Barcelona Stumble against Hercules
Nelson Haedo Valdez scored twice at Camp Nou, which left the Spanish champions stunned in their second match of new La Liga season.
Although Hercules were generally held back by Barcelona, but the Paraguayan midfielder scored from a free-kick in 27th minute of the match. The Barcelona defence stumbled for a brief period to give a lead to the visitors.
As Barcelona started to chase the match, Hercules found another goal through Nelson Valdez in 58th minute, this time from an open play. The midfielder had one of the most brilliant debuts for any team in Europe, as he helped his team get past the Spanish and European giants.
Juan Calatayud, Hercules’ goal-keeper, was kept busy in the first half by Barcelona, as their forwards attacked constantly in the first half. However, Lionel Messi, David Villa and Bojan Krkic were denied by a brilliant Calatayud on multiple occasions.
However, the Catalan giants were mostly off target in the first half, as Bojan, Seydou Keita and David Villa shot wide of the goal on easy chances. Lionel Messi was at his usual best in the first half, but he found it hard to get free space in order to shoot on goal. Hercules was defending well, as they continued to hold off the pressure by Barcelona’s attack. To the surprise of the home side, they also got an unusual lead in the first half, despite the pressure being exerted on the other side.
Pep Guardiola was resting some his key players in first half, but he decided to bring them in from the start of second half. Therefore, Xavi and Pedro, the players from World Cup winning team of Spain, were brought in as substitutions. However, Guardiola adopted a more attacking approach as he let Javier Mascherano substituted in place of Xavi.
Xavi and Pedro were inspiring from the beginning as Barcelona looked better from the start of second half. There were a few chances missed, but the Catalans were controlling the game in midfield. However, the home side had another set-back as Valdez scored another to give a two goal lead to the visitors. At that point, Guardiola had no other option but to bring in Dani Alves in place of Adriano. The purpose was to look for any kind of inspiration, but it was already too late for the home side.
David Trezeguet also made his debut for Hercules, and showed some signs of inspiration. He was involved in the set-up for second goal; however, he missed a great chance towards the end, when he shot the ball straight to Victor Valdez. In the end, it was all disappointment for Barcelona, as they were humiliated by a recently promoted side at Camp Nou.
Pep Guardiola took a risk when he did not start all the players from his first team. Spain was in Argentina in the midweek, due to which Guardiola decided to put some of his players on the bench. Pedro, Xavi, Dani Alves, Sergio Busquets and Gabriel Milito started on the benches. However, the likes of Lionel Messi, David Villa and others were not able to break the deadlock in the first half.
In the second half, Guardiola took another gamble when he removed his only defensive midfielder from the very start. This was a critical tactical decision, as the defence of the side weakened after this move. As a result, a second goal was easy to score, as Valdez was roaming free in the penalty area of Barcelona.
All the stats of the match pointed towards a Barcelona domination, as they had 77% of possession, while they had 14 corners while Hercules had only 2. However, the finishing was poor, despite the presence of some big names in the forward line. In the end, the forward line let Barcelona down, as they failed to finish some easy chances, which could have put the game down for them in the early minutes of the match.
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