Match Review: Barcelona vs Almeria by Mega(Click Here)

To Start things Off everyone give a round of applause for this guy here. Not only did Prince Of Monaco saved us by scoring our only goal today,(what a Golazo!!!! BTW)he was so lively and efficient unlike our sulky Frenchman has been these past weeks. He is definitely growing in confidence and is taken his chances by the horns.

Now back to the game......Anyone who watched the 1st 10mins of the game knew it was going to be an low-scoring game as Hugo Sánchez made it clear that he'd be trying to emulate Espanyol's Nou Camp win last year. Although I did not like what I saw in this match I did however saw something which was never present in last year's team. This squad although being smaller is very well talented in mostly every position. Today’s win now takes us 18-points and have equaled the best ever start to a season with six wins out of six.

Pep rolled out Valdes, Alves, Marquez, Puyol, Maxwell, Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, Pedro!, Messi, Ibrahimovic to see of this very stubborn Almeria side.But it was not to be as Sanchez and company played to their game plan of breaking down the rhythm of the game through fouls and delaying tactics, whilst hitting us on the break. They played with basically 9-men behind the ball and man-marked Xavi throughout the game. It almost worked to if it was not for the aforementioned moment of individual brilliance saving the day.

In the first half, we began with the usual combination passing and domination but were mostly held in check by their tactics. Our 1^st chance of the game came from when our lovely lil 2 maestros combined well on the left only to see Messi curl just wide. Their tactics seemed to be working for the first half of an hour with only a Xavi shot against the woodwork on 17 minutes troubling the visitors,

The problems were clear for every1 to see. As Xavi was restricted in his distribution and was under pressure. That was until our quick thinking mastermind coach instructed Marquez to move into Xavi's position and Xavi to push out right to create space in the middle. This eased the pressure on both Iniesta and Xavi was there were able to provide more for the front men. after enormous pressure from both Ibra and mess the deadlock was finally broken, as Ibra did some good work on the left and played the ball to an up-running Maxwell who in turn passed it to PEDRO!!! who picked up the pass, spun past his marker and instantly arrowed in a sumptuous shot on the edge of the box into the top right corner.

After the goal the tactics from Almeria didn't change much as it was funny to see how Chico would often ignore the ball going past him just so he could concentrate on marking Xavi. With a goal advantaged we started to play with less-nervousness and more confidence in our passes.

In the second half the game didn't change much, with Almeria breaking Barca's passing game and awaiting their chance of a counter. With Xavi pushed out right, Barca lacked fluency in their play and as the game continued, Almeria came more into the game and tried to pick out some space in the defense

Eventually Pique came on for Marquez (who played a solid game) to give us more ideas bringing the ball out. You could’ve seen the change immediately as Maxwell had more freedom to push forward. After that Pep bought on our 2 Africans to add steel to the midfield and regain control of this game. Keita and Toure really beefed things up as pressure was relived on Xavi and more opportunities were created.

This was definitely our toughest fixture yet and showed us a preview of most teams’ tactics in the League this year. Although not being our best performance we earned a valuable 4-points and go top of the table with EE games 2moro in mind. Unfortunately Zlatan couldn't score today on his 28th birthday so he will have to be content with just equaling the record of Cesar in 1950. So we are now 6 for 6 and face an away trip to Valencia after the international break.

Onto the Player Ratings

Team: 6 didn’t click well 2day and showed us a future for January without our African Men of Steel. Also to much individual brilliance.

Victor Valdes - 7: Didn't actually have a save to make at all, but dealt with crosses and please no more passes out of the area. Gives me heart attacks

Daniel Alves - 7: Was generally solid, but committed a few silly fouls towards the and be more lethal on your freekicks.

Rafael Marquez - 7: Didn't make any mistakes, but his usually accurate distribution left a lot to be desired.But was solid in the back and a could cover for when CAN comes around.

Carles Puyol - 8: An excellent performance from the captain, who got plenty of important challenges in. Showed us why he is still here for 10 years and counting

Maxwell - 6: Provided the assist for Pedro, but also made a few mistakes at the back, including one terrible back pass.He gives away to much corners and is lacking in accuracy.

Sergi Busquets - 3: Was plain jus Awful. Gave away the ball to much and didn’t help relieve Xavi or Iniesta

Xavi - 7: Kept the ball easily as always, but lacked his usual creative spark. Marked out of the game.

Andres Iniesta - 7: Had a quiet game for the most part, but came alive towards the end when he was moved further upfront.

Lionel Messi - 6: Looked very lively early on, but had a poor second half.Continue his run of bad touches and DUDE common we know your great but pass the ball.1v1 is nice if u score.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic - 6: Average from our big Swede, showed some nice early touches, but was a passenger for the entire second half.

Pedro - 8: Took his goal brilliantly, and generally looked very lively and direct. Showed us the brilliance in him and his amazing vision for the net. That is 4 for the season from our livewire.

Substitutes

Gerard Pique - 7: Looked solid and comfortable as soon as he came on.

Yaya Toure – Came on to calm things down and do the job Busquets didn’t do.

Seydou Keita – See Yaya.

Video Higlights

Match Facts

1 - Barcelona: Valdes, Alves, Márquez (Piqué, min.60), Puyol, Maxwell, Sergio Buquets (Keita, min.75), Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, Pedro (Toure Yaya, min.75) and Ibrahimovic.

0 - Almeria: Diego Alves, Michel, Pellerano, Acasiete, Schism, Ortiz (Soriano, min.79), Bernardello, Chico, Guilherme, Crusat (Nieto min.73) and Uche (Piatti, min.66).

Goals: 1-0, m.31: Pedro.

Referee: Velasco Carballo (Madrid Association). He showed yellow card to Xavi (min.20), Ortiz (min.37), Bernadell (min.45), Crusat (min.45), Iniesta (78) and Puyol (min.79)