Spanish Cup: Ceuta vs Barcelona – Half Time Report (Part 1)
Barcelona were ready to play their debut match in the Spanish Cup as they travelled to North Africa to face a second tire team, Ceuta. Barcelona players were tired so their coach Josep Pep Guardiola decided to take an experimental team which included six
players from the Barcelona B side.
With young guns playing in their side, it was definitely difficult for them to capitalize and even though, the other side did not really look to be tough, Guardiola still warned his team about the happenings and told them that the game would not be easy.
This was not only because the team was lacking experience but also because there were no good players on the bench as well. Gerard Pique along with Carles Puyol, Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi, Xavi Hernandez and David Villa were all rested and given a break.
They were on holiday so that they can rest for the game against Sevilla that was going to take place on Saturday.
Guardiola’s men were having a tough schedule after coming back from the break as all of them were a part of FIFA World Cup 2010 and all of the first team players could not really have a long break to rest. After the tournament, the team had to resume training
at Nou Camp as they had to get ready for some club football.
Now, with most of the first team players rested, Guardiola sent out a few new players. Bojan Krkic was playing in the first team during the game and he was the captain of the side, thus being the most experienced player on the pitch for Catalan giants.
The goalkeeper for Catalan giants was Jose Manuel Pinto, who had featured for the team in their last UEFA Champions League match against Danish Champions, FC Copenhagen. The defenders for the Spanish Champions were Maxwell, Adriano, Andreu Fontas Prat and
Marc Bartra Aregall. Only Maxwell and Adriano were the two players with experience as both of them featured on the flanks while the other two young boys featured as centre backs for the club. The midfield was experienced as the former Sevilla player, Seydou
Keita was playing alongside the newly signed Argentinean captain, Javier Mascherano. The young and talented midfielder, Thiago Alcantara was the one who played in the centre midfield position to help the three strikers with through balls.
The three strikers were not bad either as Pedro Rodriguez and Jeffren Suarez featured as wingers while Bojan Krkic played as the centre forward. The team was basically relying on the strikers as they were the most experienced players on the pitch, then the
midfielders and of course, the centre backs were the least experienced. However, all the players that were playing during the match have had a first team experience under Josep Pep Guardiola.
On the other hand, the home side Ceuta were playing their strongest side. The match was called “the night of the stars” because Barcelona were visiting the city and everyone in Spain respects them for providing the national side eight quality players during
the FIFA World Cup 2010. But, Barcelona didn't take any “stars” along with them and played a young side.
Nauzet Perez featured as the goalkeeper for the home side and was helped by Zamora, Aridane, David Canas and Baigorri in defence. The team was playing a 4-4-2 and Ormazabal, Javier Munoz Navarro, Raul Cedric Loe and Modeste Gnapka featured in the midfield
as their favourite striker, Jesus Berrocal was playing up front to help the team score goals.
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