Lliga | Round 11: FC Barcelona - Villarreal 3-0

[JamDav1982]

What a game this is.

End to end.

 

[arjunanand1]

And Madrid is losing to Sevilla at the moment. I will sleep like a baby tonight

 

[utility73]

Was a rather tough match for quite some time. Villarreal very organized and disciplined until the first goal. Then they lost concentration and it got a lot easier.

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[Mido]

It was a nice win but we shouldn't get overexcited. There were a lot a flaws in our game during the first half that we should work on.

Speaking only about the first half :

What really struck me is that without Messi ( and Xavi) we have a hard time controlling the pace of the game. Busquets did an amazing job in setting up our build-up but we fiercly lacked control at times. I am not happy saying this, but I genuinely believe that a B-ish team under Guardiola/Villanova/Martino would have had an easier time dealing with Villareal's assaults and setting the pace of the game.

As SeloBarca mentioned it, relying on sudden flashes from our top players won't help us in tougher fixtures.

We lacked leadership and clear ideas in this game. I suggest that since Messi probably won't start against Real, Iniesta should take the lead and play the "maestro" role in our build-up.

A first half like this could get really painful at Bernabeu.

 

[draconifire]

Ye Top of the league bitches

 

[Kuchi]

What a day, what a glorious day

 

[silvia]

"no injury" period. perfectly ready for el clasico

 

[Kikan]

Great game , great win and best part about today is RM losing , did not see ronaldo playing though lol . As for Classico , i think Messi should start on the bench and play in the second half only if needed .

 

[barcafan161]

Neymar outstanding again

 

[RMU ReBorn]

Predictably tough game against first legit opponent since Messi's injury. Well done to hold on and wear them down. Entertaining open game with quality from both sides.

Sevilla says hi

 

[xXKonan]

Ray Hudson Commentary on the goals.

 

[BerkeleyBernie]

Sevilla says hi

I stand corrected, forgot that one (as I'm sure most of us would prefer to). Clearly, no walk in the park against better teams without Messi.

 

[arjunanand1]

Great game , great win and best part about today is RM losing , did not see ronaldo playing though lol . As for Classico , i think Messi should start on the bench and play in the second half only if needed .

In his head, he was the best player on the pitch and even scored a hat trick.

 

[Gaudi]

It just hit me - even if we lose El clasico we're on points and in return leg hopefully we'll have MSN + Arda

 

[Kuchi]

Given Messi's injury, our situation for the classico couldn't be better, 3 pt buffer, Ney & Luis in top form, connecting like crazy, hell even our defense raised its level.