Athletic Bilbao 0 Barça 1
Sunday, 19 October 08, 01:57 PM · Comments (25)
A goal just after the hour from Samuel Eto'o gave Barça a fifth league win on the trot which sees us move back above Real Madrid into fourth place. For the first time since mid-August in the Champions League we kept a clean sheet, and Victor Valdes and the defence gave a solid performance supported well by a midfield which included Victor Sanchez in the starting lineup and Sergio Busquets who came on after half an hour for the injured Seydou Keita.
With Xavi injured, Puyol and Leo Messi were both rested which meant an interesting line up with Andres Iniesta starting on the right, though he did switch to the left for most of the second half where he was far more effective. Eto'o and Thierry Henry played as the other attackers, and while they have often failed to combine well in attack, today it worked as Henry set up Eto'o for the game's only goal.
There was a lively start to the match with Valdés being forced into an early save, diving to the right to tip away Yeste's free kick. Then on eight minutes Eto'o turned inside his defender before seeing his shot saved by Gorka. The next decent effort for Barça came in the 21st minute when Iniesta who hadn't done much until then, cut in from the right before shooting over left footed. A minute later Keita gave away a free kick and Yeste once more tested Valdés who this time made a fantastic save left handed diving to his right.
After 29 minutes Keita seemed to twist his knee and Sergio Busquets came on in his place. On 35 minutes Eto'o wasted another good chance when his touch allowed the ball to run on too far in front of him and his shot was blocked. Athletic then had a good chance but Abidal did enough to force Garmendia to shoot over. Then just before half time Barça came close with their first corner of the game when Eto'o nearly headed past Gorka.
The teams were evenly balanced in the first half but in the second half Barça took more control of the game. in the 48th minute Alves sent Iniesta to the by-line and his pull back was fired overby Victor Sanchez. After 52 muntes Toure Yaya had a goal bound effort blocked , but at the other end he suffered a worrying moment when Marquez headed the ball into his face and Barça were lucky to be able to clear the rebound; four minutes later Barça took the lead.
Thierry Henry received the ball on the right and set off on a run infield, dribbled past one player before sending the ball into Samuel Eto'o who got in front of the defender before smashing a left foot shot past Gorka. Puyol came on for the injured Marquez and the defence held pretty firm until the end. Barça came close to a second when an Iniesta cross from the left was almost headed into his own goal by a defender, and then Eto'o missed a golden chance from 15 yards out, shooting wide with only the keeper to beat.
Then Athletic had a chance in the 83rd minute with a goalbound header that hit another of their attackers, though the ref awarded a foul in attack afterwards. Last season we threw away a 0-1 lead with just ten minutes to go but this season we held firm and take three deserved points. While it wasn't the prettiest game it was the type of away game that champions win; it was great to see the young midfield partnership of Victor Sanchez and Sergio Busquets giving it everything, the spirit seems to run through the whole team now; best of all was the clean sheet after so long, Valdés made two very good saves to keep us in it in the first half whie Eric Abidal gave another good performance at left back and Gerard Piqué also deserves a mention, the way he is playing he looks to be by far the best value-for-money signing of the summer. And well done again to Pep for keeping Eto'o and Henry on the pitch when I had been calling for Messi to come on for one of them for at least ten minutes when they combined for the goal.
Barça: Valdés 7; Alves 6, Marquez 6.5 (Puyol m65, 7), Piqué 7, Abidal 7.5; Victor Sanchez 7, Toure 7, Keita 6 (Busquets m32, 7); Iniesta 7.5, Eto'o 6.5, Henry 6.5 (Hleb m80, 6).
Goal: m63 Eto'o 0-1.
Barça yellows: m50 Marquez, m89 Busquets, m90 Eto'o
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definetely not the prettiest win but a very solid one in a tough venue, right after a disruptive international break, the result is very welcomed.
but its only in ones nature to comment, so here goes.
i am getting quite sick of guardiola's constant reshuffling and rotations. how is the team suppose to click and find a rhythm if every week they are paired up with different playres? its getting to the time where experiments need to slow down and he needs to choose. he said he will settle on his best 11, i hope sooner than later.
because rotations DO NOT work at winning teams. fact. no big winning team (or at least competative team) uses a major rotation policy. only one tries, liverpool, and well besdies a CL win, Benitez's league record is incredibly poor. im getting a bit tired of tuning in and never knowing who is gonna play in the midfield and then have victor sanchez playing out of nowhere. i love giving the kids a chance, but it could be getting a bit too much.
and well i have to say it, i just do. besides the moment of brilliance from thierry to set up the goal, well he was giving a new definition to the phrase "poor performance". even the sky guys were saying it and they are english. the key word before was "moment". thats all he gave. he just makes me sad and angry. and often ppl say, "what about etoo miss, that was bad, why isnt he criticized". well its becaue he works his socks off every game, scores goals, has chances, and when he missed u could see how annoyed he was. because he is our colors through and through.
lastly, alves was abysmal. his passing makes me want to vomit. it was so unbelievable bad. he really needs to pick it up.
finally, VV deserves much credit. he had a perfect game. great saves, smart, reliable play. pique was also fabulous (perfect besides that one near mistake), i am very happy with him. abidal too had another solid game, which makes me probably the happiest of anything. lol
Barça: Valdés 8
Alves 6
Marquez 7
(Puyol m65, 7)
Piqué 7
Abidal 8
Victor Sanchez 4
Toure 6.5
Keita 5.5 (Busquets m32, 7)
Iniesta 7
Eto'o 6
Henry 7 (Hleb m80, 6)
busquets is good but still learning pique was solid iniesta wasnt that bad on the right overall gud gud gud my MOTM:pique hardly put a foot wrong
it was kind of an odd match but given the international break and injuries, we should celebrate the victory but i hope we will be able to win more convincible and yaya dosent leave
Happy with the result today...where are the Valdes knockers now???!!!
Regarding the rotations - please - they are fine. It puts players on notice that the squad has depth for positions, it also creates competition & shows that Guardiola isn't playing any favourites.
Rotations can only HELP the squad - it's a long season, the more rest we put in the legs of our key players - the better it will be for us. I see Nothing wrong with what we are doing - Guardiola for my money is standing on his own convictions and doing a bang up job. Also, not to mention, the youth now see that if they play well, they get rewarded with an opportuinty to play first team football....this alone is gold, as great talents (Like Gai) wont be so tempted to leave for first team football.
@Blaugranaboy
First, If you are getting sick of the reshuffling with the line up then just imagine what the opposing coaches and players must feel. The whole idea is that he is building a team and this is exactly what it takes. I mentioned in an earlier post that we are slated to play 60+ matches this year and if we are to continue doing well, every single player must participate. When I turned on the TV to watch the game, I was filled with glee to see the line up because I have been curious to truly assess our depth (...not to mention, I was appreciating Pep's "culot" or guts). If we matched Bilbao (which is not a bad team at all) without Messi, Xavi, Puyol and Busquets (at least for part of the game)...well I feel good about that and those who contributed today must be feeling good about themselves.Always, remember that this Barcelona team we have today is still forming. We haven't even explored all options with Hleb, Busquets,Keita,Sergio,Caceres,Bojan,and Henry is still marginal within our system of play. Pep HAS to keep shaking the tree until all the rotten apples fall off then settle on a regular line up which will gives us all the joy of watching the BEAUTIFUL GAME we love so much. So,I ask for patience.
Second, As much criticism as I have given to Valdes, I have to admit that he had a "GREAT" game today and his saves were truly nice. That having been said, I think that he can communicate better with his defense and be a bit more assertive (especially with Abidal).
Salam & Forca Barca!!!
PS:
Nic, any news any news on the contract renewal for Eto'o? and thanks for the Iniesta link, that goal for Spain was a masterpiece!!!
25 Comments · Add yours
Its good that people (well Nic anyway) is appreciating that a good performance isnt always the prettiest one. Its something not all Spanish teams and their fans especially dont appreciate enough. Barca were compact at the back, solid in midfeild and just did enough in attack.
Henry annoyingly only seemed like he came to life for 10mins from 60-70mins and he dribbled past two players and set-up Eto beautifully, still a good contribution nevertheless. If Henry-Eto is ever going to work, they need games.
Valdes did very well today especially from free-kicks saving very well however this defense worries me as the communication was lacking and as Nic pointed out Athletico's best chance came from a corner and although I dont personally think it was goal-bound, luckily Bilboa's own player deflected it over.
Pep's only mistake in my opinion was wasting Iniesta for much of the game wide-right as when he came more central he was brilliant dictating the game and gliding past players like nothing. Personally, if playing Henry and Eto who thrive off service, Iniesta or Messi (in the absence of Xavi) need to be just behind them which has worked before.
In attack Eto can still be frustrating. 4 chances today, 3 of the golden and he scored 1 - his finish was great though. Whilst we didnt pay for it today, perhaps another day we would, but today we survive
More importantly it was very phycologicaly important for Barca to win without Messi and Id rather win this way then draw the pretty way
yea this was a great win...we cant expect to beat every team 3-0 or 4-0. and this win came right after an international break which is good.