A recap of Saturday's game between Las Palmas and Barça.
Often when Barcelona play teams, their respective position in the table means very little. Already this season we've seen teams who are rooted towards the bottom go out and play toe to toe with Barça and in the opening exchanges of this game, that was the case.
| Las Palmas | Barcelona |
|
| Possession | 47% | 53% |
| Total Shots | 16 | 13 |
| Shots on Target | 3 | 8 |
| Corners | 3 | 6 |
| Fouls | 10 | 13 |
| Offsides | 3 | 6 |
| Yellow Cards | 1 | 2 |
| Red Cards | 0 | 0 |
Affected by the blustery conditions, Barça's ball control was sloppy in the first few minutes which was allowing Las Palmas chances. However this bright start from the home team took a knock as within five minutes, Barça were 1-0 up. Andrés Iniesta slid the ball through to the charging Jordi Alba. After a short run down the left flank, he crossed the ball to Luis Suárez's feet. The league's top scorer readjusted before placing the ball into the roof of the net. The goal was perhaps harsh on the home team but is further evidence of how any of the front three are capable of scoring at any moment.
However, just five minutes later and Las Palmas were level. Pressing high, Jonathan Viera received the ball just outside the Barça box. His clever back heel set Willian José through on goal. The Brazilian slotted the ball under Claudio Bravo to pull Los Amarillos deservedly level. The replays showed José was just onside as Jordi Alba failed to step up with his defensive teammates.
The goal put more wind into Las Palmas' sails and they were playing great football. Retaining the ball through short, accurate passes and Barça were struggling to get a touch. The Catalans were relying on the individual quality to try and wrestle control of the game. Neymar was on the end of a few hard tackles while Iniesta saw his long range shot palmed away.
One of the Neymar fouls garnered a free kick just outside and to the left of the penalty area. Lionel Messi stepped up and drifted the ball over to the back post. Suárez arrived and it looked certain to be 2-1 but the Uruguayan managed to head wide from just eight yards. The shocked expression on his face said it all as those are the chances he is usually so deadly in converting.
The game was approaching half time with the sides level but it didn't stay that way. In the 39th minute, Suárez was running towards goal from the right flank. Messi slowed his run which allowed him space in the box for Suárez to find. Messi received the ball and fired away his shot but Javi Varas somehow got a hand to it. Unfortunately for the keeper his save fell to the feet of Neymar who blasted the ball into the net. Barça secured the lead and were able to hold it until the break.
The start of the second half saw the introduction of Ivan Rakitić in the place of Arda Turan. Turan had played well, putting in some great tackles but he was on a yellow and one late challenge away from seeing red.
Barça eventually got more a grip of the game in the second half. Seeing more of the ball and controlling it without creating too many chances. After a high intensity first half, it looked like some of the steam had gone out of the home side and they were struggling to wrestle the ball off of Barça.
This game was yet another reminder of the importance of Sergio Busquets as the team rarely looked to be at their usual level of dominance. Both the absence of Busquets and Gerard Piqué made the controlling game more difficult. Another explanation could be the upcoming Champions League tie against Arsenal midweek and a desire to conserve energy.
Luis Enrique was looking to set up shop as he introduced Thomas Vermaelen. But Las Palmas were still looking threatening to get that equaliser. The Catalans were drifting towards the final whistle and with less than five minutes on the clock, Las Palmas finally mounted their assault on goal. It required a quicker header away from Vermaelen to deny the home side and eventually the final whistle went with the away side taking the three points.
Barça just never got going in this game and sleepwalked to the win.
| Roll Call Info | |
|---|---|
| Total comments | 403 |
| Total commenters | 48 |
| Commenter list | #K-DREAMER, AJKhan, Anders Thomassen, Anirudh_Kul, AraibKarim, Ashraf Arefin, AzBlaug, BDBarca, Barca4ever, Barca4lif, ChalkLitIScream, ElasticFan, GabTTT, Gerard PIQUACHU, JordanBelfort, JordiBalboa, MSABarca, Mufti Yoga, Patty Mills for three.. BANG, Ragnar_Lothbrok, ShantanuC, Som-i-Serem, Steven Cordero, TheGodfather21, VarmaFCB, ZTAhmad, abhinay.rao, ajohns, checkmate299792458, craig00000, dewoul, el_uruguayo, feeya7, footballfordoze, godnkls, gorgton, hdp78, henderick.mitchell, ledhe, messism, michael.olivier, mickael2, mightyobie, nosrejadorable, paddymac1111, rigosj, saltylures, syredeathtrooper |
| Story URLs | |
| # | Commenter | # Comments |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | #K-DREAMER | 82 |
| 2 | Som-i-Serem | 35 |
| 3 | syredeathtrooper | 31 |
| 4 | JordanBelfort | 30 |
| 5 | dewoul | 25 |
| 6 | Gerard PIQUACHU | 22 |
| 7 | AzBlaug | 16 |
| 8 | Anirudh_Kul | 15 |
| 9 | ShantanuC | 14 |
| 10 | TheGodfather21 | 11 |
| 11 | Steven Cordero | 10 |
| 12 | rigosj | 10 |
| 13 | Ashraf Arefin | 7 |
| 14 | el_uruguayo | 6 |
| 15 | MSABarca | 6 |
| 16 | checkmate299792458 | 6 |
| 17 | feeya7 | 5 |
| 18 | hdp78 | 5 |
| 19 | ZTAhmad | 4 |
| 20 | craig00000 | 4 |
| 21 | footballfordoze | 4 |
| 22 | Barca4ever | 4 |
| 23 | JordiBalboa | 4 |
| 24 | Anders Thomassen | 4 |
| 25 | messism | 3 |
| 26 | AJKhan | 3 |
| 27 | nosrejadorable | 3 |
| 28 | mightyobie | 3 |
| 29 | ajohns | 3 |
| 30 | GabTTT | 3 |
| 31 | michael.olivier | 3 |
| 32 | Patty Mills for three.. BANG | 2 |
| 33 | henderick.mitchell | 2 |
| 34 | godnkls | 2 |
| 35 | VarmaFCB | 2 |
| 36 | Barca4lif | 2 |
| 37 | BDBarca | 1 |
| 38 | ledhe | 1 |
| 39 | mickael2 | 1 |
| 40 | gorgton | 1 |
| 41 | ElasticFan | 1 |
| 42 | abhinay.rao | 1 |
| 43 | saltylures | 1 |
| 44 | paddymac1111 | 1 |
| 45 | ChalkLitIScream | 1 |
| 46 | Ragnar_Lothbrok | 1 |
| 47 | AraibKarim | 1 |
| 48 | Mufti Yoga | 1 |
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