Schalke 0 – 1 Barcelona: HUUUUUYY edition

By: Isaiah | April 1st, 2008

Well, folks, I’m happy to be wrong here. I predicted we’d draw 1-1 and goddamn did we get close to drawing or losing, but somehow came out on top. I got home from work in what turned out to be the 10th minute of the rebroadcast and was immediately greeted with the words, “Barcelona is dominating,” coming from the commentator. Only moments later Iniesta fed Henry, I up on my feet thinking it was going to be a curler to the far post like in the Celtic game, then I saw the ball be enveloped by the keeper, it popped out, I half-mouthed half-screamed something about the back post, Henry flicked it to Bojan and it was 0-1.

And that’s all she wrote. Right?

Well…not really. After that there were really any chances for Barca and Schalke let us off the hook in the second half with some atrocious finishing. What was 0-1 could easily have been 3-1 to them and only by the grace of…well I’m not even sure what, but by the grace of something the team returns to Spain with a massive advantage as well as with its coach.

Despite being outshot 24 to 5 (holy balls!), Barcelona escapes with a victory. 59% possession didn’t translate into very many chances, though mostly because of poor first touches. I know it’s not a popular opinion, but I’m hoping for someone else to return and take Henry’s spot with a quickness. The reason isn’t anything other than that I believe Eto’o to be a more capable striker than Henry, but the two do not seem to play well together. I don’t know whose fault that is, but I think we need our best players out there and that would be Eto’o, carving up space in the middle and scoring goals, not out on the right where he seems to be a bit lost. Henry so rarely cuts into the middle, which is, of course, idiotic for a striker. I’d rather have Eto’o receiving from Iniesta and Bojan than being forced wide. I can’t wait for Messi to return not only for the obvious reasons, but also because I think that puts Henry back on the bench. Especially if Ronaldinho ever makes a strong return, which is, of course, looking more and more doubtful.

Our defense was, once again, rock solid in the first half and trash in the second. Abidal looked like he was going to be beaten by Asamoah every single time the latter got the ball, then Asamoah got taken off and Abidal was spared blushes for the second game in a row. Interestingly enough, the introduction of Sylvinho out wide created more chances for Barca than had been coming prior to a fifth defender being added. I think this is because Henry was forced in just a bit with Sylvinho bombing up the side. Maybe that will “learn” him to get his butt into the box and get some tap-ins. Or maybe it’ll teach Rijkaard to tell him to do that. I don’t know what’s the worse prior reality…

But we won. I shouldn’t pick the team apart too much, right? How about the good: Iniesta and Xavi were terrific in midfield. They won a ton of balls with superb positioning and were able to spring some counterattacks that unfortunately vanished with bad touches by the forward line or Bojan was overpowered by defenders old enough to be his great-grandfather (because he’s negative 20 years old). Valdes had little to do, in the end, couldn’t have been expected to save any of the free headers or shots that were gifted to Schalke in the final minutes, and even poked Larsen’s shot over the bar to save us. So kudos on that one, even if he did spill one ball he should really have gathered up.

It was good to see Marquez back and you just knew he was going to get a yellow from the instant he stepped on the field. Same with Milito, though. He likes to live dangerously, which is why I assume the ladies are attracted to him. Or is it the hair? Either way, we can’t get more stupid yellow cards, dammit. We don’t need to lose any players for the semifinals, if we make it that far. ManU, who defeated Roma 2-0 in Rome, will be looking to put the heel on the throat next week and I don’t think there’s anything even a saint like Francesco Totti can do about it.

Dos Santos too appeared for a brief amount, replacing Eto’o, but he did virtually nothing on that side, just as his predecessor did little. I can’t fault Rijkaard for the substitution, really, because you have to make changes at some point and short of putting Marquez on for one of the strikers, what was he going to do differently? Gudjohnsen for one of them? I mean, there were options, but nothing really that feasible considering the situation. I didn’t mind the changes and even though Sylvinho surprised me (and I wondered about the move) and meant sticking Henry alone up front, it seemed to work in the Arsenal mold, which is something to think about. If a 5-4-1 is an option, then okay, it’s good to know that that’s an attacking options available to us. I generally hate that formation, but only because most coaches use it as a defensive, park-the-bus kind of formation rather than one designed to play beautifully through the midfield. It’s almost a 4-2-4 that works fluidly and with the proper personnel a la Total Football.

All-in-all, not a terrible performance, but certainly something to work on. I like that we won and perhaps this will get us back to our winning ways. We host Getafe on Sunday and then Schalke come to town on Wednesday for another little tangle. Both are must wins, even if we can squeak by with a draw in the latter.

If you’re looking for somewhere in your town to watch those two games, look no farther than the page we’re building here at The Offside: Where to Watch: The best places to watch FC Barcelona in action. I’ve recently added locations in Indianapolis and Boston, bringing the total to 6 bars in 5 cities. Help us out and send your suggestions to barcelona [at] theoffside [dot] com!