Barcelona 2 - 1 Sevilla: Review and Highlights (I heart Toure edition)

By: Isaiah | September 24th, 2007

While everyone else is lauding the brilliance of Messi during Saturday’s 2-1 defeat of Sevilla at the Camp Nou, I think it would be wrong of me not to start this post by nominating Andres Iniesta as the Man-of-the-Match. Prior to Saturday I had answered a poll held by El Mundo Deportivo as to whether or not Iniesta should always be a starter with a pretty clear no. However, I feel like I am man enough to admit when I am wrong and this is one of those moments. Iniesta’s class so thoroughly dominated absolutely everything else on display that there can be little doubt about Barca’s need for him to be on the field.

That said, what a hell of a goal from Messi. Henry’s throughball was just about as perfect as you can get, but of course the finish is what makes the goal remarkable. I think I heard the commentators on GolTV claiming that the penalty Messi put away was soft and that Kanoute’s goal should have made it 1-1, but please, look at the bearhug Poulsen put on Gio and tell me that’s not a penalty. Or maybe I just misheard the commentators because I was in a crowded bar screaming something about golgolgolgol and something about Fuck Espanyol cause they lost too.

The starting lineup:

Valdes, Zambrotta, Milito, Marquez, Abidal, Toure (Oleguer 88′), Xavi (Gio Dos Santos 61′), Deco, Iniesta, Messi (Krkic 90′), Henry.

Marquez absolutely shut down Kanoute (was Milito switching off onto him? I couldn’t really tell, but everytime they showed Kanoute he seemed to be covered by Marquez, thus my comment). There were a couple of iffy moments, but on the whole a very solid defensive performance…again. It’s so nice to say we weren’t leaky at the back until the very end when Oleguer came on (what a strange substitution; I just think you could put someone else on, such as Thuram for Toure if you’re determined to put on a defender). 2 goals allowed in the first 4 games makes us tied for best defensive record in La Liga. But only 5 goals, compared to Madrid’s 11.

I don’t really know what to say about the game other than that Barcelona dominated and it was great to watch. The atmosphere in Nevada Smiths is fantastic and even though I ended up standing the entire game I had a blast. I ended up next to Penya NYC founder Daniel Garriga who was a pretty affable guy who randomly spewed venom about how Iniesta should always start. And brings up something pretty important that arose during this game: Ronaldinho. Or, really, he didn’t arise, which is the point. No Ronaldinho meant that Iniesta got a start and that meant Deco had more flexibility in his movement as he could spring wide or let Iniesta do it while retaining a good distributor in the middle. What seems clear is that with Henry’s less mobile form of playing (I don’t mean his physical abilties, but rather his style), Iniesta is integral and cannot be sacrificed, not even for Ronnie. Xavi, perhaps, but that would sacrifice some of the defensive capabilities. I might be okay with that considering how well Toure is playing in the middle and Abidal has been an absolute revelation. Milito does the little things and when Puyol is back I don’t know what will become of Marquez as Toure is playing so well. Still, I can’t argue with success and I’m excited to see a healthy Ronaldinho return sometime soon. I’ll gladly take the issues of “too much talent” over a lack thereof.

Ronnie will supposedly be back either this weekend or perhaps the next if his calf strain is worse than previous believed. I guess he could play on Wednesday, but it’s doubtful. Here’s a blurb from Barca’s official site. Puyol continues to get better and, according to El Mundo Deportivo, should be back to full fitness and match ready by this Friday. Eto’o may start to train soon too. Edmilson is still out long-term, of course, but his position is more than filled by Toure*.

I have plans to tackle the issues raised while I was on vacation as well as taking on the “nou Camp Nou.” Much Phil Ball quoting will happen, I can promise that, but it won’t be until tomorrow. Goodnight folks and may you rest happy with some Arabic-language highlights of the game:

Was Kanoute offside? No clue cause I have yet to see a replay that shows the whole thing, but it certainly seemed like he was. Regardless, crappy defense and a crappy reaction from Oleguer who paused to wave at the linesman rather than race backwards to try and thwart Kanoute, which I think he could have had he not been moaning. Not to be too dramatic, but Puyol would have ripped Kanoute in half rather than let him get into the box with the ball.

*I’ve decided to start a man crush on Toure. Or maybe I didn’t really decide it as much as have it decided by watching him do un real moves with the ball in ridiculous situations. He only made two mistakes during the Sevilla game and while one of them nearly cost the team a goal, it didn’t in the end so my crush is warranted.