Barcelona 3 - 1 Athletic Bilbao: Review and Highlights

By: Isaiah | September 4th, 2007

Second league game, first league win. And still no goals from open play. For those of you who have merely looked at the score sheet and saw Toure in the 72′, it would be understandable if you thought it was 1) probably from open play and 2) an actual goal. But instead it was a gift from the ref. That, coupled with the not-penalty that apparently cost Iraizoz some dental work and eventually the game. Not that Athletic were at all interested in doing anything other than capitulating for the first 45 minutes, giving up something like 200% of the possession to Barca (at full time it was 70% to 30%, so at half it must have been around 75 or 80 percent). To be honest, I missed the first half of the second half (minutes 45-72), so I didn’t see the game shift from a Barcelona-attack-fest to an actual game. And I missed the Athletic goal and came in during the replays of the Toure goal.

Despite the possession and the gorgeous way in which everyone seemed to be linking up in the midfield, the final ball was desperately lacking. Henry looked out of synch with his teammates, but there was so much promise in his runs that I’m very much looking forward to seeing how Osasuna copes with the attack. Deco’s return to the starting lineup was a good move and everyone’s ability to read Henry’s movements will only improve as time goes on (and that’s an important point: it’s not just Henry’s inability to link up with others, they are partially at fault as well).

The lineup:

Valdes
Zambrotta, Marquez, Oleguer, Abidal
Xavi, Toure, Deco (Iniesta 67′)
Messi, Ronaldinho (Milito 78′), Henry (Gio 62′)

I thought Marquez’ second yellow (77′) was a harsh, but if that was a yellow, then Koikili’s assassination attempt on Gio was definitely worthy of a red. And what about that: Gio Dos Santos making his competitive debut and looking awesome. I mean, really. I was extremely impressed with him, especially with his ability to link up so well with Messi. The only issue was that Messi had to push farther into the middle to accommodate him and it just doesn’t seem like the best situation to have on the field continuously. Up 2-0 with 30 to play is a good time to give Gio a debut, but I would have rather seen Milito make an earlier appearance. I still don’t understand why Oleguer starts, but only 1 goal so far, which is hard to argue with.

The first half was great, full of attacking play from Barca with Abidal showing off skills I never knew he had. He was playing like a midfielder, with tricks up his sleeve, hot cuts, incisive passes, everything. And then he would turn and sprint for the back. If he can keep that up all year, he will easily be worth his transfer price.* Ronaldinho too was fun to watch, playing a much more central role and certainly looking more likely to break out a run than he has for quite a while. And then there was his freekick. Oh. My. Lord. That was some pure hotness. I mean, like fiery Jessica Alba hotness, but with a soccer ball. And ugly teeth. Just check the video below if you don’t believe me.

Next came Henry’s “penalty” which was basically him trailing his foot into Iraizoz’s face. Looked very painful, but I don’t think it was a penalty. Actually, I’m not sure that’s much of a point, much less a shocking point. Of course it wasn’t a penalty. Not a dive, but Iraizoz did the right thing and happened to pay the price for it. Then Ronaldinho stepped up and put an unstoppable penalty into the lower left corner. There were screams of delight before that, though, as Gio Dos Santos warmed up on the sidelines for the potentially injured Henry. The amount of pressure this kid is under is absurd; to come into a world-class squad as the savior is crazy talk, especially since Barcelona already has like 8 saviors. Whatever, he’s fabulous, but I hope Rijkaard keeps him on the bench quite a bit. He’s only 18, after all and a while longer in the instructive shadows of players like Ronnie, Eto’o, and Messi can’t be a bad thing for him.

First half highlights

There’s little say about the second half, except that Valdes remained good and Henry was a little unlucky not to score on his shot that went off the post. He’s ever-so-close so many times and I have no doubt he’ll start to find the net. And if he doesn’t, well, there’s always Gio. The goal by Susaeta was an unlucky break for Barcelona as it took a deflection off of Iniesta (at least I think it was Iniesta, who had just come on).

Second half highlights

*Sport reported today that Barcelona has recooped 6 million of the 24 million euro transfer they paid for Henry through 70,000+ shirt sales. That’s a lot of shirts. Now for those other 18 million…