The first tough test of the newly born La Liga season has ended in a comfortable home win. Barca started the match firing fast with a TiTi Henry shot hitting the bar. Atleti couldn't hold the blaugrana's smooth movements for long as Ibrahimovic put away the first goal of the night with a cheeky finish. Messi then decided to join the fun with another trademark finish. After Barca scored for the 2nd time atletic started to for an attack. They created a couple of opportunities that probably should have ended in goals. But they were off at both sides of the pitch. Barca were put on their heels for a 10 to 15 minute period, but were bailed out by a decent Dani Alves free kick. The mattress makers substitute 'keeper showed why he was 2nd team as he was indecisive in dealing with the long free kick. Barca's 4th was their greatest of the night. A beautiful piece of play from Ibra led to Messi giving Keita a simple tap in. After the that gol, most cules were already looking forward to tuesdays match at Santander. But Argentine star Kun Aguero, taking advantage of a poor Busquets header, made us all focus on the present as he finally put away one of Atleti's many chances. Going into the half the score was 4-1.
The 2nd half began with Barca content on keeping the ball and getting touches. They even sparked a few ole's from the Nou Camp faithful. Messi try to establish himself even more in the 2nd half as he created numerous chances for him and his teammates. Barca's 2nd half confidence led to some promising 2nd half counter attacks for atletico. But similar to the 1st half they were unable to put anything in the net. Last seasons top scorer changed that with a crucial finish from just inside the box. The Nou Camp became slightly nervous at this point. After the goal, the Blaugrana took their foot off the pedal and slowed down the tempo. But before leaving with the 3 points, Messi decided to add to his total by grabbing his 2nd and Barca's 5th of the night.
The win gave Barca a perfect 9 of 9 points and a goal difference of 8 with none conceded. Now I wanna talk about some things that made me smile and some things that disgust me.
Let's get the bad part out of the way first. Here are some things that need to be fixed.
- Chygrinskiy might be the slowest center back in Spain
"If you see a player sprinting....that means he left too late" a quote from barca legend Johan Cruyff. Chygy must of left late every time. He was chasing almost the whole game and couldn't catch a soul. I have no idea how he's gonna handle the likes of Ronaldo running at him.
He can be good at time and he can be shocking at times as well. Tonight showcased that well. He started the night with a perfect set-up for Ibra but then sent Aguero through for Atleti's 1st. He has to become more consistent before he is called to replace Yaya during the African Cup of Nations.
The blaugrana got 4....but should of had at least 7. We have to start putting more of these chances into the net. Selfish play in the 2nd half led to Barca's lacking the scoring power they had in the 1st half
Now to the good
No team in Europe can play as visually pleasing as Barca at times. The first 15 minutes were a true display. Ibra and Messi were linking up well
- Thierry Henry (First Half)
He looked at his best during the first 45. The Atletico full back had no chance. Titi showed a new pair of heels on every occasion. He disappeared in the 2nd half which was disappointing.
- This isn't even the starting 11
The fact that we could play this type of football without a player that wayne rooney called the greatest in the world is outstanding. Iniesta and Yaya are vital to what we do and it will be exciting to see Barca at their best and with their best with-in the next couple of weeks.
All and all I was very happy to see a win against what I liked to call a spanish "Big 5" club. Next up is a big midweek fixture, which are always tricky, against Racing Santander. These are the games we must win to be called champions.
Guelinho & Bobinho
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