Barca 4, Numancia 1, a.k.a. “A LOT closer than it seemed, or not.”

By: Kevin | January 24th, 2009

Before I begin this report, spare your own personal moment of silence for the lives ravaged by the high winds in Spain and southwestern France. The death toll is at 15, including 4 children from the town of Sant Boi de Llobregat, near Barcelona, who were seeking shelter after halting their baseball game. Before the match, a moment of silence was observed, the most respectful and solemn one I have seen since the attacks of 9/11. It reminds us that sport is, after all, just play. Life is real.

This was a very, very weird game. It could have been 1-0 Numancia, or 10-1 Barcelona. There will be a lot of talk about what happened, what roles the referee had, etc, etc, and I have only one word to say to that. Correct that, I have only one sentence to say to that:

Any talk such as that is pure, fly-encrusted, festering bovine fecal matter.

Because one of the reasons that the score was the way it was is pictured here: Lionel Messi, or Argy Bargy, if you will, owning the part of the pitch that he occupied in the second half. But a one-man team he is not. Without the likes of Henry, Eto’o and particularly Alves on the pitch, he becomes much, much easier to control.

But back to the nattering. The Numancia goal was disallowed, plainly and simply, because Iniesta had the space and the attacker came through him to head the ball in, giving him a little arm to move him out of the way. That’s foul however you look at it. Messrs. Schoen and Hudson like to talk a lot of nonsense, but they don’t have the tool of a DVR, with which to rewind and watch a play again and again. If you do so, you see that Iniesta is there. He has the pass picked out, and the attacker came over the back. It’s a foul in the NBA, and it’s a foul in La Liga. Period.

For our first goal, on the pass from Iniesta, Alves was offside. It was by a whisker that I would have dared anyone to catch, being down on the pitch, but he was off when the ball was struck. Now the question is, should the goal have been disallowed? Depends. Close ones are supposed to lean in favor of the offense, and it took me two looks on the frame-by-frame DVR to catch it. Lord knows how it must have looked in real time.

And it should have really been 4-0, because the call on that Pique handball was completely unfair. Anybody who gives Pique a hard time for that one should stand on a football pitch and have someone kick a ball, full force, off something toward your body. See how many times it hits a part you can’t control. The ref should have ruled that the ball played the hand, which they can do, and have done in the past. Anybody saying that Numancia got robbed with the disallowed goal can shut up, because they were given one back.

Now that we’ve dispensed with the nattering, it’s on to the match.

Guardiola’s starting XI made it very clear how seriously he was taking this one: Valdes, Alves, Pique, Puyol, Abidal, Yaya, Iniesta, Xavi, Messi, Henry, Eto’o. Murderers’ row, in the house. And the match continued as the last one did, with us battering at the Numancia goal, which not only had 10 defenders in front of it, but an on-form keeper who made move after move, and had luck on his side, as well.

But the aggression and seriousness with which we came at this was clear right away, when Puyol shouldered aside a Numancia attacker to take the ball from him, full-on man style, followed shortly by Eto’o viciously stealing the ball in their box. We were heart-attack serious, and you knew that this wouldn’t be a match in which we would be held scoreless. No way, no how.

Everything was almost clicking. Eto’o left two goals begging, both from not making runs that he usually does. In the first, an exquisite cross was popped in from Henry, and Eto’o just looked at him do his thing, and instead of nosing for the goal, he stood there. He did the same thing when Messi, from the other side, slipped in a cross. Unfortunate, as both goals would have been tap-ins for our Cranky Cameroonian.

Alves made a crazy attempt at a shot that just hit the crossbar, sending a message that it was going to take a moment of individual brilliance to break Numancia down, as they were playing their hearts out, defending like junkyard dogs and counterattacking intelligently and with pace. All credit to them. Every time a ball was about to get through, they stuck a leg out, or had that sixth defender ready to stop someone.

We helped by being off. Iniesta was denied. Alves hit the crossbar. Pique shot wide. Xavi missed a sitter. Eto’o was slow off the mark. Messi was dribbling too much. Craziness.

But you could see time running out on Numancia. Early in the season, things aren’t clicking, people don’t know where other people are, so the final piece wasn’t in place. Now? Different story.

So when Iniesta laced that cross-pitch pass to Alves, he knew that the Brazilian was going to be bombing in, as he always does. What he didn’t know was that Alves was going to pass to himself and head the ball to Messi, who with the most delicate of touches, flicked the ball into the far corner. It was 1-0, and a completely different match. Numancia had to come out to play, and that was when things really opened up. As I said earlier, it was that moment of individual brilliance that was necessary to unlock a tight defense. Team play wasn’t going to do it.

The second goal was a no-brainer, really, as some pinged balls between Iniesta, Alves and Yaya had the defense leaning the wrong way, so when Iniesta slid in a perfectly weighted ball to Eto’o, all he had to do was turn and do the business, which he did. At 2-0, it’s really different, and you knew that no way was Numancia going to win or tie this one, because in chasing goals, they, as with every other team that has to chase the match against us, expose their jugular.

Then came the previously discussed hand ball that shouldn’t have been. Someone might (and I will) argue that Valdes, rather than leaning toward the far post, should have been playing the near post, since that was the most direct route. A shot across goal for the far post would give ample time for him to get across.

But he was beaten by a crazy shot, a rocket that was not only fast and wind-aided, but took almost a 90-degree turn in mid-air. Full credit for a hell of a goal. But you knew that we weren’t finished yet, because the speed and aggression of our play, with two men locking down almost every time a Numancia attacker got the ball, meant more goals.

And with all the great movement and hard work in the first half by Henry, it was fitting that the game-sealer should come his way. Messi essentially dribbled down the entire Numancia defense, running around with the ball in a bizarre game of “catch me if you can.” In he first half, he would have shot the ball, and the defenders were playing him for that, just getting in front of any potential shooting angles. So rather than bouncing it off someone’s shin, he slid the ball to an open Henry, who controlled and with almost the same touch planted, did a 180 and flicked a shot with power and direction toward the far corner. It took a deflection, which was lucky, but that shot was destined to go in. Because it had to. We deserved as much.

I mention luck because Lady Luck, fickle wench that she is, switched sides in the second half. Suddenly, all those balls that were pinging right to Numancia defenders were bouncing to our guys. Which explains the absurdity of that fourth goal.

Eto’o’s role in that attack seemed more like pinball bumper. The ball bounced around, bouncing off a defender to Messi, who advanced and got another lucky deflection (possible hand ball?) as the ball landed right at his feet as if by magic, as he was behind the keeper. He slotted home, and that ended the scoring. You could see that Numancia were done, done in by a very different team than they saw the first weekend of the season.

This was a very enjoyable, hard-fought on both sides game of football. Some might argue that Numancia deserved better. I say they got and fought for what they deserved. We were not to be denied today.

With that…:

Team: 9. It was a gritty, intense match that this team just doesn’t lose this season. They almost play like underdogs, with a chip on the shoulder that adds to the excellence. Everybody backed everybody up, double-teaming the ball and moving beautifully, with a few exceptions who will be dealt with later.

Guardiola: 10. He had the side ready to play, and made the right substitutions. His calm leadership helped the lads get over the hump. He also exuded confidence, which is invaluable as a visual aid.

Valdes: 7. Solid match. It would take a hard man to take away points for not shading the near post, but I’m a hard man. Sorry, VV. He didn’t have a lot to do today, but made a couple of nice saves.

Alves: 9. What a match by our main man today. Between his passes, attacking and defense, in addition to winning balls wherever he was, he once again demonstrated that at 32 million, he was a bargain. Anyone notice how good Messi is when Alves is in the side? Just checking.

Pique: 8. Excellent match, two in a row. The hand ball call was bogus, and he had to give that foul that he did just outside the box. To use the NBA analogy, better to have the guy make the free throws than to give the layup. Puyol let him have it for getting in El Capitan’s way during an attack, and how. But Pique was moving to the ball. Kinda harsh from Mop Top.

Puyol: 9. Speaking of, he was a true captain today, playing with fire and energy and making sure that energy was transmitted. He earned a 7 or 8 with his actual play, but gets a bump for that intangible.

Abidal: 9. Wow. He threw in one of his patented moon ball crosses, but he dominated his side of the pitch, created space for Henry and Eto’o and anybody else on his side of the attack, and made a number of exceptional passes. He helped the left side be almost as dangerous for us as the right, as was absolutely rock-solid.

Yaya: 8. Loses points for some knuckleheaded dribble moves, but gains them all back for his midfield control. Made an amazing play in which he somehow worked the ball loose with a toenail, and those loooong legs. Also had some key aerial clearances in our box, heading danger away. And he’s almost always smart with the ball, like a big, giant, man-eating Xavi. He doesn’t get enough love for his long passing, either, which was very good today.

Xavi: 6. Speaking of, not his best match, but very solid. He wasn’t as influential as he usually is, and Guardiola seemed to sense that, having he and Iniesta swap spots quite a lot in the second half, to very positive effect. It must have worked, because Schoen/Hudson kept confusing the two.

Iniesta: 10. You could fault him for the missed goal in the first half, but come on. The keeper guessed right and made a hell of a save. He was, minute in and out, the best man on the pitch, better even than you-know-who. Yes, Messi scored that first goal, but Iniesta’s pass to Alves made it all possible, and his direct assist to Eto’o provided the second.

Henry: 7. Was extremely influential in the first half but disappeared in the second, until that glorious goal of his. Does anyone recall the Numancia attack that was off to the races, until Henry came charging in like a greyhound, to get ahead of the attacker and steal the ball? Comprehensive awesomeness. Anyone who says that he doesn’t put out for the side is nuts.

Messi: 8. Sorry, but he had was the “dribble too far” king in the first half, and played with more control in the second. He scored two goals, to be sure. But his first goal was all Alves. On the other hand, people will say that the Henry goal was all Messi, and they would be extremely misguided. Eto’o doesn’t even get that shot off. As Ray Hudson said, “He softens the hard corners of our lives just by watching him.” Which is very true. The tightrope walk that was his second goal was thrilling, watching those soft feet control the caroms.

Eto’o: 6. Loved the movement and effort, but in addition to not making runs that could have resulted in easy goals, he ignored open men, and killed sure scoring chances with a way-too-hard touch. One play in which his only chance was a crazy-assed shot at a sliver of the near post, Krkic was just standing there, waving his arms. Eto’o didn’t even look up. He’s been much, much sharper and more effective. I was expecting the Busquets sub for him, not Henry.

Substitutions:

Busquets (for Henry): 7. The kid definitely has the magic. He’s also unafraid to give up his body, going in hard for those 50/50 balls. Nice long passer who switches the field very well. Seems a little tentative sometimes, like a colt still learning to run.

Krkic (for Iniesta): 6. Good movement, but doesn’t seem to know where to be sometimes. Getting stepped on seemed to take him out of his game. Should have had a goal had Eto’o found him, and it was nice to see the side feeding him, to build his confidence. Mes que un club, indeed.

Hleb (for Xavi): 6. Gave a very nice effort out there, with some very nice passes….and a couple of pretty crappy ones. But he always shows great control, particularly in tight spaces. He will get better, and we probably won’t see the player we bought until toward the end of the season. He will show in Champions League as well, mark my words.

Next up, moved to Thursday apparently, is the Copa del Rey home leg against Espanyol. That’s 5 days of rest for the boys, who should be ready to put the boot in. Problem though, is that gives short rest for the next Liga opponent, Racing Santander, who grabbed a draw against us, the league week after Numancia. I see more payback in the cards.

P.S. Yes, this is a long one. Sorry, and thanks for reading this far. There was a lot to cover.