Post Match Review: Barcelona – Tenerife

2 games to go, 6 points to go.. Those are the words that are on all our minds at this point. Fatigue isn’t an aspect anymore, these next 2 games will decide the title and boy are we aiming high. We began the final stretch with a 1 – 4 win against Villareal and continued it with another 4 – 1 win over Tenerife as was witnessed tonight, what a wet night! Tenerife came with a game plan, a mixed game plan I may. First, they decided to pressure us from the midfield line, but that didn’t stop our creative midfield from creating chances. What’s funny is that it took only 4 minutes for the first chance to arrive which shows that nobody can, and I say that with great pride, NOBODY can play our game against us. Real Madrid tried it and they suffered, Arsenal tried it and they suffered, Sevilla MIGHT try it; if they do, they too shall suffer! Step at a time; taking a closer look at this game, the statistics speak for itself, we were in complete control of the game. That, though, didn’t stop Tenerife from making a nuisance of themselves. The line up was as follows: Valdes, Alves, Pique, Puyol, Maxwell, The Yaya, Keita, Xavi, Messi Bojan, Ibrahimovic.

I was far from impressed in the first half and at the beginning of the second half. We were defending like a Segunda division club, and any 1st division team can slaughter you if you play that way. Puyol, although solid at the beginning, gave Tenerife (Kome to be exact) a gift on a silver platter. Had Kome been keen to cash in on his gift, we would have been 0 – 1 down and this game might have had a different ending, a sadder one that this current one. One more point that I found rather annoying was that Messi had to actually take the ball from Kome or else we would have conceded. Where the hell was our defense? It became evident to me tonight that when one player in the defensive positions is playing badly (i.e. like crap -.-) the whole defensive line, including the DM, collapses. That weak link today was Pique. I always have words of praise for our towering defender but that Puyol blunder at the beginning of the match cause Pique to lunge at the ball and, as a result, pick up a knock. He continued playing, of course, but his flare was slowly diminishing.

Despite our lackluster defense, the attack was doing its job perfectly. On the other side, Dani Alves found himself face to face with Sergio Aragoneses, but him being the generous person that he is, like many of our other players (Xavi & Iniesta ) he chose to try and play it to a Barca player that was inside the box instead of shooting it directly. As a result, the play broke down and that was that. Sometimes our players are too generous when they really should just thump the ball into the back of the net. Now, whatever Alves did wrong in the penalty box, he corrected immediately by sending in a great cross that landed on the Big Swede’s head and somehow, mystically found its way in Messi’s path. All Messi had to do was round the goalkeeper and thump it in, and didn’t he do it with style!  He could have made it 2 – 0 after 5 minutes, but it seems that Messi is becoming very fond of the advertisement boards on the left side of the goal (as witnessed today and against Villareal).

After that first goal, everyone expected that we would cruise to a very easy victory; but this, my friends, wasn’t the case. Sometimes it is better to face the second placed team at the end of the campaign then to face the relegation-threatened teams. Why? Because the second placed team cannot settle for a point, or for a loss. The second placed team will go out and try to make chances while, of course, leaving wide spaces for our gifted players to expose to the bone. Relegation-threatened teams; however, settle for draws and will park the bus for the whole game. That’s why I started worrying once we couldn’t get the second goal. Does Osasuna ring a bell? Although we had control of the ball for a huge amount of time before the end of the first half, we were not effective. The closest we got to the second goal was by way of Maxwell. As Maxwell received the pass from Bojan, he got ahead of the back line and all he had to do was make the routine pass that we’ve seen him and Abidal do 3 or 4 times this season. Ibrahimovic was wide open and it was an easy goal. Instead, blinded by the greed of getting his first Barca goal (I don’t blame him because I as well as anyone would have done the same) he decided to take the shot instead of passing it to Ibra and that resulted in a magnificent save by Aragoneses.

Were we going to regret that? I had no doubt in my mind and almost 4 minutes later, my greatest fear was confirmed. Tenerife’s goal came by way of a defensive blunder rather than a team error. Puyol made a strong pass to the Yaya who couldn’t reach it (you know, because he’s big, slow and stuff). It seemed that Puyol was having Kome-titis because that was the second ball he had gifted to him, and this time he was not going to make a mistake. Puyol didn’t see Roman sprinting behind him and didn’t make an effort to sprint the offside trap. Roman pulled the trigger, and BANG! It was 1 – 1 like that, and our title hopes were on the brink.  Why the negativity? Because teams who want a point will park the hell out of the bus until they get that point.

The second half started and Guardiola (as expected) made an unorthodox change, by taking Pique who was clearly injured out and injecting Pedro into the match. Umm, hello? Where’d our defense go? The Yaya went back to cover the CB position with Puyol and Pedro played on the right flank with Messi in a free-role position. Who would have thought that in just 2 minutes of Pedro coming on, he would gift the ball to none other than Kome. Luckily our defense intercepted it before it could reach him. Phew!!

After the slight nervousness of the first minutes, we began to dominate the field. We would not let go of possession and would have up to 20 or 30 passes before taking our chances or losing the ball. Messi nearly scored from a free-kick while Ibrahimovic saw his chance intercepted by Culebras. Roman made a break and quickly fired a low shot at Valdes who snuffed it into his arms. In the 63rd minutes, Alves got his first assist in the game when he threaded an inch perfect through ball to Bojan who broke away from the defense. The 19 year-old made it look so easy and we were 2 – 1 up! Puyol nearly made amends for his defensive error by rising to receive a corner, but his shot was too weak and it was eventually cleared.

Perdo seemed to be pulling the strings on the right and confusing their whole back line. Tenerife took a corner and it was cleared and it eventually was fed to Pedro who made a lightning speed kinda run and took his shot. He missed it by that much! He wasn’t going to miss again as Messi threaded a wonderful through ball under the noses of two defenders, he took his chance and BAM!! It was 3 – 1.

The game cooled down after that with our players looking to conserve their strengths for Saturday’s crucial match against Sevilla. Tenerife started to attack and got a goal in the 79th minute. My heart skipped a beat and all I could hear in my head was (Atletico Madrid in 2008 all over again) but luckily the flag was rightfully up. There were 3 minutes of added time and just as I was about to turn of the television with 4 seconds remaining, Alves got his second assist of the game with a wonderful cross that fell perfectly to give Messi his 31st goal in La Liga and 44th in all competitions. (EAT THAT CR9!)

Although we looked very shaky at the back at some points of the game. We dominated the game from start to finish with exception to these few intervals. We have 21 shots with 8 on target while they had 4 with 2 on target. We committed a lousy 5 fouls while they committed 21. We dominated the corner kicks as well with 9 for us and just 2 for them. As for offsides, 3 for us and 5 for them. The possession, while an astonishing figure for some, is not surprising: 83% to 17%. We had no bookings, they had three which means that we will have no one suspended from the crucial tie against Sevilla this Saturday. Valdes was forced to make one save. On the other side of the pitch Aragoneses was forced to make 4!

On that note lets take a look at the ratings..

Team: 6. In general they played pretty good but they cannot afford to relax or underestimate an opponent with so much on the line. We are playing for the league, therefore every game is a final. No matter who we are playing we should approach all the games with the same attitude and mentality. Attack was fine today and midfield support was crazy, however the defense was catastrophic and we would have suffered badly against a more organised team.

Guardiola: 7. Sent out the right lineup and gave the correct directions at half time. Very ballsy substitution involving Pedro for Pique but worked out perfectly. Ibrahimovic and Bojan did not link up perfectly and it was very clear from the way Ibrahimovic was playing that he isn’t used to roles other than CF. Made the correct substitutions by bringing on Busquets to bolster the midfield and Henry to run riot on the left flank.

Valdes: 6. By default he gets a 6, nothing special and nothing catastrophic. Was in no way at fault for the goal. He had one save to make all game and looked very comfortable when receiving back-passes and starting attacks from the back.

Alves: 9. A candidate for Man of the match. 2 perfect assist coupled with an amazing performance on the right wing. Loses a point for not covering the back when everyone was attacking. Had Pedro not made that intersection we would have seen a completely different game. Escaped by the scruff of your neck. But again, those crosses were gold!

Pique: 7. Did well to stop the onslaught of attacks that resulted from losing possession. Made a crucial interception when Puyol mistakingly lost the ball. Ashame that he got injured but kept going until the half time whistle and didn’t look like flinching at all.

Puyol: 5. Poor game from El Capitan today. Yes he improved hugely in the second half but 2 defensive blunders against an opponent with a much higher order of finishing can destroy us. Did well to re-gain his confidence at the break and should have scored that goal.

Maxwell: 7. Our most active player on the left wing today. Countless of runs back and forth and didn’t look like he was getting tired. Loses points for being selfish with that ball that could have easily gave us a 2 – 0 lead. His confidence is increasing day by day and so far, he has proven to be a worthy backup for our injured Abidal. Deal of the year if you ask me!

The Yaya: 5. Slow, very very slow today. Didn’t pressure the opposition as we are used to him doing. Gave away easy balls and didn’t make an effort to latch onto that ball from Puyol that lead to the goal. Improved greatly in the second half and never seemed to be on the back foot after he deputized for Pique in the CB position.

Keita: 7. The silent treatment is what he should be called from now on. Barely has a major impact on the game but he is always there pressuring the opponent to lose possession. Fights for each ball like it is the end of the world and that is what the Barca philosophy is all about. Too bad that he didn’t get a goal to his name from that header but overall good game.

Xavi: 6. Wasn’t at his best today and gave away passes more than usual. Maybe its the injury but that guy deserves all the credit because he was instrumental in keeping possession for long intervals of time. I really hope that we won’t get deprived from him in the world cup this summer but on another note, a very honorable and noble thing to do.

Bojan: 8. His movement was perfect. He fits into the Barca style perfectly. He was eventually rewarded with a goal that came from a sublime strike. 5 goals in 9 matches and 2 goals in the last 2 matches, he is giving Guardiola a run for his money about whether or  not to start him ahead of Ibrahimovic.

Ibrahimovic: 6. Much better than before but still slow on the ball. Contributed to attack more than usual and nearly could have scored at least one. His skills in counter-attacks partially failed him as it made us lose the element of speed but its all uphill from here. Keep it up!

Messi: 8. Yes, he scored 2 goals and turned the opposition inside out. He sometimes disappeared for some periods of time but this boy is incredible. He can sleep for the whole 85 minutes and pop up and score a goal or two. His confidence should be booming since he is closing in on the Pichichi title, the Golden Boot and, of course, Ronaldo’s (the real one ) record of 34 goals in 37 matches. Messi now has 31 goals in 33 matches.

Substitutions

Pedro for Pique: 10. Here is my man of the match. Started shakily but quickly pulled himself together. Got a wonderful goal to his name from a well played game and could have had one more had he played it right. He was instrumental in confusing the opponents game plan with his speed. Overall perfect performance.

Busquets for Ibrahimovic: 6. At a time where it appeared that we were slightly losing control of the midfield due to the Yaya-cum-defender and 4 forward in attack he stepped in for Ibrahimovic to regain control of the midfield. I was never a fan of Busquets but it seems that he is gaining experience from his time on the field.

Henry for Bojan: Incomplete. Came on made a few runs, almost scored one and almost assisted one.

Well that’s that! We are now 4 points ahead of Real Madrid with a game in hand and pending their result (hopefully positive for us) against Mallorca. We have 2 more games remaining, the most important of which is the one against Sevilla this Saturday. In my opinion, if we come away with maximum points against Sevilla the league is as good as done. I’m not going to jinx it because we still have 2 finals to play before we can claim the title. We have broken the record for the most points in La Liga ever with 93 points! 91GF and 21GA with a GD of +69. We are one goal away from breaking last seasons goal difference record! Next up Sevilla but until then…

Visca el Barca!!