FC Barcelona News
Ten-man Barcelona See off Sporting
March 4th, 2012Barcelona produced a performance full of character to defeat Sporting Gijón 3-1 at the Camp Nou on Saturday night. Star-man Iniesta gave Barça the lead in the first half, but when Piqué saw red for a professional foul, Sporting equalised through Barral and Barcelona needed some brilliance from Keita and Xavi to secure the victory.
Messi sat out this match with a suspension, and with Alexis rested on the bench, Barcelona went into the encounter with a side that that looked a little short of recognised forwards.
Sporting kept 11 behind the ball, and it was up to Barcelona to find a way through. There were occasional chances, starting as early as the 2nd minute, when a corner routine between Xavi and Pedro found the winger with a bit of room in the area, but his first time shot was high and wide.
Adriano almost opened the scoring in the 14th minute when he embarked on a lightning run from deep, beating three defenders in a flash before firing just wide. Later Keita found himself with a sight of goal in the area, but a crucial lunge by Botia saw the ball deflect out for a corner.
Then, as half-time approached, and as the match appeared to be descending into a stalemate, Barcelona made the breakthrough. It was a fabulous team goal, with Keita unlocking the stubborn defence, posting Adriano through down the left, who in turn squared for Iniesta to finish with ease from six yards. Cesc nearly made it two before the break, but his effort under pressure was blocked and cleared for a corner by Botía.
The second half began in dramatic fashion. De Las Cuevas got in behind the Barça defence, and as Piqué came in with a challenge, the Sporting forward went down. Referee Carballo had no hesitation in showing a straight red, but replays suggested this was a contentious decision. Barcelona weren’t able to clear their lines and reorganise before Sporting equalised. Mendy tricked his way to the byline, and Barral snuck in front of Valdés to direct his low cross into the net.
Barcelona wobbled briefly as they tried to come to terms with the one-man deficit, but soon settled and went about trying to regain the lead through the majestic Iniesta and Xavi. The former was sublime in carving a clear opportunity for substitute Alexis, but a Sporting defender intervened just as the Chilean was about to pull the trigger.
Then with just over ten minutes of the match remaining, Mascherano passed forward from deep for Alexis, who produced a deft touch to his left for the on-rushing Keita. The midfielder took it onto his left foot and curled a magnificent shot into the top right corner to regain the lead.
As the minutes ticked down, Barça made sure of the win when Iniesta went on another fantastic run before releasing Xavi who clipped the ball over Juan Pablo to cap a hard-fought victory.
1-0 Iniesta (min 41)
1-1 David Barral (min 48)
2-1 Keita (min 70)
3-1 Xavi (min 87)
Barcelona claw their way to win in Gijon
October 3rd, 2011FC Barcelona battled to a 1-0 victory away at Sporting Gijón on Sunday night. Utility man Adriano scored the only goal on what was a demanding and occasionally bruising encounter away at La Liga’s bottom club.
Indeed, recent weeks have brought plenty of bad news on the injury front, and for this game Guardiola had to make do without Alexis Sánchez, Cesc Fàbregas and Andrés Iniesta, all of whom are recovering from muscular injuries.
However, the coach continues to persist with a three-man defence; this time Alves and Abidal flanked Macherano at the back. Busquets sat in front of the backline again, offering help to his defenders when needed. Meanwhile Adriano started the game in a somewhat unfamiliar right-midfield role.
And it was to be the Brazilian player who made the breakthrough for Barcelona. With 11 minutes on the clock, Xavi looked up and slammed a shot from central position about 25 yards out. Juan Pablo in the Sporting goal was well beaten, but the ball rebounded off the left post and into the path of Adriano on the right angle of the penalty area. His bouncing, left-footed effort was slightly scuffed, but completely wrong-footed the ‘keeper and nestled in the bottom-left corner to make it 1-0.
The rest of the half was a story of absolute domination but few clear chances for Barça. A few minutes after the goal, Villa swapped passes with Thiago, but fired straight at Juan Pablo.
After that Barcelona couldn’t make their 80% possession count further. This was partly down to the organised defending of Gijón, who stepped up and caught Barcelona offside on a number of occasions; Villa was perhaps the chief culprit in this respect, but was joined by Messi and Alves.
Not long before half time Messi might have won a penalty, when he dribbled into the Sporting area, only to be felled by Miguel de las Cuevas, who appeared to catch his heels.
As the half ended there was a minor injury scare for Mascherano, who was caught on the side of the head accidentally by Alves’ knee and looked in real trouble before walking off groggily down the tunnel to join his teammates in the dressing room.
The second half was a similar story to the first, with Barcelona working hard to create openings, but being denied either by the offside flag or by sloppiness. Abidal limped off after 52 minutes with what appeared to be yet another muscle strain. He was replaced by Maxwell, and Barça then reverted to a back four when Piqué arrived in place of Pedro.
There were a few rugged looking challenges flying in as the game wore on, with Busquets, Messi and Alves all sent flying in the closing minutes. Messi came closest to doubling the lead, heading directly at Pablo, but Barcelona were ultimately happy to settle for a single goal and in truth were never really troubled at the back.
0-1, Adriano (min 12)
End of Barça’s record winning streak
February 14th, 2011Real Madrid closed the gap over the weekend to 5 points after Barça’s 1-1 draw with Sporting Gijon, putting an end to the Catalan’s incredible winning streak of 16 league wins.
The hosts were quick to make sure that Barcelona were unable to get into their normal stride, which paid off in the 16th minute with a goal from Barral. Meanwhile Barça were unable to get through to really test the Sporting goal.
After the break Barcelona came on with a new sense of purpose. While there were some good opportunities, the Sporting goalkeeper refused to be intimidated and it wasn’t until the 79th minute that Villa equalised off a Messi assist.
While it is a shame to have dropped 2 points, Barcelona still have a good margin over Madrid and provided they hold their nerve and don’t suffer any serious injuries they remain favourites to take the title. Barça’s next match is against Arsenal on Wednesday.
1-0, Barral (min 16)
1-1, Villa (min 79)
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
|
1
|
Barcelona |
23
|
20
|
2
|
1
|
71
|
12
|
62
|
|
2
|
Real Madrid |
23
|
18
|
3
|
2
|
53
|
19
|
57
|
|
3
|
Valencia |
23
|
14
|
5
|
4
|
38
|
25
|
47
|
|
4
|
Villarreal |
23
|
14
|
3
|
6
|
41
|
23
|
45
|
|
5
|
Athletic Bilbao |
22
|
12
|
2
|
8
|
37
|
31
|
38
|
|
6
|
Espanyol |
23
|
12
|
1
|
10
|
30
|
31
|
37
|
|
7
|
Getafe |
23
|
9
|
4
|
10
|
35
|
37
|
31
|
|
8
|
Sevilla |
23
|
9
|
4
|
10
|
35
|
38
|
31
|
|
9
|
Real Sociedad |
23
|
10
|
1
|
12
|
34
|
37
|
31
|
|
10
|
Atlético Madrid |
23
|
9
|
3
|
11
|
32
|
31
|
30
|
|
11
|
Mallorca |
22
|
8
|
4
|
10
|
24
|
30
|
28
|
|
12
|
Racing Santander |
23
|
6
|
7
|
10
|
20
|
33
|
25
|
|
13
|
Hércules |
23
|
7
|
4
|
12
|
24
|
37
|
25
|
|
14
|
Deportivo |
23
|
6
|
7
|
9
|
20
|
34
|
25
|
|
15
|
Levante |
23
|
7
|
3
|
13
|
24
|
34
|
24
|
|
16
|
Sporting Gijón |
23
|
5
|
8
|
10
|
23
|
31
|
23
|
|
17
|
Zaragoza |
23
|
5
|
8
|
10
|
22
|
36
|
23
|
|
18
|
Osasuna |
23
|
5
|
7
|
11
|
21
|
30
|
22
|
|
19
|
Almería |
23
|
4
|
8
|
11
|
23
|
39
|
20
|
|
20
|
Málaga |
23
|
5
|
4
|
14
|
30
|
49
|
19
|
Narrow victory for Barça
February 1st, 2010Barcelona narrowly held on to their five point advantage over Real Madrid on Saturday night with a 1-0 victory over Sporting de Gijon.
Despite numerous opportunities in the first half, Barcelona managed to score just once – a Messi free kick picked up by Iniesta, passed to Pedro, and into the back of the net.
The second half saw the home team strengthen their attack, but while it loosened Barça’s dominance of the game they failed to score and the final score remained 1-0 to the visitors.
0-1, Pedro (min 29)
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
|
1
|
Barcelona |
20
|
16
|
4
|
0
|
50
|
10
|
52
|
|
2
|
Real Madrid |
20
|
15
|
2
|
3
|
47
|
14
|
47
|
|
3
|
Valencia |
20
|
11
|
6
|
3
|
36
|
18
|
39
|
|
4
|
Mallorca |
20
|
11
|
3
|
6
|
31
|
22
|
36
|
|
5
|
Deportivo |
20
|
10
|
4
|
6
|
34
|
23
|
34
|
|
6
|
Sevilla |
20
|
10
|
4
|
6
|
24
|
22
|
34
|
|
7
|
Getafe |
20
|
10
|
1
|
9
|
27
|
24
|
31
|
|
8
|
Athletic Bilbao |
20
|
9
|
3
|
8
|
24
|
25
|
30
|
|
9
|
Villarreal |
20
|
7
|
5
|
8
|
31
|
29
|
26
|
|
10
|
Sporting Gijón |
20
|
7
|
5
|
8
|
20
|
21
|
26
|
|
11
|
Atlético Madrid |
20
|
6
|
6
|
8
|
20
|
22
|
24
|
|
12
|
Osasuna |
20
|
6
|
6
|
8
|
23
|
27
|
24
|
|
13
|
Racing Santander |
20
|
6
|
5
|
9
|
30
|
33
|
23
|
|
14
|
Espanyol |
20
|
6
|
5
|
9
|
14
|
26
|
23
|
|
15
|
Almería |
20
|
4
|
8
|
8
|
23
|
26
|
20
|
|
16
|
Málaga |
20
|
4
|
7
|
9
|
19
|
30
|
19
|
|
17
|
Valladolid |
20
|
3
|
9
|
8
|
24
|
36
|
18
|
|
18
|
Tenerife |
20
|
4
|
5
|
11
|
23
|
42
|
17
|
|
19
|
Zaragoza |
20
|
4
|
5
|
11
|
17
|
39
|
17
|
|
20
|
Xerez |
20
|
2
|
5
|
14
|
10
|
35
|
11
|
The match against Sporting Gijon marked the start of the second half of the season. With plenty more matches to go, make sure you reserve your tickets to see FC Barcelona this year.
