Barcelona vs. Athletic Bilbao – First Half Report (Part 2)
Athletic Bilbao only managed to take one shot on target and that too came from distance as Javi http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Pinto-c30032 was perfectly positioned as he saved the day for the Spanish Champions.
On the other hand, Barcelona did not only dominate 60% possession, but also took 12 shots on goal. Four of those shots came from Andres Iniesta who also tried to score a long-ranged stunner, but the Bilbao goalkeeper was on his toes to save the ball from going
into the back of the net.
During the first half hour of the game, the Spanish Champions dominated most of the game. They tried to open Athletic Bilbao’s defence and tried to create their chances to find the back of the net. The best chance for Barcelona
came during the 28th minute when Pedro Rodriguez found himself at the end of a delicious Maxwell cross. The midfield maestro Xavi Hernandez wonderfully passed the ball towards the “in-run” http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Maxwell-c25051 on the left flank. The Brazilian full back did not
waste any time as he crossed the ball into the 18-yard box. The Spanish youngster Pedro Rodriguez was present at the right position and shot the ball towards the goal. However, he slipped and shot the ball out wide as a great chance was wasted by the Spanish
Champions.
Josep Guardiola’s men were totally dominant in the first half. Athletic Bilbao barely made any opportunities. It was definitely not only because of the home crowd that was backing Barcelona up on every pass that they made. It was
actually the absence of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Fernando-Llorente-c13671 affecting Bilbao up front. The Spanish striker always manages to make his presence felt as he has already found the net more than 10 times during the Spanish La Liga. He is currently the highest goal scorer for Athletic
Bilbao and with the sensational goal scorer missing out on this game, the possibility of Bilbao scoring a goal in the Blaugrana fortress looked to be very less.
The first half saw most of Barcelona as they dominated the game in the Nou Camp. However, Athletic Bilbao did dispossess the Blaugrana giants in the midfield as they took advantage of the number of men that were present in their
midfield. Xavi Hernandez looked to be having an off night and with http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Lionel-Messi-c22296 on the bench, Josep Guardiola would definitely consider changing the midfield maestro with the Argentinean striker in order to put Pedro on the left wing and Andres Iniesta in
the midfield.
For the first 45 minutes, it all went well for both the teams as no one found the net. However, Josep Guardiola would definitely try to win the game in order to go into the winter break with a confidence boost. Would his men take
the lead that they need? Well, that question can only be answered after the full 90 minutes.
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