Copa Del Rey (mini) Review: FC Barcelona 3 – 1 Deportivo Alavés: Obviously the most important match yet

Pinto's daughters are the latest additions to the team. They meet the height requirements for sure.

I know everyone remembered that this match was actually taking place last night. Me? Of course I did. I’ve never forgotten about a first round Copa del Rey match in my life! This “review”, if you can even call it that, is short, mainly because…erm…it’s a first round Copa del Rey match. That’s my reason and I’m sticking to it!

Barça’s lineup went something like: Pinto – Montoya, Puyol, Mascherano, Adriano – Dos Santos, Song, Sergi Roberto – Tello, Villa, Thiago. As for the bench, we had: Oier, Planas, Cesc, Pedro and Deulofeu.

Take a minute to refresh yourself on what happened, or if you didn’t watch the match at all…I have a highlights video for you too.

Before Adriano’s goal in the 35th minute, play was slow and there was no sense of urgency. I expected as much. Alavés’ Viguera scored quite a good goal in the face of a frozen Pinto. Pintocalypse moments and crazy hair and part-time record producing. Can’t ask for more from your backup goalkeeper. He was also passed the captain’s armband at one point. Pinto captaining…yeah, it’s definitely a Copa match. Barça coasted along and didn’t seem awake until after the Alavés goal, which was probably a “wait, third division sides can score too!” wake up call.

And actually, contrary to what most of us probably assumed, Alavés were a good side. If I remember correctly, when Barça played Hospitalet in the same round of the CDR, they had a worryingly bad first leg and completely destroyed them in the second. With last night’s match being played at home, you’d assume this would end up in a 7-0 win or something…and obviously that wasn’t the result. Alavés played their hearts out and good for them. As a side note, their goalkeeper looked like he may have been 14 years old. Cute!

Spot the Barça player! Bonus points if you get them all.

David Villa had a good match. Scored off a brilliantly taken free kick and 3 minutes later, after a great linkup with Tello. But wait! David Villa scored from a free kick? We have players other than Messi and Xavi to take them? Yes! You forget how much of a threat he is when he’s back in his preferred centre forward position. But of course, he won’t stay there. I think he knows he has to fight for his place, because there are plenty (well, whatever “plenty” means when it comes to a Barça side!) of people who will grab it from him.

What do defenders do when they're not playing? Take pictures for Instagram, of course!

Thiago also had a good match. He provided a wonderful assist for Adriano’s goal and helped set up Villa’s second goal. Speaking of Adriano, it’s not going to be long before he and Jordi Alba start competing against each other for that well known award, the Left Back Pichichi. I think he’s improved quite a bit since Jordi Alba joined us. Competition is good, guys!
We also had a rare sighting of Jonathan dos Santos! He played alright, but I don’t think it was enough to keep him in the new year. Sergi Roberto was our token youngster (along with Deulofeu and Planas, but they didn’t start, okay!), who played well too, but not as good as I’ve seen him play before. But this is just a meaningless cup game and all, so lets not be too harsh.

Barça are now through to the next round of the Copa del Rey and they’ll face 2nd division Cordoba in two weeks time. Fun fact, courtesy of Barcastuff – Barça B played Cordoba in October and lost 2-1. But with Eusebio in charge, is that a surprise? Ha!

Finally, in other news, Messi, Iniesta and Ronaldo are the three nominees for the Ballon d’Or. Anyone surprised? No? Congratulations to them all though. I’m sure we’ll be very surprised when the winner is announced…!

Some Related Barcelona Posts:

• Copa del Rey review: Deportivo Alavés 0, FC Barcelona 3, Or, A Little Treat
• Copa Del Rey Preview: FC Barcelona vs Deportivo Alavés – Return Leg
• The Copa Del Rey Cup – The Fitting Farewell to a Legend: CDR Final Match Review
• CL (mini) review: Celtic 2 – 1 FC Barcelona: Same scoreline as before, wrong way ’round…

Category: Team News