Barcelona loses to Liverpool; Bellamy celebrates crudely

By: Isaiah | February 21st, 2007

It is perhaps foreboding that my first real post for The Offside has to cover a loss, but I’ll attempt to ignore any and all signs that the heavens might try to give me.

It doesn’t mean we’re out of the competition, but it does mean Liverpool is considered heavily favored to advance to the quarterfinals and coming from behind is not exactly easy at this level. The Scousers aren’t exactly Villareal, though you could potentially get the two confused.

Despite taking the lead through a rare Deco header in the 14th minute, Barcelona squandered several chances in front of goal and then on 43 minutes allowed Craig Bellamy to go free at the back post (and not for the first time). Bellamy headed the well-weighted cross in from close range, though Valdez should have done better and saved the shot without a rebound. Bellamy proceeded to celebrate by acting as if he was swinging a golf club, no doubt responding to the rumors suggesting he beat teammate John Arne Riise with a golf club after a drunken argument. Whether that is the proper way to respond to critics is a little more than questionable, but what about anything Craig Bellamy has ever done isn’t? The second Liverpool goal didn’t come until the 74th minute when Kuyt wasn’t marked well enough and then the ball wasn’t cleared, leaving Riise to gun in a short-range shot with his typical cannon-for-a-leg style.

Barcelona controlled two-thirds of the possession, but were unable to turn that into goals, even when Reina made mental errors. This lack of goals while dominating possession has been a problem for Barcelona of late and even though they’re a good squad, it’s practically impossible to advance in the Champions League without, you know, scoring more goals than the other guy. It’s now two straight losses for Barça and there’s no doubt there will be some serious rethinking of the lineup that was on the field today, but that’s probably a mistake since it did result in a hatful of chances in both halves, though there were obvious defensive lapses.

More when I get a chance to digest this bitter pill, find a silver lining (Messi played 90 minutes!).