UEFA Champions League – Barcelona vs. Rubin Kazan – Half Time Report and Analysis (Part 2)
The game started off with Barcelona taking control of the ball and the possession. During the first 10 minutes, the home side had 76% of the ball even though they never did penetrate through the defensive walls of Rubin Kazan. For the first 20 minutes of
the game, the Catalan Giants took control of the game and it was quite awkward to see Gerard Pique playing in the starting 11 of Barcelona. Not only did the Spanish centre back needed rest, in fact he was also booked during the last game meaning he was under
threat of being suspended for the next round of the UEFA Champions League.
During the 28th minute, Bojan Krkic took a bad knock from the Russian fullback Bochetti who simply charged onto the Spanish striker and the Catalan youngster fell awkwardly on the floor. The Barcelona man immediately called for medical attention
as it looked to be bad for the Spaniard and it was clear that he did land awkwardly on the floor after the challenge. Though the injury was only facial, Bojan couldn’t really make it and the first substitution was made my Josep Guardiola who decided to send
in another youngster named Marc Bartra. The rest of the Barcelona squad included the first team players like Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta, Eric Abidal and Victor Valdes. It was obvious that if another substitution was to be made by the Catalan Giants it is
going to be someone from the first team.
The Russian side definitely needed to score but the game looked to be dull as Barcelona were playing some neat passing football and even though the Russian team were expected to come out adventurous, they were still happy to sit back for a counter attack.
During the first half an hour, Rubin Kazan’s goalkeeper Ryzhikov got himself yellow carded for time wasting even though his side needed two goals in order to advance to the next round.
The Russian side barely made an attempt on goal and there were barely any chances made by the two teams. Considering the fact that there was a lot at stake for Rubin Kazan, they were still not trying to penetrate and held their positions at the back as they
waited for Barcelona to come to them so they can counter attack. However, the Spaniards were ready to move the ball around as they only managed to take a single shot on goal and that too came off from the injured Bojan Krkic who left the field during the half
hour mark.
It was like a training ground for Barcelona who were moving the ball around freely in the midfield and the Russian side were letting them dominate the game where they are the strongest. There was less to see as the game went on from being dull to boring
towards the end of the first half.
Only two minutes were given to both the teams towards the end of the game and those two minutes were expected to get wasted by the Spanish side who were simply tossing the ball to each other. Barcelona had nothing at stake as they had already qualified for
the next round and even a loss would keep them at the top of the table but the Russians had a lot at stake but it was clear that they were not ready to put full effort into this game to qualify for the next round.
The first half finished off without a goal as both the teams were to join their coaches in the locker rooms during half time. Can Rubin Kazan change the cause of the game during the second half? From the looks of it, Barcelona have kept 80% of the ball and
the Russian side are not even willing to force themselves to score a goal. However, anything can happen in the “unpredictable” game of football.
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