Barcelona labour to overcome FC Copenhagen in the Champions League
Barcelona hit two goals past FC Copenhagen in the Champions League on Wednesday, 20 October, but the Spanish champions had to fight hard to earn the three points.
A brace from Lionel Messi was enough to seal a 2–0 victory in the game, during which Copenhagen came close to equalising before the Argentine added Barcelona's second late on.
"I'm really happy because of the way my players fought; once again we've played a great game," said coach Pep Guardiola after the game, who said he was happy his team managed to hold on to their lead in
the second half. "Although we were the team in control, the nervousness in the stands was generated by the fact that we didn't close out the game earlier and we may have only finished with a point had they scored."
Villa goes close before Messi punishes Danes
Messi made a characteristic surge into the box with three minutes played. The ball eventually found its way to David Villa, who twisted and turned before lobbing a strike that hit the crossbar and rebounded
back into play.
In the 19th minute, Copenhagen focused all their attention on Andres Iniesta, who promptly squared the ball for Messi.
Taking advantage of the space he had created by dropping deep into the field, Barcelona's top scorer unleashed a hard shot that found the left corner of Johan Wiland's goal.
With half an hour gone, Villa had a goal ruled out for offside after running onto Messi's through ball, and minutes later it was Messi who had a goal disallowed for the same offence.
Halfway into the second half, Copenhagen's Dame N'Doye hit a half-volley that thumped against the crossbar before Cesar Santin, N'Doye's striking partner, failed to hit the target on the rebound.
Alves in the thick of it
Veteran Jesper Gronkjaer then raced clear on the right flank, hitting a perfectly paced cross into the box that Daniel Alves did well to clear from the feet of Christian Bolanos, who had come on for Martin
Vingaard.
Alves then hit the post with a shot from inside the box, before Messi picked up Eric Abidal's mishit shot to claim his second goal of the night and fourth of the tournament.
The victory sees leaders Barcelona overtake Copenhagen by one point in Group D, with seven points from three games. Rubin Kazan are third with two points, while Panathinaikos FC are last with one draw
and two losses.
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