Recap: Barcelona Dominated Possession in Their Victory against FC Copenhagen
Barcelona was playing in their Group D encounter against FC Copenhagen, at New Camp (Camp Nou). The game was dominated by the Catalans in term of possession, as they kept the ball for 70% of the match. FC Copenhagen, on the other
hand, remained on the back-foot, defending for the most part of the match.
This domination, in terms of possession, was converted into victory by the Argentinean and Barcelona’s superstar,
Lionel Messi. The young wizard scored two goals for his team, to ensure all three points from this easy encounter. Apart from Messi, no one came up with any goal, which speaks a lot about the problems that Barcelona is having this season, in
terms of goal-scoring.
Pep Guardiola faced a few problems before the match, as his keeper, Victor Valdes, missed out on the match because of an injury. Also, Xavi is still having problems with his Achilles tendon, so he was also left on the bench. Jose
Manuel Pinto and Javier Mascherano started instead of the missing players.
FC Copenhagen came into this match backed by a lot of success in recent weeks. The team won their opening matches in Group D and were sitting on top of the table. Also, in their domestic season, Copenhagen was enjoying success
as well, with a record breaking start to their new season, with a 12 point lead to the second place club.
As expected, Barcelona started dominating the match from the very onset. David Villa came close to scoring in the opening minutes, but his shot bounced back from the crossbar. Also, Maxwell, who was playing in the left midfield,
made an effort but his shot was saved by the opposition’s goalkeeper. Jonathan Wiland, the visiting goalkeeper, saved his team once again, as he stopped Messi’s header from going inside his goal.
However, in the 19th minute, Messi came up with an incredible goal to give his team the much deserved lead. Gerard Pique and Andres Iniesta were involved in some passing before feeding the ball to Lionel Messi. The Argentinean
maestro took a shot to the left corner from 25 yards out, giving no chance to Wiland to stop that ball. After this goal, there were some more chances, as Wiland seemed to be the busiest man for FC Copenhagen on the pitch.
Despite some efforts, the second goal did not come for Barcelona. In the second half, Copenhagen tried to level back, making things difficult for the Catalans. Dame N’Doye came close after the hour mark, but his shot bounced back
from the crossbar. Cesar Santini, the striker for Copenhagen, was in position to score after the ball bounced back, but he failed to convert from the header.
Barcelona showed a lot of nerves in the second half, while Valdes’ replacement also looked nervous. There were more chances for Copenhagen in the second half, but they failed to convert any of them into goal. The fans were having
some tense moments, which were promising to intensify in the closing minutes. However, in the 90th minute, Lionel Messi scored another goal, from six yards out, to seal the victory for his team.
It was a great night for Javier Mascherano, who started and finished his first game with Barcelona on the winning side. After the match, Guardiola had nothing but praises for his player, who had a great outing for the Catalans.
Although it was Messi who stole all the headlines, and indeed the show, Mascherano played a great game for his side as well.
With this victory, Barcelona has moved to the top of Group D, with two victories and one draw. However, they are only one point clear of Copenhagen, who won both their opening matches. Although Barcelona bagged all three points
in the match, there were still many things to worry about. Barcelona struggled to finish the matches off, as they were quite lucky to survive some scares in the second half. Guardiola needs to work on these problems if he wants his team to go a long way in
the Champions League.
Tags: