All Bar�a�s football

Match

Marcador del partit

Date: Saturday, 24 Sep
Competition: ???label.competicio0???
Stadium: Camp Nou, Barcelona

Resultat:

FC Barcelona: 5
At.Madrid: 0

Match report

Match Report
Pre-Match

Match Report

More info

Goals

1-0 Villa (min 9)
2-0 Miranda (p.p.) (min 15)
3-0 Messi (min 26)
4-0 Messi (min 77)
5-0 Messi (min 91)

A footballing anthology (5-0)

Jordi Clos

Bar�a have destroyed Atl�tico Madrid with a formidable display of tactics and skill. Villa, Miranda (og) and Messi put the home side ahead after just 26 minutes and the best player in the world was simply amazing in the second half.

Atl�tico Madrid were beaten after just 26 minutes following some amazing football from a set of players that just seem to get better and better. Xavi was monumental as he orchestrated the onslaught on the visitors’ goal, with Bar�a suffocating the red and white midfield with devastating possession play that as good as had the job done before the first half hour was up. Atl�tico may have been one of the most impressive teams so far this season, but they were powerless to contain FCB, who completed the show with two more goals in the second half, one of which will go down among Messi’s greatest ever.

Villa gets dream start

Although the mattress-makers drew first blood with a Tiago shot onto the bar after just 4 minutes, Bar�a, once again playing with just three defenders (Alves, Mascherano and Abidal) soon started making their presence felt. After dominating the possession, they first hit the target thanks to Villa, who controlled a magnificent pass from Xavi on his chest and left Courtois floundering with a precision finish. Xavi was involved in the action shortly after, this time supplying Pedro, whose effort narrowly skimmed wide of the post.

Exhibition from Xavi to make it 3-0

Bar�a didn’t hold off. Xavi continued his extraordinary first half with a cheeky back-heel that led to the second goal. However, it will officially go down to the unfortunate Miranda, off whose body the ball rebounded after Courtois had parried away Messi’s strike. The Camp Nou was about to be soaked by a massive downpour, but nothing was going to dampen the spirits of Pep Guardiola’s charges. It was time for some Messi magic, in yet another move inspired by Pedro, in which he wove his way around the entire Atl�tico defence and slotted the ball home inside the near post. A goal that was simply a delight to behold.

Tactical battle

Both sides like to play the ball around in the middle, and that is where most of the action took place. But Bar�a had the perfect game plan to deal with a very talented opponent indeed, and made sure neither Diego nor Falcao got too involved in what was going on. Instead, all the chances were going Barcelona’s way, and Cesc almost made it four with a deft chip shortly before the break. Gregorio Manzano was clearly looking to shake things up a bit in the second half, when he sent on Salvio and Arda Turan, while Guardiola was under considerably less pressure and decided to give Piqu� his first taste of match action since his return from injury. He was welcomed with a huge ovation and settled in nicely in what went back to being a four-man defence.

Messi unstoppable

As the minutes ticked by, Barcelona looked in absolute control of what was going on and continued piling the pressure on Courtois, especially through Messi and Villa. The Argentinian sent the stadium into raptures with a run that Maradona would have proud of in the 72nd minute that he finished off with a perfectly executed strike to make it 4-0. Not even that was enough. In injury time, he and Villa combined and the Argentinian completed a spectacular hat-trick to make it five. There is no doubting that Atl�tico is one of his favourite victims, and once again the red and whites are leaving the Camp Nou on the back of a thrashing in which at times they were merely spectators of another truly marvellous display form FC Barcelona.

Preview

Firepower at its finest

Roger Boguny�

Bar�a and Atl�tico Madrid meet tonight (22.00, R@dio Bar�a) in a game that brings together the two top scorers in Messi and Falcao, who have five goals each while the two teams combined have a total of twenty-five goals already.

It’s one of the classic games in the Spanish Liga: Bar�a v Atl�tico Madrid, a gift for football fans, a nightmare for strategists. The Blaugrana and the mattress makers have both looked impressive in recent games, with Bar�a just one point ahead, and both clearly like to play attacking football. There could be no better occasion to celebrate the 54th anniversary of the Camp Nou.

For Afellay

One important person will be missing. Ibrahim Afellay tore cruciate ligaments in his left knee on Thursday and is likely to be out of action for some time. His colleagues will be keen to be able to dedicate a win to him tonight. Chilean Alexis S�nchez and Andr�s Iniesta will also be missing from Josep Guardiola’s plans, although we will see the return of Gerard Piqu� in this game.

Doubts surround Diego

The big question in the visiting camp concerns Diego, who missed Wednesday night’s game though injury. The player has been an absolute delight to watch this season, as have Arda Turan and Falcao, who shares the lead in the top scorer charts with Messi and Soldado. The Camp Nou could well see either the Colombian or Argentine striker edge into the lead, and the duo are surely going to be the focus of much of the attention.

Strong at home

Bar�a are the highest scoring side in the competition so far with 17 goals, and are clearly on fine form. But Atl�tico have just won two games 4-0 against Racing and Sporting, although they failed to score in their only away fixture to date, a 1-0 loss to Valencia. Bar�a have been even more impressive in front of their own fans, winning 5-0 against Villarreal and 8-0 against Osasuna. Between them , they have scored 18 goals in their last two games – so if one thing is guaranteed this evening, then that’s plenty of goals.

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Marcador del partit

Resultat:

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Goals

A footballing anthology (5-0)

Preview

Firepower at its finest

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