Messi upstages Aguero in yet another 3-0 victory for FC Barcelona.


Match Report: Sunday 07/10/2007 17:00 hrs (GMT +1), La Liga Match Day 7
FC BARCELONA - ATLETICO DE MADRID


Stadium: Camp Nou, Barcelona

Capacity: 98,772
Referee: Eduardo Iturralde Gonzalez


Goals:

1-0 Deco ( 16' )
2-0 Messi ( 20' )

3-0 Xavi ( 90' )


Cautions:
Yellow Card :


FC Barcelona - Deco ( 61' )


Atletico de Madrid - Garcia ( 72' ), Ibanez ( 75' ), Seitaridis ( 78' )


Possession:

FC Barcelona 62%
Atletico de Madrid 38%


Corner Kicks:

FC Barcelona 5
Atletico de Madrid 5


Shots on Goal ( On Target ):

FC Barcelona 17 ( 10 )
Atletico de Madrid 8 ( 3 )


Line-Up:

FC Barcelona (4-3-3):Valdes, Oleguer, Milito, Puyol, Abidal, Xavi, Deco, Iniesta, Ronaldinho ( Giovani, 74' ), Messi, Henry ( Bojan 84' )
Manager: Frank Rijkaard


Atletico de Madrid (4-4-2): Abiatti, Seitaridis, Ibanez, Ze Castro ( Fabiano, 46' ), Pernia, Maniche, Garcia, Simao, Reyes ( Rodriguez, 54' ), Aguero ( Garcia, 61' ), Forlan

Manager: Javier Aguirre


Match Report:
Wonder one, Lionel Messi reproduced another great performance to shelve pre-match threats from Atletico Madrid and fears that FC Barcelona will have a very difficult match today against the visitors. Theirry Henry was also in great form, as the goal giant was everywhere on the pitch along with Deco, who has been reminding people of what he did in Porto with the great game the Portuguese has been playing at Barcelona since the start of the season.


The Catalan giants started the match in a cool manner, preferring to study their opponents in the first five minutes. The match sparked to life in the 6th minute when Eric Abidal charged down the left flank and into the area, before unleashing a blistering drive which Atletico goalkeeper Christian Abbiati did well to push away. Atletico responded in the 8th minute when defender Mariano Pernia got into an excellent position on eight minutes, but was dispossessed by a last-ditch tackle from Messi, who had come down from the attack line to disrupt the visitors in their own attack before racing back up the field. Maniche then saw his long shot drift wide on 13 minutes as Javier Aguirre's side continued to make true their pre-match threats of beating Barca.


The visitors must have become too obsessed with making their predictions of victory come true, ignoring the danger in giving space to the sleeky FC Barcelona forward line. Ateltico paid dearly for this in the 16th minute. Goal keeper Abbiati spilled Messi's cross and the ball fell to Deco, who made no mistake in scoring the rebound. Barca were one goal up.


It was Barca from then on, as the hosts seized the game and dictated the pace with ease.

Deco put Thierry Henry through with a delightful long pass, but Henry's effort did not go in. In the 20th minute, Messi snuck into the area following a clever one-two with Ronaldinho and fired a precise low shot past Abbiati and into the corner to score his sixth Primera Liga goal in seven games.


Barca appealed for a penalty on 26 minutes when Jose Antonio Reyes fouled Deco, but the referee waved play on. Rijkaard's side then should have added a third goal after 38 minutes, when Deco found Ronaldinho in space, but the Ronnie's effort didn't result in goal number three for the Blaugrana. Four minutes later, Messi's shot from the edge of the area forced Abbiati into a smart save after Ronaldinho's clever lobbed pass. The first half ended with FC Barcelona two goals up.


The Catalan giants continued their dominance in the second half. Henry advanced into the area on 46 minutes, but the Frenchman's shot did not find the back of the Atletico net. Deco then fired over from the edge of the area on 49 minutes and Gabi Milito saw his close-range effort kept out by a quick reaction save from Abbiati. At the other end, Carles Puyol did well to dispossess Sergio Aguero in a rare Atletico attack on 56 minutes. Victor Valdes then saved from Atletico substitute Maxi Rodriguez as the visitors began to enjoy their best spell of the game.


Atletico lost their best chance in the 67th minute. Simao found himself one-on-one with Valdes and tried to dink the ball over the advancing goalkeeper and into the net, but saw his effort sail just over the crossbar, much to the frustration of the unmarked Diego Forlan, who was waiting to pounce at the far post. Barcelona soon regained control of possession and Henry twice came close to scoring in the next few minutes. The former Arsenal striker almost got on the end of Deco's cross in the six-yard box on 73 minutes and then saw his close-range shot parried by Abbiati a minute later. The Italian keeper then saved well from Xavi with 15 minutes remaining as Barcelona continued to search for a third goal. The two young guns, Giovani dos Santos and Bojan Krkic came on. Giovani replaced Ronaldinho in the 74th minute while Bojan replaced Thierry Henry in the 84th minute. The two teenagers made their impact felt as expected. Barcelona continued to search for a third goal. It finally came in the 90th minute.


Deco slid the ball to substitute Giovani Dos Santos and the Mexican in turn picked out the unmarked Xavi, who slotted the ball home easily to wrap up a comfortable Catalan victory and maintain the pressure on Real Madrid, who had relied on two late goals in the last 16 minutes of the match against Recreativo Huelva to secure victory at home in the Bernabeu.


My Comments:
Lionel Messi has shown that he is really in a class of his own as coach Frank Rijkaard said in his pre-match comments. The 20 year-old Argentine struck again to become the top scorer in the La Liga after match day 7, displacing Atletico's Aguero to second position both in the scorer's chart and in comparism to himself.

Atletico were not a match for the Blaugrana, and the much hyped match proved to be a no contest in the end. The score would have even been worse for Atletico.


Barca have found their rythm and only need to continue. The Blaugrana have maintained their pressure on Real Madrid who are ahead with a two point gap. If the two teams continue in their winning ways, an important match to separate the two will be the Christmas period clash against Real Madrid, which should tip the La Liga leadership in Barca's favour.