FCBARCELONA.CAT

13.04.2008 18:08

Victory but not by enough (44-37)

Verónica Díez

Barça have beaten Kiel by 44 to 37 but the victory isn’t enough to keep them in Europe. Nevertheless the Palau saw the best performance of the season so far by FC Barcelona.

The Catalan outfit battled it out for every minute of the game to try to overcome a 10 goal deficit. It was always going to be a big ask, yet in the end Barça only fell short by four. Great teamwork, solid defence and an aggressive attack were the outstanding features of the team’s performance.

Give and take

The first half was very evenly balanced. Andersson made it 0 - 1, but Nagy equalised seconds later. Barça were over eager in the first few minutes which gave Kiel the chance to pull ahead, and in the 6th minute Alhm made it 2 – 6 for the visitors.

The Catalans rolled up their sleeves and defended as if their lives depended on it. That enabled Víctor Tomás to score twice on the counterattack and then Iker Romero and Demetrio Lozano scored to make it 8 all.

From then on the game was very even and both goalkeepers performed magnificently. Saves by Venio Losert helped the locals get ahead as Albert Rocas made it 14 – 13 with ten minutes to go in the first half. However the Germans came roaring back and at half-time were in the lead by 19-20.

Jicha and Omeyer crucial again

Just as in the game at Kiel, Jicha and Omeyer made a big difference in the first minutes of the second half. Barça were having a hard time scoring and in breaking up the German attacks.

In the tenth minute Barça levelled the scores only for Kiel to pull ahead once again. The difference between the two sides was only ever one or two goals but overcoming that deficit was looking increasingly difficult.

The Palau on its feet

In the 13th minute of the second half Barça took the game to the current European champions as Iker Romero brought the Palau faithful to their feet with two goals on the break which made the scores level at 29 all. Demetrio Lozano and Víctor Tomás also played a key role in this part of the game.

Heart-stopper

The last few minutes were a real heart-stopper. Barça began to pull away and Kiel couldn’t do anything about it as Romero, Juanín and Lozano seemed to be scoring at will. With the Palau crowd roaring them on, the Barça players really went for it and ran out winners by seven goals (44 – 37).