All Bar�a�s football

Match

Marcador del partit

Date: Tuesday, 25 Oct
Competition: ???label.competicio0???
Stadium: Los C�rmenes, Granada

Resultat:

Granada: 0
FC Barcelona: 1

Match report

Match Report
Pre-Match

Match Report

More info

The goal

0-1, Xavi (min 33)

Xavi gem gives Bar�a the points (0-1)

Roger Boguny�

Bar�a neat Granada by a single goal and for 24 hours at least, are back on top of La Liga. Xavi got the goal with a fantastic free kick while Pedro was taken off injured and Jaime and Ben�tez were sent off for Granada.

Following the disappointment of Saturday’s draw, the team were back to winning ways at Granada tonight, as they put in a practical performance at the Los Carmenes Stadium. In the first half, with Isaac Cuenca making his debut out on the left wing, Bar�a played some fast and attractive football which culminated in Xavi’s superbly taken free kick.

Granada suffered two red cards after the break –one at the start and one at the end of the half and Bar�a duly ran out winners –though perhaps without their usual verve and sparkle – to take over the top spot in the league ahead of Wednesday’s games.

Dominant from the off

Just as Seville had done on Saturday, Granada closed up shop from the start and handed over the initiative to Bar�a, hoping to catch the champions on the break, whilst Bar�a put together plenty of passing movements in front of the Granada box, looking for spaces in their defensive wall. Messi and Cuenca both had shots wide in the early encounters.

Magnificent Xavi

Despite Bar�a’s domination, Granada were holding out and reached the half hour mark with their goal intact, but soon after Xavi was fouled on the edge of the box and he got up to put away a brilliant free kick past the helpless Granada keeper. Magnificent!

Jaime sent off

Things got tougher for the hosts when Jaime was shown a second yellow for dangerous play. Bar�a were also to lose a player at the same time, as Pedro twisted his ankle in a nasty way and was replaced by David Villa. With the extra man, Bar�a pushed for the second and it looked as if Messi had got it, only to see his effort spectacularly cleared off the line by Mainz.

However, after that chance the pace of the game dropped notably as both teams seemed happy with the 0-1 result and once Granada were reduced to nine men after Benitez was also shown a second yellow, there was never going to be a way back for the hosts and Xavi’s goal proved enough for Bar�a to come back home with the three points.

Preview

Time for quick reaction

Jordi Clos

Bar�a will be looking to get back to their winning ways away to Granada this evening (20.00, GolT, Canal+ Liga and R@dio Bar�a). Puyol misses the game as a precautionary measure.

With no time to dwell on the cruel draw against Sevilla, Bar�a get back to league action away to Granada. The midweek fixture takes them back to Los C�rmenes for the first time in 35 years for an official match. Having lost top spot in the league to Levante, the object is clear – to get back to the top of the table as quickly as possible.

Tough schedule

As he said in his press conference, Pep Guardiola’s main concern is that his players will suffer because of the massive exertions of Saturday night’s game at home to Sevilla. The match will also be a test of the mental strength of a squad that has got so used to winning that anything else can have a serious physiological effect.

Guardiola has the same players at his disposition as in recent games, with Afellay, Alexis and Piqu� still injured and Puyol also sidelined as a precautionary measure due to trouble he has been having with his pubis. That means the Barcelona defence could take any of a number of patterns, with full back Montoya and wide player Cuenca also drafted in from the reserves.

Vald�s seeks record

One man on whom many eyes will be focused in Granada is V�ctor Vald�s. The FCB keeper has just beaten his own record of 607 minutes without conceding a goal in Liga and Champions League matches, including six consecutive clean sheets. And Xavi could equal Migueli’s all-time record for the number of league appearances in a Barcelona shirt (391).

Granada in trouble

The newly promoted host club is second from bottom in La Liga after eight matches, with just five points and two goals to their name. All of those have been won at home, where they have managed to hold both Villarreal and Atl�tico Madrid to draws. Manager Fabri Gonz�lez is missing two key midfielders, Algerian Yebda and Portuguese Martins.