All Bar�a�s football

Match

Marcador del partit

Date: Saturday, 12 Jan
Competition: ???label.competicio0???
Stadium: Camp Nou, Barcelona

Resultat:

FC Barcelona: 4
R. Murcia: 0

Match report

Match Report
Pre-Match

Match Report

THE GOALS

1-0, Gudjohnsen (min 27)
2-0, Bojan (min 52)
3-0, Eto'o /min 76)
4-0, Eto'o (min 86)

Bar�a storm to victory (4-0)

Roger Boguny�

FC Barcelona have beaten Murcia 4-0 in an exhibition of attacking football. Gudjohnsen, Bojan and Eto'o (2) were on target as the home side played an amazing second half to start a week in which they have three home games at the Camp Nou.

Bar�a defeated Murcia without producing particularly good football in the first half, and missing key players of the calibre of Milito, Abidal and Iniesta. The game began with Murcia being blocked out of the game, and Bar�a’s efforts were finally rewarded with a Gudjohnsen goal in the 27th minute.

From then on, and especially after the break, Bar�a were unstoppable. Bojan and Eto'o (2) rounded off a great evening for the Bar�a forwards. Special mention goes to Henry, who despite not scoring was a constant danger down the left and made the evening a nightmare for De Coz and supplied a couple of assists.

Murcia organised at the back

The game started as cold as the Barcelona night it was played in. Bojan played on the right and Henry on the left, with much of Bar�a’s attack coming from those two positions. But Murcia played it tight at the back and Bar�a realised they would need to be clear about how they were going to deal with it. Only Eto'o (min. 6) and Bojan (min. 13) enjoyed early chances.

Improvements made

As the game progressed, Rijkaard’s side started playing a tighter game, and it was a fast one-two that led to a dangerous 23rd minute free kick on the edge of the area. This was a moment that changed the game, and it was another great team move in the 27th minute that led to Zambrotta picking out Gudjohnsen with a pinpoint pass, and the Icelander placed the ball exactly where keeper Notario could not reach it. That was 1-0.

From there on, and the linesman’s flag permitting, Bar�a piled the pressure on the visiting goal. There were claims for a handball outside the area by Notario, but the referee wanted to know nothing. The Camp Nou was infuriated, and soon after Eto’o almost made it 2-0 (min. 42).

Time for Vald�s, Bojan and Henry

Murcia’s best chance came just after the break, when Baiano was through one on one against Vald�s, who dealt with the situation expertly. And from a possible 1-1, it was soon 2-0 as Henry danced down the left towards the by-line and found Bojan who simply had to tap the ball into the back of the net (min. 52). The Frenchman had already threatened to score a minute earlier, and this time made sure the opportunity was converted.

Bar�a and more Bar�a

Bar�a were now were now well on top and Henry was making the evening impossible for De Coz, while Bojan and Eto'o almost combined to make it three in the 64th minute, and Xavi also came close to scoring.

Eto'o bids farewell with goals

The best was yet to come. Henry, on the back of a terrific assist from Sylvinho, excelled again in the 76th minute as he supplied another goal, this time to Eto'o. The Cameroonian struck home in expert style to make it 3-0 to the home side.

Eto’o is now off to Ghana to play in the African Nations Cup, and wanted to mark his departure in the best way possible, which he did with a second goal when Murcia would probably have preferred to hear the referee’s final whistle and end the nightmare. Eto’o tricked Notario once again after a stylish cross from Giovani, and was given a massive ovation as he left the pitch to be replaced by Pedrito, making his first team debut. It was a wonderful night for Eto’o, and for every Bar�a fan in the ground.

Preview

Previous meetings

Bar�a and Real Murcia have met 17 times in Camp Nou and the Blaugrana have won on 16 occasions, with the only time that the visitors have prevented a home victory was in the 1945-46 season when they drew 1-1. The last time the two teams met was in 2003 when Javier Saviola, Xavi and Ronaldinho scored in a 3-0 win for the Blaugrana.

Home advantage

Jordi Clos

Barcelona take on Real Murcia on Saturday evening (20:00 CET - Bar�a TV, Radio Bar�a) in the first of three consecutive home game at Camp Nou in just eight days and Frank Rijkaard will hoping that his side can clinch a victory in all of them.

With just one game to go before the halfway stage in the league campaign, Bar�a are seven points behind leaders Real Madrid. It is an unexpected gap between the two sides as few expected the Blaugrana to go into the second half of the season with so much ground to make up. But over the next three games, the team have a chance to show just how good they can be and after playing well in recent outings.

Real Murcia are the first of the trio of sides to visit the Catalan capital as Lucas Alcaraz brings his side for the final game before the league calendar repeats itself. Then, on Tuesday, Bar�a take on Sevilla in the last 16, second leg encounter in the Copa del Rey before Racing Santander arrive four days later in the league. Three home games-in-a-row at such an important stage of the season could give the side a real boost as they look to make up ground in the league and reach the quarter finals of the cup.

Changing tactics

The last two games, against Real Mallorca and Sevilla, have seen Rijkaard's side show more determination and be more effective. In the Ono Estadi the team forged a gritty victory to win against the Balearic Islanders, before they headed south and earned a strong draw against a determined Sevilla side in the cup. Against the Andalucian outfit, Barcelona switched their formation from the usual 4-3-3 to 4-2-3-1 and that caused some surprise. The new strategy strengthened the defence and allowed Thierry Henry to shine going forward as he looked very comfortable up front and scored a superb goal to put his team ahead. It remains to be seen if the coaching staff will tweak the tactics again for this weekend's encounter or whether the team will adopt the normal sytstem when playing at home against a defensive outfit.

Squad news

sevilla-fcb_xc.reix.jpg The Bar�a squad has once again been affected by injuries. As well as having Ronaldinho, Deco, Lionel Messi, Oleguer Presas and Albert Jorquera out of action, Edm�lson is also missing after picking up a knock against Sevilla. The Brazilian was lined up to replace Tour� Yaya, who is on international duty Preparing for the African Cup of Nations with the Ivory Coast. Samuel Eto'o will play his last game for Bar�a before heading off to join the Cameroon squad ahead of their participation in the tournament. Marc Crosas is also out after he completed a loan move to Olympique Lyonnais for the rest of the season.

Morale boost

Alcaraz has had less problems to contend with in order to choose his Real Murcia squad for the game. Mario Regueiro will be out of action, however, as the Uruguayan forward who has been one of the revelations so far this season for the team is out of action. After defeating Osasuna last weekend Real Murcia moved up to ninth in the table and have confidence and desire and will not be over-awed by their trip to Camp Nou. The visitors have little to lose and a lot to gain against Bar�a and will be hoping to cause a major surprise.