La Liga (Week 23): FC Barcelona Vs Valencia

Alexis' dribbling was amazing this game, more so in the first half but tonight it seemed he was out to beat defenders.

I had impression Alexis read free_cat's comments about him not dribbling enough

Diego Alves was almost inhuman. Almost

Great game overall. It's comforting to see that Tello's becoming a fairly dependable substitute for an injection of pace and width. Shame Sanchez or Pedro couldn't join in the scoring though. Sanchez, especially, had some really good chances but then again, Diego Alves had over 11 saves in the game. That's no joke.

Personally, I don't think it was the home game that drove us like this, as much as it was Iniesta's presence in midfield. It was great to see him back, racking up one successive pass after another. Keeping in mind we pulled this off without Alves, and the fact that Xavi is slowly regaining fitness - I'm genuinely looking forward to our next run of games.

In Pep we trust

Honestly, it's been long since I've seen us play this well. If we can keep it up we can be on hand to cut that lead if Madrid screw up.

Asexis Sanchez , Sex fabregas , Messi , Don Andres

The Lizard King wrote:Diego Alves was almost inhuman. Almost

Great game overall. It's comforting to see that Tello's becoming a fairly dependable substitute for an injection of pace and width. Shame Sanchez or Pedro couldn't join in the scoring though. Sanchez, especially, had some really good chances but then again, Diego Alves had over 11 saves in the game. That's no joke.

Personally, I don't think it was the home game that drove us like this, as much as it was Iniesta's presence in midfield. It was great to see him back, racking up one successive pass after another. Keeping in mind we pulled this off without Alves, and the fact that Xavi is slowly regaining fitness - I'm genuinely looking forward to our next run of games.

Well said, let's just see if we can replicate this in away games. Let's not get too ahead of ourselves. Although this performance fills me with hope

I think he only takes on people when he has to, otherwise he doesnt even want to try.

Like he was trapped in the corner in the 1st half, faked and span towards the touchline leaving the guy for dead. It was either that or lose the ball.

Then he continued and beat another man but whoever it was had great recovery speed and got a challange in on him.

There was another time he did 3 or 4 stepovers and the guy got finished, but then his shot went for a throw in lol

I would of liked to see him do a couple tricks, he used to do that alot and he has to change but chose not to. He was 1 v1 with Mathiui, who is a great defender mind you, but he could of tried one but settled for just trying to get around him, winning a corner.

Generally he had a very good game, kept the ball very well and the usual great effort. His pass to Pedro in the first half was fantastic. Shame he couldnt score, he wasnt the usual flawless finisher he has been in other games.


You can still see he is new though, like when he played a pass to Messi on the counter attack and Messi didnt run in that direction. Just happens sometimes, no knowing Messi wasnt ever going to make that run.

And I think I should say, fantastic from Cesc. He didnt run away from the midfield too much, he balanced the role perfectly for his style. He still got in the box and twice almost scored, one hit the bar and the other he should of scored by skied it.

But yeah, his passing was good, he kept good positions and offered himself well.

Iniesta was amazing, he really is a Saiyan. He comes back stronger from injuries.

Some of those passes...wow

i'm waiting for vapotrini to come and make a thread about messi is in decline and lost his speed and dribbling:)

one of the main reason today messi scored 4 goals was because he was quick and ran for the balls. hope it continues

what happened between pep and cesc when he subbed him out?

When the defenders are tired,Pep unleashes the beast to finish them off.

Mr_Puyol wrote:When the defenders are tired,Pep unleashes the beast to finish them off.

Tello is really shining. Wtf are we gonna do when villa and ibi come back...

I mean we would have villa, pedro, asexis, cex(to some extent), ibi, tello and cuenca going for just two positions.

I think we should keep all of them

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7E9isUFmLA

what was this about???

I added xavi's goal in the videos...

milan31, no idea. It was probably a joke.

Dont you guys think, while Tello did okay, his finishing was much worse than his previous outings. He also dont have a left foot at all.

Cesc's best game for Barca yet? Very good display by him. I like him playing deeper.

Was this the best performance of the year ( 2012 ) ? I certainly think so.

great game of football, Messi, Alexis, Cesc and Iniesta were brilliant.

Milan31 wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7E9isUFmLA

what was this about???

Looks like they were playing around, you can see Cesc smiling after he pushes him.

pep hugs cesc: feel that firm chest ..

cesc: sorry coach, i got a girlfriend

pep: BE GONE!!

What a performance! We played really well, but I guess there was something wrong with this Valencia and they had some important players out (well, actually only Banega). They were an emental cheese from minute 15 onwards. Anyway, our performance was the best in this year 2012 and I'm very happy to see that Messi is back to his old self, as he already showed vs. Leverkusen.

And:

:O

zil

....Alexis dribled two players today!!! I was happy with his game, had a good game, doing things that he normally doesn't do, but missing the goals that he normally buries.

And you gotta give me some love for Pedro mates. He was better than I expected and for all Alexis flashiness, it was Pedro's dribling and cross that setup the 1-1 when we were playing badly.

What you guys think about Montoya? He was partially at fault for the first goal (although Valdes and Pique are not good either), but I think he had a very solid game. As I mentioned some weeks later, I dont think Alves is as key to our game as many people (mainly Dani and Alex) have suggested. Not hating on Alves at all, is just that FB is not a such important position, and I think with an inferior FB we could also shine. Montoya even made 3-4 very dangerous runs and crosses, especially one that Messi headed and hit the bar.

I was sure Montoya would start over Bartra or Muniesa, because the other two (especially Bartra) are very green to be honest, while Montoya is much more solid.

Oh and Cesc had a very good game, him and Iniesta were able to dictate tempo, and Cesc and Iniesta taking turns going forward cause havoc. They made a good duo tonight. Cesc limited his erratic movement (although still present) and had some superb passes mainly to Alexis, and dribled Valencia's entire defence a couple of times.

No need to mention anything about Messi's performance, he's just something else.

Alexis looked alot more liberated, you can almost feel Pep rethinking and letting him "do his thing" , he excelled imo, So did Cesc (unlucky with a possible goal of the week) InieSTAR and Pique was great.

Montoya kept getting in the game more and more by time, love his mentality. If i have to critique the lad i would say he needs to work on some acceleration.


Good performance, .....UCL.... "Yes We Can"

Free, Pedro cross for the first goal wasnt even good. It was very tame, the defender put it into Messi's path.

I am not dissapointed or impressed by Montoya. It was his fault for the goal, terrible ball watching. But after that he did well, he looked confident on the ball and put in an excellent cross for Messi. However, he didnt have to do any defending at all. You can see the difference between he and Alves, the difference in energy, involvement and I am very sure Alves wouldnt of been ball watching like that for the goal.

Agree about Cesc and Iniesta. Very happy with Cesc dribbling, best he has looked overall for me.

Barcelona 5 - 1 Valencia FT || Messi [4], Xavi [1]
Great performance from ALL Players !! Cesc is improving a lot recently as a Midfielder [great quick passing], Messi and Iniesta NO COMMENT!!
Montoya maybe was responsible for the 1st goal, but overall very gd game, Busquets, ABIDAL, Pedro was fine.. Tello could have scored 2 :S Cesc and Alexis missed couple of easy chances !! but performance was great !! Visca el Barca <3


¤ Match Stats:
- SHOTS (on target): 30(15) - 3 (3) !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Possession: 64-36 %

======================

More Stats:

¤ Barcelona record at #CampNou [2011/12 – La Liga]: 12matches [11W, 1D, 0L] scored 50goals & conceded 4 [Clean Sheets: 9].

¤ Xavi Stats (2011-2012): 33 matches (31starts), scored 11 goals [Personal Record in one season] and assisted 11.

¤ Barcelona are unbeaten in their last 48 official games at Camp Nou [All Competitions]: 41W, 7D | Goals:157-23 [Clean Sheets: 29]

The Franchise wrote:Free, Pedro cross for the first goal wasnt even good. It was very tame, the defender put it into Messi's path.

I am not dissapointed or impressed by Montoya. It was his fault for the goal, terrible ball watching. But after that he did well, he looked confident on the ball and put in an excellent cross for Messi. However, he didnt have to do any defending at all. You can see the difference between he and Alves, the difference in energy, involvement and I am very sure Alves wouldnt of been ball watching like that for the goal.

Agree about Cesc and Iniesta. Very happy with Cesc dribbling, best he has looked overall for me.

It was not a bad cross, that the defender can't clear comfortably as a result. Minipoint for Pedro in my books. Anyway, his general play was good and he had tremendous workrate as always. Happy with him perhaps he will be able to recover if Pep gives him confidence instead of shunning him in favour of Alexis.

Off course there is difference between Alves and Montoya. Not saying he is or will ever be better than him. I'm just saying that we barely noticed Alves absence playing with a debutant FB. Who is obviously less energetic than Alves, but he can have other positives, like keeping more his position and being a better crosser. I would even say he is faster than Alves. I disagree about not having to defend, he was in the Alba- Mathieu side, this always means you have to be alert, and he was.

Well we have to disagree, for me it wasnt a good cross at all. It was a difficult one anyway and he at least go it towards someone but it was fortunate to end next to Messi.

Anyway, I felt Pedro was okay. Sanchez gave him a good pass that he couldnt finish and its a shame he was dissallowed a goal for offside. He was rightfully the first one to come off and I really cant praise him too much. I felt he did okay.

Montoya did one great cross and then in another situation shot when he should of crossed. I am not ready to say he is a better crosser at all.

Most of the attacks came down Abidals side, Piatti didnt do anything and by the time Alba came on they were out of the game. He didnt have to defend 1 v 1 once, so I cant even say how good he is at it at this level. He also didnt have to pass out of pressure or be in a good position to clear danger.

I dont mean to be negative about him, because I actually like him in some ways, but it was his fault for the goal and I need to see more before I trust him.