Barça managed to steal the 3 points from the Vicente Calderon after beating Atletico Madrid 1-2, goals by Alves and Messi.
Match Report:
A tough match for the Blaugranas, who had to rely on a genius goal by Messi and Valdes’ tremendous saves to keep their La Liga chances alive.
Guardiola used his best eleven (arguably, minus Pique) as he expected a titanic battle ahead: He was right to do so. Atletico gave their all in front of their fans and played as raugh as the referee allowed them to, as every Spanish team seems to do against Barça these days.
FCB’s total possession was 66%, which shows how Xavi, Iniesta and Messi controlled the ball well in midfield, connecting fairly well with Cesc and Alexis on the wings. We managed to take 9 shots on goal away from home, scoring 2 goals – if these stats had been happening since the beginning of the season, the table would look slightly differently.
A VALUABLE AWAY WIN WHICH ALLOWS CULES TO KEEP DREAMING OF LA LIGA!!!!!!
Match Stats:
My Man Of The Match:
Leo Messi: His spectacular goal, which effectively gave Barça the 3 points, was a work of art. A perfect combination of intelligence, cheekiness and skills. If you also consider the way he cleared the way for Cesc in Alves’ goal, you can’t argue he was our best player tonight.
I would also like to highlight Valdes’ 3 valuable saves: Who said this guy was useless?? Some poor retired player, I seem to remember…
My Player Ratings (0 to 10):
Valdes 9
Alves 7
Puyol 6
Masche 6
Abidal 6
Busquets 6
Xavi 8
Iniesta 7
Cesc 7
Messi 9 (Man Of The Match)
Alexis 7
Cuenca 6
Pedro 6
Pique n/a
Goals:
Alves, 0-1, Min 35
Messi, 1-2, Min 81
My 5-4-3-2-1 FC Barcelona points:
Messi – 5 points
Valdes – 4 points
Xavi – 3 points
Iniesta – 2 points
Alves – 1 point
