FC Barcelona Pictures from Malaga Match
FC Barcelona successfully saw off the challenge from a spirited Malaga side. Goals from Pedro and Messi gave FC Barcelona a deserving victory.
FC Barcelona successfully saw off the challenge from a spirited Malaga side. Goals from Pedro and Messi gave FC Barcelona a deserving victory.
Even though it was a complete domination of Barca in the first half, the first chance of the match fell to Malaga. Barca conceded a free kick on the left edge of the box but Valdes was alert to deny Duda from the free kick. Barca responded on the other end with Alves sending in a great cross to the left, but Messi could only head the ball wide. In the 14th minute Fernando gave away the ball to Messi in midfield, he ran past one Malaga marker but with Ibrahmovic free to his righ, he chose to go alone giving time and space for Wellington to block the attempt. He should have passed the ball to Ibrahmovic who was clear on goal. In the 25th minute FC Barcelona won a free kick 30 yards out. Ibrahmovic free kick went agonizingly close to the goal. In the 30th minute after a spell of possession, Messi dribbled into the box skipping past one defender but only to shoot over from a very good position. In the 37th minute Iniesta send in an interesting ball to Xavi in the box, Xavi brilliantly flicked the ball with his back to goal, but Malag goal keeper Munua was on hand to tip it over. In the 44th minute FC Barcelona had a great chance to break the deadlock. Messi sets off in another mesmerizing run, he finds Pedro on the right who squares the ball to Ibrahmovic, but the ball was out of reach for Ibra. I thought his slowness caught him there.
In the second half we saw FC Barcelona moving into their old formation - with Messi on the right and Pedro on left. Barca had their first chance of the half in the 52nd minute with Ibra's header been tipped over by Manua. In the 56th minute Iniesta tried a shot from outside the box, but it was well wide of the post. In the 60th minute Ibra's saw his looping header from a Xavi corner cleared off the line by Welington. Finally in the 68th minute Barca's persistence finally paid off with a sensational strike from Pedro. Ibra laid off the ball to Pedro who skipped in and send in a great strike into the near corner of the goal. In the 76th minute Barca almost extended the lead to 2-0 with Iniesta hitting the bar from a quick taken free kick. That miss proved costly with Valdo equalising for Malaga in the 80th minute. Valdo played a great one two with Obinna which put him ahead of defense and made no mistake with his finish. That equaliser made it feel like another of that day when the Gods conspires against you. But it was not to be the case. In the 84th minute Messi put us ahead. It was a typical Barca goal with Xavi finding Alves after a series of one touch passes, Alves squared the ball to Messi in center and he made no mistake.
With Real Madrid winning spectacularly earlier, it was necessary to have a good match. We did dominate the match with 76% of possession. Our finishing needs to improve. I was impressed by Ibrahmovic's work rate tonight. But I still believe he is tad too slow to take advantage of the quick moves. I am still trying to make sense of the formation Guardiola employed in the first half. It might have worked but it was majorly due to the fact that malaga was reluctant to get out of their half. If he is planning to use it against Stuttgart, the German efficiency would make fun of it. The good thing of this match was the return of Xavi after that poor performance against Stuttgart and Alves's return saw most of the attack happening from the right.
So before we anlyse what is going wrong with the Barca defense, we have to see how our defense works. FC Barcelona's philospohy has always been to play the "Beautiful Game" the right way. Barca's playing style involves retyaining possession at all cost and playing a brand of football known as "Total Football". In this style everyone regardless of their possession contribute to the attacking style of the team. This results in our full backs constantly running forward, creating chances from both the wings. Our cetral defense pair also in comparision to other teams always try to get involved in the attack. FC Barcelona always hold a very high line of defense on the pitch and that means there is always a high chance of we getting caught on a rapid counter. This is the specific reason of which our defense is always considered as our weakness when compared to other top teams in Europe, eventhough we have some of the best defenders in the world.
Naturally our defense starts very much ahead on the pitch. Last season our attacking pair of Messi, Henry and Eto committed more fouls than any of our defenders. The success of last season was not only attributed to the slick passing and skills but an unbelievable urge by our attacking players to regain possession whenever they lose the ball. What it essentially did was it made sure that Barca's defense never was exposed to any real pressure. The midfield and attack always shielded the defense from pressure and that helped them in contributing more to attack. If we take a close look at our performance in recent matches, we will clearly know where the problem lies.
In the Stuttgart match, Barca's defense were constantly exposed to wave after wave of attacks which left them severely exposed. But the real blame for these has to be put on our midfield and attack rather than our defense. In the Stuttgart match our midfield failed to regain possession and that constantly put pressure on our defense. The atatcking trio also failed to track back and put pressure on the opposition players. The same happened in the Atletico Madrid game also. Complacency has been creeping into Barca players lately. We always look comfortable with the ball in our hands and an inability to regain the possession quickly has been harming us in these matches.
This season we have been struggling against teams who came after us and attacked us from the start. Last season , any team which did the same was murdered. The main reason for this a reluctance by the attacking players to pressurize the opposition and regain the possession. Guardiola has been an exemptional disciplinarian and is very well equipped to deal with Barca's sudden dip in form which is a direct result of the sloppy attitude. With Real Madrid hitting some kind of form, Guardiola may not have too much time to get the train back on track. He has not been helped with the recent series of injuries. But Barca still has a squad which can cope with those. And pretty soon he will have the entire squad back. But he has to get his selection and tactics absolutely right. May be a bit of dressing down could be solution of the hour.
Pictures from Barca's away leg of the first leg of the Round Of 16 clash against Stuttgart