Spanish La Liga: Espanyol vs Barcelona – First Half Report (Part 1)
Barcelona were to face their local city rivals Espanyol in a derby encounter. The Spanish champions travelled to their neighbouring stadium Cornella-El Prat and it was to be an exciting encounter as both the teams looked to be in great form before the match.
The table toppers were to face the fourth placed side Espanyol.
The Barca coach Josep Guardiola did not want to take much chances of conceding a goal while being away from home and that was the reason why he played his strongest side. A traditional 4-3-3 was played and none of the players were changed. It was the Barcelona
number 1 Victor Valdes who featured between the two poles as a goal stopper. He was aided by the captain of the team http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Gerard-c14664 Pique. On the left it was the experienced French fullback Eric Abidal while on the right it was the Brazilian
sensation Daniel Alves.
In the midfield, Josep Guardiola took no chances and played his favourite men. Two of the three Ballon d’Or finalists, Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez featured in the heart of the team while http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Sergio-Busquets-c33048 played right behind them as a holding midfielder.
Up front it was the dynamic trio including Lionel Messi, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/David-Villa-c10629 and Pedro Rodriguez, who was in great goal scoring form for the Blaugrana wearing side.
On the other hand, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Victor-Ruiz-c36094 Torre in the centre back positions. Juan Daniel
Forlin played on the right flank as a full back while Didac featured on the other flank in the same defensive role.
The home team were playing a 4-3-3 in order to maintain pressure on the Barcelona defensive walls. It was Baena who played in the midfield and was pairing up with Verdu. Javi Marquez featured right behind them as a holding midfielder. Up front it was Luis
Garcia along with Gallejon and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Pablo-Osvaldo-c28996. The three kept on changing their positions up front in order to change the cause of the game.
The game was kicked off by the home team who were wearing white and blue while Barcelona were in their home Blaugrana colours. Cornella-El Prat was the stadium where the game was being played as Undiano Mallenco took charge as the referee. He was also in
charge of this game when it was played last season.
The game kicked off with the home team taking control of it. Espanyol went right for the goal. However, Barcelona were the side who got the first opportunity to score. After Lionel Messi won his team a corner, Sergio Busquets was present at the right position
to head the ball; however, his header was not well placed and he missed the great opportunity.
After two minutes, none other than Lionel Messi got the first shot on target for his side. The Argentinean maestro dribbled past two Espanyol defenders and took his chances on goal. The ball deflected off the goalkeeper but it was well cleared by the Espanyol
defenders. Only a few moments passed and it was the Brazilian full back Daniel Alves who saw himself in a one-on-one situation with Kameni after a wonder ball from Xavi Hernandez.
The Brazilian selflessly passed it on to the highest goal scorer for his side http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Lionel-Messi-c22296. It was clearly seen that even the best cannot perform under pressure and despite the fact that he was clear on goal without a goalkeeper in front of him, the Argentinean
failed to find the target as a wonderful opportunity was blasted away by the Spanish champions.
To be continued in Part 2...
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