Sporting Lisbon 2 Barça 5
Wednesday, 26 November 08, 03:45 PM · Comments (24)
Barça got the season back on track tonight with a 2-5 win in Lisbon earning first place in Group C which means an easier draw in the last 16. Since losing to Numancia at the end of August Barça have now clocked up 9 away wins on the trot, five in La Liga, three in the Champions league and one in the Copa del Rey. Leo Messi returned to the team and talk about Messi dependence will no doubt continue as he played a part in the first two goals and scored the third shortly before being substituted. With Messi off the pitch Barça conceded two goals in two minutes to put Sporting back in the game, but Barça reacted well with two more goals to seal the win.
Pep Guardiola made six changes to the team that drew at home to Getafe on Sunday with Marquez, Caceres, Busquets, Gudjohnsen, Messi and Henry in for Puyol, Sylvinho, Toure, Keita, Bojan and Eto'o. The team controlled the game from the beginning and were two goals up after 17 minutes and Xavi had a curling free kick bounce off the crossbar. The first goal came after 13 minutes after Sergio Busquets robbed the ball in his own half, he combined well with Henry and the ball arrived to Messi on the right, Messi dribbled into the byline before pulling the ball back for Henry to poke home. Four minutes later Xavi played a short corner with Messi before sending in a cross to the far post which hit Gudjohnsen on the back, as Piqué lunged in the ball seemed to come off defender Polga and crept across the line. The TV gave the goal to Piqué but for me it appeared to be an own goal. I'll check the official Uefa view on the goal before updating my statistics page.
With the two goal lead Barça stuck to what they know best and passed the ball around well but without creating too much danger. The defence looked solid and nearly every time Sporting came forward centre forward Leidson found himself in an offside position. At half time Pep Guardiola once again showed his shrewdness by sticking on Bojan Krkic in place of Henry who had a good first half, to give the youngster a chance to forget his poor game against Getafe.
Early in the second half Barça extended the lead when Alves took a quick free kick after a handball on the edge of the area. The Sporting defence were slow to react as the ball came to Messi who turned before picking his spot past Patricio. With the three goal advantage Guardiola decided to rest Messi and give a chance to another youngster Pedro. However, the plan nearly backfired when Sporting grabbed two quick goals to put the result in the balance again. Rafa Marquez had had a very good game until this point and he was dreadfully unlucky to be penalised for handball when the ball clearly hit his chest, to make matters worse Marquez was booked for the "offence" and Veloso smacked a wicked shot past Valdés from the resulting free kick. Marquez was more at fault a minute later when he only managed to head the ball backwards from a long clearance, Caceres missed the ball allowing Leidson to run on a fire past Valdés.
Any worries for Barça were quickly quelled a minute later: the ball came into Pedro near goal and defender Caneira leapt in to intercept but only succeeded in hooking the ball over his goalkeeper's head for Barça's fourth. Shortly after another defensive mix-up allowed Bojan in and although Patricio got a hand on the ball he clattered into Bojan and the ref blew for a penalty, poor Patricio was sent off for the foul. Bojan scored a much needed goal from the penalty spot although substitute goalie Tiago might have done more to stop the shot. Barça took the foot off the accelerator after this and only Pedro caused Tiago any more work after a run into the area. At the other end Valdés denied Derlei a headed goal with a dive and save with his face.
This was not a brilliant performance from Barça and four of the goals can be put down to poor defending from Sporting. However, the result is excellent and will put fear into Barça's opponents in the next round. The team played much better in the first half but any sloppiness in the second half can perhaps be put down to the players believing the job was already done. We now look forward to an exciting run of league games in the run up to Christmas starting on Saturday away at Sevilla.
Barça: Valdés 7, Alves 7.5, Pique 6.5, Marquez 7, Caceres 6.5; Xavi 7 (Keita m73, 6), Busquets 7, Gudjohnsen 6.5; Hleb 6, Messi 8 (Pedro m56, 6.5), Henry 7 (Bojan m45, 6.5).
Goals: m14 Henry 0-1, m17 Piqué/Polga o.g 0-2, m49 Messi 0-3, m65 Veloso 1-3, m66 Leidson 2-3, m67 Caneira o.g. 2-4, m73 Bojan (pen) 2-5.
Barça yellows: m32 Busquets, m63 Marquez
Like this blog? Help spread the word: 
I understand why tixiki said this game was the most important one so far in the season. It was a crucial one to decide who will come out top of the group. The team doesnt need to worry about Shaktar in the midweek before el classico at all now. No matter what we are in the top seed in the champs league group so Pep has the luxury of resting almost all his key players and allowing his reserves a good experience building opportunity.
I was excited to see Caeceres play for the first time. As soon as barcelona kicked off, he got the ball in a few seconds. Expecting him to pass the ball around in midfield to calm the temo down but to my surprise, this fellow just sprang forward past the midway line and tried to play a one two with Henry. He is a very energetic player with great stamina. Made some nice tackles to deny the attack. He had a great play running all the way to the right side to cover up for dani alves losing posession and snuff out a quick counter. His long passes are quite accurate too.
Xavi had a genius game as usual. Accurate passes, pinpoint crosses and quick one touch football. He was in complete control. What impressed me the most was how he retaliated after Liedson scored the second. Receving a pass from Hleb on the right wing, he was battling for the ball with two defenders surrounding him. It was a matter of time before the 1v2 disadvantage lost him the ball but still he persisted in winning the ball. The pressure from the blaugrana captain caused an awkward clearance that fortunately found busquet who passed the ball into the box for Pedro to set up the own goal. That is what you call a captain's performance.
Hleb looked so much better this game. Good penetrative passes and his dribbling is very skillful. He was skipping past tackles with ease.
Gudjohnsen had a nice game setting up bojan's penalty and assisting Pique's goal (yeah it was actually an own goal) with a ronaldinho like back flick.
pedro is too good. He is fast and loves to dribble.
Caceres did good as LB fill in; very impressed with Pedro and Busquets, our youngsters have great potentials 
i liked seeing caceres at the left back, but i just dont know why pique backs off defenders so much, you'dthink being in england wouldve made him more agressive
Another reason why Messi is the best in the world....
It was such a fantastic game to watch after the disappointment against Getafe...I knew we'd win, but by this margin...never imagined it at all....
Almost everyone played well..I was really impressed with Pedro and his dribbling skills...Caceres was impressive as well...His tackles and ball stripping abilities were top notch, but he wasn't that good going forward...and he kept passing ball to the back all the time..but still, I m sure he'll get better at it...Marquez made that horrendous error that led to the second goal, but apart from that, he was pretty solid....Hleb was really good...I think it's his best performance so far....He dribbled past defenders at ease...Guddy didn't play like Guddy at all...He was pretty good at makin plays and had a pretty solid performance....He really seems to have rediscovered himself this season....Henry was very good tooo...He looked really hungry, made some nice touches, and he scored a goal....Xavi was not at his usual best, but he was still very good....and MESSI IS GOD!!!
rafa marquez might be one of the best passers in the world. He was extremely unlucky with his backwards header, and I hope Pep acknowledges his tremendous play. At times I'm uncertain as to who should start, Marquez or Milito.
The long haired defenders are crucial for us, and Caceres was nothing short of impressive. I like him a lot on the left, and to ask him to attack more is simply a bad decision in my opinion. We already spread ourselves a lot and I think allowing him to move a little bit is fine, but if we spread out too much we will have problems against teams we can't dominate possesion against.
All in all, we were very lucky today at some crucial points in the game. I want to see how we handle games where we aren't the first to score. Those are the ones that scare me.
Yeah, it was a great game with absolutely pure class of one touch football!! It was a pleasure to see how team was enjoying the match. Cacares played very well along with Hleb and Pedro. I understand Pedro's will to score while he is on a pitch, but still, he needs to pass the ball too, Bojan could strike 2nd goal if Pedro's did pass him.
Marques was solid, but yeah, that mistake was horrible so it spoiled his performance 
Messi is genius as usual!
But the most important result from this game is - no one is injured!!! 
24 Comments · Add yours
What do you guys think about Caceres playing as LB?
I think defensively he was good (his tackling is awesome and has good pace as well) but didn't really see him going forward.. Most of the time he played a short pass to Henry or passing it back to Marquez
Pique made the same mistake again which gave Getafe their goal last weekend (loose pass to an opponent) but luckily we were not punished for that..
i still think the defence needs to be more careful, we conceed lots of goals from mistake but good peformance overall
was impressed with pedro and i think hleb deserved a 7