Three UEFA Champions League debutants for FC Barcelona
After the game against the Russian side Rubin Kazan, the Spanish Champions definitely know that they can rely on their young guns. The Catalan Giants had nothing at stake as they played Rubin Kazan in their home ground, the Nou Camp. This was the reason
why the Spanish coach decided to play an experimental team including no less than 10 Barca B players and three of those players made their UEFA Champions League debut in the last group stage encounter with the Russian Champions.
Marc Bartra, Andreu Fontas and Thiago Alcantara played their first ever UEFA Champions League game. However, there are other facts that surround the 2-0 home win of Barcelona as well.
Out of the three players who played for the first time in a UEFA Champions League game, two of them started in the first team. The centre midfielder Thiago Alacantara and the centre back Andreu Fontas started in the first team while Marc Bartra came on for
Bojan Krkic in the first half after the young Spanish striker was stretchered off due to an injury.
It wasn’t a first time experience for Jonathan Dos Santos as he already featured for a few minutes against Inter Milan during the last year’s UEFA Champions League group stage clash against the Italian Champions. However, this was the first time that the
Mexican youngster started for the Catalan Giants in a UEFA Champions League game.
The goal scorer of the second goal against Rubin Kazan, Victor Vazquez already played a UEFA Champions League game back in the 2008-2009 season. This wasn’t even the first time that he scored a goal in a Blaugrana jersey nor was it the first time that he
scored in a UEFA Champions League game. The La Masia product already scored during the 2008-2009 season when Barcelona played a group stage game against Shakhtar Donetsk and won 2-3 away from home with Vazquez scoring the second goal of the game.
The centre back Andreu Fontas scored his first ever goal in a Blaugrana jersey and the young Spaniard has played 5 games for the Catalan Giants till date. Fontas, Thiago, Bartrer and Vazquez weren’t the only 4 reserved players in the game, in fact Guardiola
featured as many as 10 reserve team players against Rubin Kazan.
The second choice goalkeeper for Barcelona, Jose Manuel Pinto featured after the two match suspension that he faced because of “whistling” on an opponent who was not offside. The young Spaniard has appeared for Barcelona 4 times this season and has not conceded
a single goal. With this record, Pinto also shares the “all-winning” record as he has not been a part of any game that the Catalan Giants have lost or drawn – he has won each and every game that he has been a part of this season.
The young holding midfielder Sergio Busquets played as a holding midfielder but often went back to defend as a centre back. The Spaniard was the one who managed to win most of the balls during the game which amounted to 17.
Gerard Pique is the only Barcelona player who has started in all the UEFA Champions League games for Barcelona. It was a risk playing him against Rubin Kazan as a yellow card would force a suspension on him for the next game; however, he still played and
wore the captain’s armband as he led the team to victory for the first time in his career.
The Spanish Champions have managed to avoid any bookings for two games in a row and while playing against Rubin Kazan, the Catalan Giants only committed 3 fouls. This simply highlights the amount of fair play in the style of play that Josep Guardiola has
brought to the Spanish team.
Now with Barcelona winning 2-0 at home against the Russian side, they have managed to avoid a goal for the past five games. The Spanish Champions have managed to keep a clean sheet for the past five games as the last goal came from the Villarreal and Brazilian
striker Nilmar in a game that took place in the Nou Camp and Barcelona won it 3-1.
Tags: