Barcelona 2 Athletic Club 1: Couldn’t beat the leader

Athletic Club finished the first half of the league championship in defeat and are at the bottom of the league ladder. The team couldn’t beat the leader FC Barcelona and lost by 2-1. Llorente was the first to score a goal early in the match but Messi scored on behalf of Barcelona, not to mention the controversial goal by Ronaldinho.

Our team’s line up was unexpected and this caused a lot of problems for our opponent. With many players in the mid-field area the ball was stolen on many occasions, the likes of Ronaldinho, Etoo and Messi were contained and our team’s strategy and concentration were far superior than it was during the Copa.
The Red-Whites looked dangerous from the word go and Llorente took a shot at goal which went high in the 1st minute, Gurpegi another in the 12th and then a Llorente header found the back of the net in the 15th minute after having received a great pass to the centre by Yeste.

The first opportunity that the locals had came in the 19th minute when a shot at goal by Etoo was caught by Lafuente. The locals had most of the ball but Athletic Club tried to create opportunities as shown in the 22nd minute when Etxeberria, who was right in front of Valdés, took a shot at goal with a line shot, however, this was caught by Valdés.
And hence a great opportunity was lost to increase the lead against a team that were lacking in attack. Another opportunity lost was that of Murillo whose shot at goal was cleared from almost under the posts by a defender in minute 33 of the game.

Nevertheless, FC Barcelona were able to bounce back with the unexpected help of those in charge. A ball to the centre from the right was making its way to the goal area with such strength that it was impossible for Etoo to finish it off, so much so that Etoo feinted. Behind him was Amorebieta who tried to get out of the way but unfortunately the ball hit his arm which was pressed against his body. The referee who had followed the ball closely as he had done throughout the entire match did not stop the game, until one of the linesman who was much farther away called for a penalty. Ronaldinho took the free kick in minute 38 of the encounter and the locals were back into the swing of things, despite this Athletic Club were able to respond and Llorente had 2 goal-scoring opportunities.

His first came in the 43rd minute, however, finding himself on his own and with maybe too much time to think about things his shot at goal went over the crossbar. One minute later he was at it again after having stolen a ball in the mid-field area, he reached the goal area but his shot at goal was intercepted by a defender. To finish off the first half Deco gave Lafuente a work out in the 46th minute

The start of the second half was a nightmare because the local team decided to put on the pressure, which they did well. A shot at goal by Márquez was ruined by Lafuente in the 47th minute but he couldn’t stop Messi from scoring 3 minutes later. Messi scored the match-winning goal easily after having taken advantage of a ball that had been repelled by the rojiblanco goalkeeper. Iraola stepped in for Lacruz but by then FC Barcelona clearly dominated the encounter and continued to do so until the 60th minute. The local team had several opportunities, for example; Van Bommel, who on one occasion hit the crossbar and another occasion his shot at goal was caught by Lafuente.

In the 63rd minute Guerrero and Aduriz were sent in to replace Yeste and Llorente and, in the 75th minute Iniesta stepped in for Van Bommel. Athletic Club tried everything and Barcelona looked dangerous on many occasions thanks to the efforts of their great players. Ronaldinho was lethal in minute 82 of the game; however, his shot at goal was deflected by Lafuente to corner.

Larsson replaced Messi and the score was 2-1 when in the 90th minute tempers flared on the field as a result of Deco being sent off for pulling Gurpegi’s hair. The players from Barcelona were unexplainably nervous if you consider their place in the standings. And there was no excuse for Etoo to spit at Expósito’s face. This affair is now in the hands of the Competition’s Committee and despite their ruling with regards to this incident, we should mention that a player who has fought against racism on the football field should have the same respect for others as he expects and deserves from others.

It is still of great concern the situation we find ourselves in and our urgent need to win matches, hopefully one of those will be in Anoeta on Sunday.