Lionel Messi scored a brace at Camp Nou to complete Barcelona’s complete domination of the visiting side, Real Sociedad.
David Villa also looked in great touch as he scored the opener for Barcelona in the opening ten minutes of the game. Also, Andres Iniesta and Bojan Krkic were also on the score sheet for the Catalans as they won the match by 5-0.
Real Madrid won their match against Real Zaragoza earlier and moved to the top of the table. However, Barcelona felt no pressure whatsoever as they faced Real Sociedad. It was a complete domination by Barcelona, from start to the finish, as the visitors
looked helpless in front of another exquisite display of passing by the hosts. The Catalans have almost perfected their passing in the midfield and they continued their psychological and actual domination in the game.
With the end of first round of Champions League, Pep Guardiola did not need to rest any of his players. However, Javier Mascherano was given another rare start ahead of Sergio Busquets, who was sitting as a substitute. Also, Gerard Pique was sitting on the
bench as well, while Eric Abidal started as the centre-half, alongside Carles Puyol. Apart from that, the team remained similar with all the big names and players present on the pitch, including the three finalists for FIFA Ballon d’Or award, Lionel Messi,
Andres Iniesta and Xavi.
The statistics of the match speak of the brilliance of the hosts, who did not give the visitors any breathing space at all. Barcelona had an incredible 78% possession in the match, most of which came in the second half. Also, Sociedad had only two shots
but none was on target and nothing challenged Barcelona’s goalkeeper Victor Valdes. On the other hand, Barcelona had 21 shots in the game and 9 of them were on target. There were plenty of chances for the Catalans while for Sociedad there was nothing in the
match.
First goal came in the ninth minute for Barcelona. Lionel Messi gave an incredible pass to Pedro, who placed a low cross from the right-hand side. The cross was met by David Villa, on the other end, making no mistake and bagged his 9th goal of
the season. In the 32nd minute the second goal came and it was Andres Iniesta’s turn. Pedro had a great one-two with Iniesta who made the run and shot the ball into goal. The first half finished on this score-line, but Barcelona had more chances
which were not availed.
The third goal came in the beginning of second half and Lionel Messi was the scorer. The Argentinean forward combined with Dani Alves and placed the ball into goal through the legs of Sociedad’s goalkeeper. After this goal, Pep Guardiola made availed his
substitutions as he removed Javier Mascherano, Pedro and Xavi from the field, while brought in Sergio Busquets, Bojan and Seydou Keita respectively. For a time being, it seemed that the score line would stay the same as Barcelona players did not look keen
on getting the fourth goal.
However, in the 87th minute, Lionel Messi scored another one with his trademark finish. Lionel Messi took the ball from Bojan and moved past four defenders before placing the shot to the far corner of the goal. After just three minutes, Bojan
scored the fifth for his team, scoring on the rebound after his first shot was deflected from the goalkeeper. The match ended on 5-0 after an aggressive and incredible display of football by Barcelona.
With this victory, Barcelona has moved back to the top of the table while Sociedad moved into ninth place. The match was a trademark Barcelona performance and they really looked like the side that seems to be invincible at the moment.
Tags: