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Match

Marcador del partit

  • Date: Sunday, 28 Jan
  • Competition: ???label.competicio0???
  • Stadium: Camp Nou, Barcelona

Resultat:

  • FC Barcelona: 3
  • Celta: 1

Match report

Match Report

The goals

1-0, Saviola (min 34)
1-1, Nené (pen.) (min 66)
2-1, Ronaldinho (pen.) (min 75)
3-1, Giuly (min 85)

A well-deserved win

Barça beat Celta with goals from Saviola, Ronaldinho and Giuly. The blaugrana put in a solid performance in all areas, demonstrating a higher level potency.

They had to sweat, to concentrate and to work hard in all areas of the pitch in order to achieve victory, as Frank Rijkaard had predicted. The blaugrana won a deserved victory demonstrating strong character and personality against won of the best performing teams away from home. Saviola, who is knocking in the goals, started off the proceedings, Ronaldinho from the spot and Giuly did the damage necessary following Nene's equalizer. Barça start the second round of the league as leaders, while sending out a message to their closest rivals that beating them will not be an easy task.

Patience

The fans greeted the team with a rapturous applause dispelling any doubts that the relationship between them had soured. Barça wanted to respond early to the support and despite the team from Galicia's ability to make space and create danger, Barça dominated the play with patient build up play.

Edmilson and Deco worked tirelessly in the midfield. Calm, intelligent play made room for Edmilson and Xavi to try their luck from distance, causing Pinto to palm the ball out for a corner.

The prize

Despite Barça being in control, they could not let up for a second as Celta could create danger at any time. In order to help cancel out the danger, Zambrotta did an excellent job keeping Nene quiet, while Puyol and Oleguer shared their responsibility of Fernando Baiano.

In attack, Iniesta added extra weight and Saviola caused the Celta defence endless problems. The opening goal came in the 34th minute following great combination work between Ronaldinho and Gio down the left flank, the Dutchman sending in a great cross which met with Saviola's head well to put the league leaders ahead. Saviola was full of confidence, which caused Celta to rethink their strategy.

Strength

Barça were the only team who were able to move the ball around with fluidity. This show of control and strength began to create chances such as a long shot from Deco which made Pinto work hard. Saviola continued to pose a threat and a second goal from Barça seemed more likely that the equalizer. However, in the 66th minute, the referee pointed to the spot following a collision involving Oleguer and Gio, Nene converting to bring the scores level.

Celta got the equalizer with their first real effort on goal. This, however, provoked a reaction from the blaugrana. Rijkaard brought on Giuly for Edmilson in search of greater speed in attack and Barça went up a gear in search of goal.

Increased rhythm

In the 70th, Saviola had two chances to put the team ahead, however, the team's extra efforts were to pay off a few minutes later when the referee again pointed to the spot following a foul by Tamas on Gio. Ronaldinho neatly converted, unstoppably blasting the ball past the right of the keeper. The goal increased the rhythm of the game even more. Barça, however, escaped a scare in the 81st minute when Nunez had the chance to tie the game. Luckily Valdes was alert to deny him. The goal which buried the game came a few minutes later. A neat pass from Deco sent Giuly racing in attack from his own half, where he found himself in a one on one situation with the keeper. Giuly cleverly beat Pinto and took the game out of reach of the visitors. A hard worked and well-deserved victory allows Barça to continue for another week as league leaders.

  


Preview

The day of the Referee

This weekend, the games in the first and second divisions will start a little differently. Before the start of the games, all teams will make a line of honour for the referees. The idea is an initiative for the official supporters' clubs 'fans united', which relies on the support of the professional football league, the royal association of Spanish football and the Spanish footballers' association. The object behind the 'Day of the Referee' is to show respect to the referees similar to that shown to a judge, and from a sporting perspective, to make sure football is kept clean on the field of play.

To increase the lead

FC Barcelona take on Celta at the Camp Nou (19:00h, Barça TV) in a game which could see the blaugrana maintain their status as league leaders.

Following the criticisms made towards the team, Barça have the chance to prove to their fans that they still have what it takes and come away with all three points. Barça could increase their lead over Sevilla depending on their game against Levante. Their other closest rival, Madrid, lost to Vilareal on Saturday.

Last minute changes: Two changes had to be made in the last minute, which added to the long term absentees of Eto'o and Messi. Lilian Thuram was unable to shake off a knock in time to make the squad list. Sylvinho injured himself right at the end of Friday's training session; ruling him out for a month.

Right back reinforcements: Thuram's and Sylvinho's injuries have been compensated by the return of Belletti and Zambrotta. Both, who were unable to play midweek against Betis, come back into the squad after being given the green light from the medical team.

Therefore, the 17 players available are: Valdés, Belletti, Motta, Puyol, Xavi, Gudjohnsen, Giuly, Ronaldinho, Zambrotta, Gio, Edmílson, Ezquerro, Deco, Oleguer, Iniesta and Jorquera.

A two sided rival: Celta are 14th in the league with 14 points and only three points away from the drop zone. Fernando Vazquez's men are not going through their best moment as they have gone eight games without a win. However, against top teams, they play well; beating both Madrid and Deportivo at home.

Precedents, 31 to 1: Of the 45 times these teams have faced each other at Camp Nou, Celta have only beaten the blaugrana on just one occasion, while Barça have won on 34 occasions. Ten games have seen the points divided.



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