But in the 90% of the angles aired, Motta’s hand CLEARLY thwacked into Milito’s chest. Milito’s ceremoniously grabbing of his face was pure bullshit and bad acting to excess.
Addendum: Barcelona appealed against Thiago Motta’s red card successfully, thus he was able to start for the match against Mallorca.
Gabriel Milito gets sent off
Saviola, who came on the pitch for Gudjohnsen managed to break through the Zaragoza defence and attempted a shot on goal. Gabriel Milito went mad (literally!) and attacked Saviola, dragging him down onto the pitch. He was sent off promptly. No arguments about that.
Barcelona bares her fangs in fury…
The Catalans were obviously burning with anger over the ridiculous decision for Motta. Even the commentator was awed by the sudden ferocity in the Barça ranks as the team moved in unison to secure a resounding victory in the drawn out game. Time and again Zaragoza charged at the four defenders but the Barça defence never swayed. Even the erratic Victor Valdez saved shots that would have made Petr Cech impressed. Puyol was like a man with nothing to lose. The way he took on the oncoming Zaragoza player was jaw dropping. He literally flung himself forward and wrestled the ball away from the player. He was clearly very basal in behaviour, but Puyol has always been capable push defending to the limits. Marquez was exceptionally elegant tonight. He takes most of his kicks sideways, like a dance. Zambrotta bared his dark side as he delivered a forceful tackle on a Zaragoza player near the line. He was lucky the referee was too busy staring at other things.
Saviola was awarded a free kick in the 85th minute. As usual, Ronaldinho take the free kick. He sent the ball whistling into the air with his right foot. Just as ball looked to fly wide, it curled in a perfect arc and entered the net at the top right corner. The commentator enthused about the perfection of the free kick and said this, “And the keeper is just a spectator!“.
It was so true. Every single Barça person just burst into joy on the pitch. Ronaldinho gave a fierce embrace to Rijkaard and they were soon engulfed by the other players. Valdez was SO happy, he just flung himself on top of the pile of celebrating bodies. The pressure of the moment gave away and everyone went crazy with relief and happiness.
…and goes for the kill
In stoppage time; 5 minutes was awarded, Saviola scored the third goal for the night. As I did not watch the match live but I recorded it, my recording stopped before the stoppage time was played out, hence there will be no indepth reports on Saviola’s mighty efforts. Sorry.
All in all, Barcelona played magnificent tonight against a team well-matched to them. Zaragoza is like Barcelona only more Neanderthal. I’m glad we beat them soundly with some of Ronaldinho’s best crafted goals since his form dip. At least the injuries did not occur in vain. This match is his match.
Preview of upcoming matches
The next match against Levski Sofia is a must win or Barcelona will be in serious risk of being elimnated from the CLs at group stage. Quite a joke being title holders of the previous season. As for the upcoming La Liga matches, we’ve already played against the top four teams of the La Liga table. Safe to say, the hardest part is probably out of the way. The remaining matches should not require too much nailbiting from the Barça supporters. No one should be losing sleep over it.
Source of report: F.C. Barcelona, ESPN Soccernet: match details, ESPN Soccernet: Interview with Deco
Add comment November 21, 2006
