Recreativo Huelva 0 – 4 Barcelona: Match Review

By: Isaiah | March 18th, 2007

There is apparently something wonderful to be said about the 4-3-3; that something was four goals against a decent squad on Saturday as Barcelona won their first away game since something like 1979 (if you’re actually keeping track at home, the last away win was 4 months ago, though the blaugrana have yet to lose at home this season in La Liga). Samuel Eto’o signaled his return to form as he blasted in a golazo in the third minute, Zambrotta made it 0-2 with a beautiful chip on 40 minutes and Eto’o got his brace with a short-range volley only two minutes later. Messi rounded off the scoring with a gorgeous run and finish in the 86th minute.

It’s worth noting that it wasn’t all one-way action, despite the box score looking decidedly lopsided, the 6 shots on goal that Recre had were dangerous and they should have scored at least once, which could have changed the complexion of the game before the second and third goals by Barcelona sealed the deal. All that means is Barcelona still have defensive issues that could be exploited by better teams. However, as Linda at The Beautiful Game pointed out, Barcelona have no games remaining against Sevilla, Real Madrid, or Valencia. They do have away games against Atletico and Zaragoza that could be tricky, but if they can maintain their current form they should be able to walk out of both stadiums with victories. That’s easier said than done, naturally, but Barcelona seem to be peaking at the right moment and when they are on their game, there are very few teams who can hang with them. Valencia haven’t faired particularly well since that sucker punch in the Champions League, drawing away to Osasuna and at home to Racing Santander 0-2 on Saturday. Still, they sit in either 3rd or 4th place, depending on the outcome of Real Madrid’s game against Nastic. That’s not to bad for a club in “freefall.”

The Recre game highlighted Barça’s need for stouter defense and a healthy, in-form Márquez could very well be what they’ve been lacking for a few weeks, but adding a player of Alves’ caliber on the wings during the off-season would certainly not be a mistake. I like Alves, though that’s not something particularly shocking after all these past months of the pundits and blogosphere yackers praising him like the next coming of Cafu. Another addition could be another defensive/holding midfielder to either replace or at least rotate with the Edmilson/Motta crew. That last bit depends on whether or not Rijkaard sticks around because it’s doubtful that either of the two Brazilians would be particularly valued under anyone else’s system. Another question mark remains in Gudjohnsen and Saviola, the former of which is having rough year relative to the expectations that were put on him, especially after Larsonn’s performance throughout the 2005/06 season (and it doesn’t hurt his legacy that he was instrumental in the Champions League final victory).

Here is a short highlight clip of the game, showing only the goals.

A little dig at Real Madrid from the GolTV commentator as they are drawing 0-0 with 10-man Nastic: “There’s no way with a 400 million Euro budget you can play this badly on a football field.” I have no doubt, though, as halftime approaches in that game, that Madrid will find a way to score and take all three points. [Robinho scored in the 56th minute]