Match Report: Saturday 31/03/2007 22:00 (GMT +1): La Liga, Match Day 28
FC BARCELONA - DEPORTIVO LA CORUNA 2:1 (1:0)

Camp Nou, Barcelona – Attendance: 65.000
Referee: Ayza Gamez


Goals:

1-0 Messi 45´
2-0 Eto´o 50´

2-1 Adrian 68´


FC Barcelona (4-3-3): Valdes - Zambrotta, Thuram, Puyol, Gio (Motta 91´) - Edmilson, Xavi, Iniesta (Oleguer ´74)- Messi (Giuly 84´), Eto´o, Ronaldinho - Manager: Frank Rijkaard


Deportivo (4-2-3-1): Aouate - Coloccini, Lopo, Jorge Andrade, Capdevila - Juan Rodriguez, De Guzman (Sergio 82´) - Estoyanoff, Verdu, Cristian - Riki (Adrian 60´) - Manager: Joaquin Caparros


Match Report:
Leaders FC Barcelona beat Deportivo by two wonderful goals of Leo Messi (45´) and Samuel Eto´o (50´). 19-year old Adrian brought Depor back into the game but finally it was not enough to gain a point at Camp Nou.

Barca made sure that they will stay at the top of the table for at least another week, not depending on the Sevilla result and still being in the driving seat for the title.


The victory was hard work as Deportivo showed a good performance against the Champions FC Barcelona. Expecting that the Galacians would settle for an away point and defending with 11 men, Deportivo came out to play, wanting more than just a draw.


Barca midfielder Xavi had the first shot at goal in the second minute.


Depor´s physical approach and counter-attacking tactics caused problems for Barca, but without threatening Víctor Valdés seriously. Deportivo´s Jorge Andrade had a low shot saved by Victor Valdes.


After 20 minutes Barca started with their exciting fast-flowing, short-passing game. On minute 21, Ronaldinho lifted on of his trademark free-kicks over the wall but the shot was not strong enough to surprise Deportivo goalkeeper Aouate.


The referee took some odd decisions and the Camp Nou faithfuls made very clear to the ref what they thought of it all. The Barca stadium started boiling over when the referee booked Ronaldinho for blocking a free-kick, while Ronnie never had a change to keep the distance. During the discussions with the ref, Depor´s Estoyanoff went down theatralicly holding his face, after Eto´o had touched the player´s cheek.


While the spectators were furious and on fire, Ronaldinho & Co. kept their cool. Just a minute from the halftime break, Dinho produced a moment of pure class and magic as he lifted the ball over Argentine international Fabricio Coloccini before loping the entire Deportivo defence to pick out Leo Messi perfectly. The Argentinian wizzard, completed the move in great style. One touch to control and the second to fire the ball into the top of the net past Depor keeper Dudu Aouate.


The crowd was delighted but still did not approve the match officials performance and whistling accompanied the ref and his two assistance into the changing rooms at halftime.


Just 5 minutes after the break, the match looked as been finished off, after a fantastic team effort and fast passing. A superb combination of one-touch-football between Ronaldinho, Xavi and Leo Messi left the Depor defence simply stunned and Eto´o sending one-on-one with the goalkeeper. The Cameroon striker cooly finished the effort by calmly putting the ball past Aouate.


With a secure 2-0 lead, the Barca show started and some tantalizing football was on display. Main character in this show starring, of course, "El Magico" himself: Ronaldinho!


Despite creating enough chances to go up 3-0 or 4-0, suddenly La Coruna was back in the game. The first warning came when substitute Adrian (for Riki) took advantage of a defence error but Valdes was able to deny him. But just moments later, on minute 68 it was again impressive 19-year old Adrian who took advantage of Gio´s loose header. Thuram was not able to reach the ball and Adrian easily went past him and clipped the ball over the approaching Valdes into the net.


In the last 20 minutes of the game Barca looked more tired than Deportivo and the midweek internationals took their toll. Suddenly it was an open game again and both sides created chances to either extend the lead or equalize. The finest chance came from Barca, when Eto´o and Ronaldinho combined superbly and Dinho sent Eto´o with a classy backheel pass towards the Deportivo goal. This time, keeper Aouate could stop the ball.


In fact, the final whistle was a relief for all Barca fans, because Deportivo looked fresher at the end. Still, the Barca fans did not forget about the poor refereeing performance and expressed their opinion in their special way.


My Comment:
The victory was hard fought as Deportivo showed a courageous performance against the the league leaders. I expected the Galacians would like to settle for an away point and defending with 11 men. But Deportivo came out to play, wanting more than just to add up numbers. Former Barca youngster Cristian, had a very good game and produced the most threads, initiated from his left.


Barca was generally controlling the game and we have seen some tantalizing football but also defence errors that produce goosepimpels to most (and nearly heart attacks to other) Camp Nou faithfuls. At least I felt like it.

We saw some of this incredible skilled, fast-flowing attacking football with that special bit of magic (mostly from Ronaldinho) that we all love so much and delights us a lot. But then actually Barca provides also their opponents with the best scoring opportunities through simple mistakes.


Anyway, the positive thing is, we saw some of the exciting "Barca-Football" that won us the League title and the European Cup. Ronaldinho did not look like, as if he does not enjoy Camp Nou anymore. I would say the opposite, it looked clearly that this is his home where he enjoys playing football the most. Ronaldinho produced some of his magic to entertain the crowd.
The victory was deserved. Barca has shown clearly to the chasing pack that they have to maintain a high level and keep the pace, if they want to be able to follow the leader. No dropping behind allowed.


Great evening and 3 more points for defending the title.



Visca el Barca!