Such an interesting game. From a neutral observer it was pretty "even". The difference, started from an innocuous turnover by Tello, but I think he was grabbed on the shoulder by the defender. An inch-perfect pass, to a perfectly timed run and a finish from very little angle.
Good game of football, but apart from that, I was surprised by how little 'morbo' there was in this game compared to other clasicos. Players and fans were all gracious. This version of Barcelona is very hard to dislike. One thing that I noticed though was Puyol. As recently as last week I was terrified of seeing him in the lineup, because he's always been such a beast and always does his talking on the pitch. However today he had a schoolboy mistake and got burned by Ronaldo a couple of times, and his lack of pace really showed. Do you guys think this is a one off or is he in decline?
Well he is 34, so he's never going to win a foot race with Ronaldo! Still the heart of the team though and in my opinion remains Barca's best out and out defender. The game was just too big for Tello, not really surprising. The team need one big effort against Chelsea, if they get through that then Messi can be rested. We still have a chance to make this into a great season.
watching the highlights of previous meetings this season, and I happen to notice Messi does not celebrate with Alexis when he scored against Real (first la liga match) yet he celebrated with Xavi and Fab Alves seems to celebrate with everyone anyone else noticed this or just me
Barca can only blame themselves now, in last 2 matches Messi should have had at least 3-4 assist but none of them became a goal I found it funny that the second half of the season, it was Messi that feeding Xavi , Iniesta, Sanchez, Tello etc and he rarely get the ball himself near the box At the end of the day losing Abidal, Villa and Pique all at once had a big impact on the form
Ronaldo? Puyol was beaten everyweek during counter attack against every team lol... he's still beast at one on one marking but he got no sprint power these days.. and since Pique aint beside him, every coach will utilize counter attack even more against Barca. They've been conceiding almost every week against counter attack.
I am very embarrassed and disappointed by Alves' kick on Ronaldo. He should be punished exactly the same punishment as the one Pepe received for stamping on Messi's hand. These antics/actions have got no place in our club. This is what we criticise others for.
Alves has that pathetic aspect to his game the diving, flopping, dumbassness love the guy but he can be hard to like at times
cause they do something, its ok for us to do something? both Di Maria and Alves make football a pain in the ass to watch at times
Iniesta actually Kicked Di Maria a bit there. And seriously, don't you guys think that Barca should get a world class goal keeper???
Agree on Alves. I also thought Messi was being a primadonna. Throwing his hands in the air after he thought he got fouled when the ball was right there to be taken. Reminds me of some buck toothed phenom. Hope Messi doesn't make this a habit. They played better than us today and outplayed us. Hats off to them.
Although true, take note that those two losses - first to Mallorca and then to Osasuna - came when La Liga was confirmed won and the Champions League final was 10 days after the Mallorca game. So many first team players were rested in both games that Eto'o (who was struggling to find his form before Rome) was captain for both games (meaning Puyol, Xavi, Iniesta and Valdés all didn't play) You really need to go back to August 2008 to find when Barca lost two consecutive games with first team players: 0-1 Wisla Krakow (CL qualifier 2nd leg, Barca had won the 1st leg 4-0) and 0-1 Numancia (opener of La Liga season). Those were the second and third official matches played under Guardiola. Agr€€d. It was nice to see, but I can't help but think how funny it was that no handbags where thrown in a Clasico where LPB never trailed. A coincidence, perhaps? No kidding on my part. See previous response. It's been brought up before. Messi celebrates in Alexis' other goals. Congrats to LPB, deserved La Liga champions for 2011-12. And with that said and done...
Yea its funny people questioning his ability just because 2 consecutive losses Look what he has achieved with the team in past few years. How many time he won game against Madrid? not to mention previous lost was Pinto as goalkeeper. The team defensive form is the problem, getting beaten on counter attack almost every week.
Given the lineup Pep trotted out, I almost feel as if he didn't think a win would be good enough yesterday and/or worth the effort to truly seek. It seems blasphemous to say given the history of the rivalry...regardless of whether a potential league title is on the line (which I believe it still was)...but Tello instead of Pedro, and Pique on the bench?? I hear the arguments about fatigue, and while I agree the overall performance suggests as much...and the looming game with Chelsea provides some basis for resting Alexis and Cesc...it appeared to me that Pep didn't want to go all out to win. Perhaps he thought that even if Barca won that Real wouldn't drop any more points on the run in and thus would pip Barca by a point anyways, but isn't it conceivable that Athletic Bilbao might have been able to scrape a draw against RM at home? Performance on the field aside, just really perplexed as to what Pep was thinking regarding that lineup.
Agree with this guy^^^^^^^^ Two additional points to his post. -Scoring will be more difficult when playing without a true striker. -You can't pass the ball into the goal.
I can see where you're coming from but I don't think so for the exact reason that Bilbao could take a point off them. What is the exact problem between Pep/Pique? is he still pissed about him partying too much with his girlfriend?
He is a world class keeper, but his decision making in airballs whether or not to go for it or stay back its just terrible. It's not the first time either.
^that is Valdes's one weakness. (And the occasional terrible pass out of the back). I don't know if I'd call him terrible at it though. He is occasionally found out. I've got to see that again. It didn't seem like anything to me live.
I think Pep this time was at fault this time, it's not like he's exempt of criticism either.. Putting Tello instead of Alexis. Taking out Xavi, if anyone noticed when Pep took him out, our midfield was a lot more susceptible, Real took advantage of this and eventually found and open space to feed Ronaldo for the winning goal. But I agree with RedBaron, maybe Pep's priority wasn't getting a win after all,it really was a letdown.