Malaga vs. Barcelona – Spanish La Liga Match Review (Part 1)
Malaga were to host the Spanish Champions at La Rosaleda. It was a must-win game for the Catalans as they were five points behind the league leaders Real Madrid.
Josep Guardiola decided to rest a few players for this game as they have been seeing a lot of football lately. The club captain, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Carles-Puyol-c8331, was not a part of Guardiola’s plans for this fixture. Moreover, the newly signed midfielder, Cesc Fabregas, was
also not included in the starting line-up. Xavi Hernandez was also rested by the Catalan coach.
Victor Valdes stood guard between the posts and acted as a goal stopper on the night. While playing in their favourite 4-3-3 formation, Valdes had four defenders to aid him in defending the goal.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Daniel-c9879 Alves and Eric Abidal featured as right back and left back, respectively.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Adriano-c3773 featured in the left attacking midfield position.
The front three were changed by Guardiola, as Andres Iniesta took the left wing position which is usually taken by http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Pedro-c29582 Rodriguez. The Catalan coach decided to field the Spaniard on the left wing while Alexis
Sanchez was played on the right flank and Lionel Messi played as a “false nine”.
On the other hand, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Manuel-c23383 Pellegrini played his favourite 4-2-3-1. Caballero played as a goal stopper and he was aided by four defenders. Gamez, Demichelis, Mathijsen and Monreal were the four defenders who helped Caballero guard his goal.
The two holding midfielders were http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ruud-van-Nistelrooy-c31966 was the sole striker for the home team.
The game started off slow, with http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Barcelona-c38604 applying their usual tiki-taka style of play. The Spanish Champions were pressing their opposition slowly but they couldn’t find a breakthrough.
There were a few chances created by La Blaugrana but they were not well availed by them. Gerard Pique almost found a goal from a set piece and later Messi tried his luck on goal but Caballero was on his toes to pick the pull the shot out. The resulting corner
was also well handled by the home side who were under a lot of pressure for the first twenty minutes.
After the first twenty minutes of the game, Malaga tried to open up. They weren’t trying the usual ‘men behind the ball’ strategy. In fact, they stepped up a gear and tried to find a goal against the Spanish Champions.
Malaga came close to scoring during the 22nd minute but Victor Valdes did enough to keep his side into the game.
It took Barcelona 33 minutes to break the dead lock. It was none other than the Argentinean maestro himself, Lionel Messi, who scored the first goal of the match.
It was the Brazilian star, Adriano, who made a darting run on the left and crossed the ball into the penalty area. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Lionel-Messi-c22296 timed his run perfectly and headed the ball into the back of the net. The lead gave Barcelona the psychological advantage they
were craving for while Malaga didn’t have any option but to open their defence up, in order to find an equalizer.
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