FC Barcelona trounce Real Betis in La Liga thriller.


Match Report: Sunday 04/11/2007 19:00 hrs

La Liga Match Day 11
FC BARCELONA - REAL BETIS 3-0 ( 1-0 )


Stadium: Camp Nou, Barcelona

Capacity: 98,772
Attendance: 73,704

Referee: Fernando Teixeria Vitienes


Goals:
1-0 Henry ( 33' )

2-0 Ronaldinho ( 53' )
3-0 Ronaldinho ( 90' )


Cautions:

Yellow Card :


FC Barcelona - None


Real Betis - Juanito ( 26' ), Babic ( 37' ), Juande ( 90' )


Possession:
FC Barcelona 66%

Real Betis 34%


Corner Kicks:
FC Barcelona 6

Real Betis 4


Shots on Goal ( On Target ):
FC Barcelona 19 ( 7 )

Real Betis 6 ( 2 )


Line-Up:
FC Barcelona (4-3-3): Valdes, Zambrotta ( Marquez, 76' ), Abidal, Thuram, Puyol, Xavi ( Gudjohnsen, 84' ), Iniesta, Toure Yaya, Messi, Henry ( Bojan, 79' ), Ronaldinho

Manager: Frank Rijkaard


Real Betis(4-4-2): Ricardo, Ilic, Juanito, Lima, Babic, Rivera, Juande, Somoza ( Arzu, 76' ), Marc Gonzalez, Edu, Pavone ( 61' ) Manager: Hector Cuper


Match Report:
FC Barcelona locked down Real Betis for much of the encounter as the Catalan giants dominated play. The game was filled with early passes from the start, and Betis were very wary of making any serious attack in order not to leave their rear guard. Xavi made the closet incursion in the match, and this was registered in the 16th minute when the Barca star player connected a clean lob to Thierry Henry, whose perfect header was hit out by Betis goalkeeper Ricardo.


Betis seemed to retaliate with an effort by Edu, but Victor Valdes was on hand to save the ball without much hassle. Thierry Henry returned to canon a great shot toward Betis goal after breaking from the visitor's defence line, only for the Frenchman's shot to hit the post and bounce back into play. Henry looked on in disbelief, wondering if his post-hitting luck had returned to haunt him again. Henry looked certain to score with another close call, and it was no surprise when the former Arsenal goal king finally got his well-deserved goal.


Yaya Toure picked out Iniesta on the left flank and the Spain midfielder immediately launched a flighted ball forward to Henry, who skipped past his marker and beat Ricardo with a clinical low finish on 33 minutes.


Betis, other than a wild effort from Chile winger Mark Gonzalez, had offered practically nothing up until now and resorted to a serious of cynical fouls to stop the Catalans. Ronaldinho came close with a couple of free-kicks and Lionel Messi was a constant threat on the right flank, skipping past defenders at ease, but Barcelona had to make do with a one-goal lead at the break. The Catalans began rather sloppily after the interval, but went two goals up when Ronaldinho curled a wonderful free-kick into the top corner on 53 minutes.


Henry should have added a third goal five minutes later after Ricardo had parried Xavi's powerful volley, but the Frenchman failed to hit the target with his close-range header. Messi then charged into the area on a mesmerising run as the home side piled forward again, but the Argentina winger saw his angled drive pushed away by Ricardo. Henry failed to connect to Toure's driven cross and Ronaldinho curled another free-kick just wide as Rijkaard's side pressed for a third goal.


Messi then produced a moment of sheer magic on 72 minutes. The Argentina winger took up possession on the half-way line and beat several challenges on one of his trademark dribbling runs, but saw his shot drift just inches wide of Ricardo's far post when a repeat of last season's Maradona-style goal against Getafe had looked certain. The Nou Camp faithful nevertheless showed their appreciation for the youngster and shouts of ``Messi, Messi'' reverberated around the ground.


Ronaldinho was not to be outdone and attempted an audacious scissor kick from the edge of the area, which sailed just over the bar. The Brazilian winded himself in the process, but soon picked himself up and was applauded back on to the pitch by the home fans.


Bojan Krkic then replaced Henry with 11 minutes remaining and the youngster was quickly involved, winning a corner with a dangerous cross on 82 minutes and then firing a blistering long-range effort just wide of Ricardo's right-hand upright.


In the 90th minute, Ronaldinho added a third goal on the stroke of full-time when he curled a free-kick through the wall and in off the post, sending a clear message to Real Madrid that the Catalans are back in the title race. Indeed, FC Barcelona played a great game tonight.


My Comments:

As we predicted before the match Barca were going to trounce Real Betis by 3-0 and that was what exactly happened. The scoreline could have been much more if not for some very close misses by the Blaugrana who slowed down in their thirst to score after realizing their opponents were of no match to them.


This means that Barca are one point short of Real Madrid on the Table top, but must also watch Villarreal, who have secured 24 points to tie FC Barcelona in second position after the yellow submarines scored in the 90th minute to snatch an away victory over Atletico Madrid with a thrilling 3-4 scoreline.


However, the title race is largely expected to be between the two old rivals, and Barca are expected to triumph at the end of the day going by the way the Blaugrana are gathering momentum and becoming better with each match, except when they are disorganized by the highly demanding international matches which often leaves Camp Nou deserted and the players returning very tired.