Nou Camp: Saw the Barca 3 - 1 Celta Vigo. Barca was dominating play, playing around with the opposition just outside Vigo's box with Iniesta and Deco controlling much of the play. Ronaldino went missing in many parts of the match, (although a few genius moments is all that will be required from him to deal in the killer blow). They could have been even more devastating if they have the finishing prowess of Eto'o. They were playing without several of their first-teamers like Eto'o, Belletti, Marquez, Thuram, Gudjohnsen and of course, the indomitable Lionel Messi. (Saviola although scoring the 1st of the match, was utterly ****e. Poor control, poor awareness of play made Cisse looked like the best player in the world. He also spurned several chances from 5 yards on many occasions). Giuly made an immediate impact on the right side cutting in, after coming on in the 2nd half and looked extremely dangerous. Riise/Aurelio would have had their work cut out for them. Apart from the given-away penalty by Oleguer's rash challenge, they were also defensively quite sound despite playing with a make-shift defense somewhat.
Barca's goalie literally gave away the direction he was going to dive before Vigo's Nene even got to the ball on the penalty spot. I was also not impressed with Victor Valdez's general qualities as a goalie. Pepe Reina is a much better goalkeeper anytime of the day.
Ex-red's solicitor Antonio Nunez came on for Celta Vigo midway in the 2nd half and was enterprising enough to attempt Vigo's best effort of the match with his snap-shot rebounded off Victor Valdez's post. One wondered why he was only brought on so late as he could have trouble Giovanni on the right flank all night.
My humble verdict: At home against better opposition (e.g. us) would put them in a precarious position as they would be pressurised by their own fans, consisting of mostly mature crowds with no patience for slack play by their own team. I feel Barcelona would perform much better playing away, even if it was at Anfield. It would illuminate their penetrating play and bring it to a much higher level (circa stamford bridge last year). So in conclusion, i feel the 1st leg at Nou Camp would be a good opportunity for us to sneak it past them; it is at Anfield that we should be worried about (e.g the Arses).
Barca's goalie literally gave away the direction he was going to dive before Vigo's Nene even got to the ball on the penalty spot. I was also not impressed with Victor Valdez's general qualities as a goalie. Pepe Reina is a much better goalkeeper anytime of the day.
Ex-red's solicitor Antonio Nunez came on for Celta Vigo midway in the 2nd half and was enterprising enough to attempt Vigo's best effort of the match with his snap-shot rebounded off Victor Valdez's post. One wondered why he was only brought on so late as he could have trouble Giovanni on the right flank all night.
My humble verdict: At home against better opposition (e.g. us) would put them in a precarious position as they would be pressurised by their own fans, consisting of mostly mature crowds with no patience for slack play by their own team. I feel Barcelona would perform much better playing away, even if it was at Anfield. It would illuminate their penetrating play and bring it to a much higher level (circa stamford bridge last year). So in conclusion, i feel the 1st leg at Nou Camp would be a good opportunity for us to sneak it past them; it is at Anfield that we should be worried about (e.g the Arses).
Worked his socks off for the team and created a lot of space for the other players.
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