Written by IBES
FC Barcelona kicke
d off their quest for the elusive FIFA Club World Cup with a 3-1 come from behind victory over Atlante. Barcelona started the game with Messi, Henry and Piqué on the bench. They did not enjoy the best of starts when Atlante surprised them with an early goal four minutes into the game but Barcelona equalized half an hour later through a corner kick goal from Sergio Busquets. The second half saw the introduction of Messi and Piqué and it would pay off with Messi scoring the go ahead goal and Pedro scoring the third and final goal and become the first player to ever score in six different competitions in a season. Three goals courtesy of the La Cantera means Barcelona will now face Estudiantes in the FIFA Club World Cup Final on Saturday.
Guardiola decided to rest some key starters for this game. Messi, Henry, Keita and Piqué were not selected to be starters. Keita had suffered a knock and was doubtful for this game but Messi had been recovering the day before at the beach and seemed like he could feature as a substitute if needed. The starting eleven for this semi-final were Valdés in goal with Alves, Puyol, Márquez, and Abidal in the defense. The midfield consisted of Xavi, Sergio Busquets, and Touré supporting the front three of Pedro, Ibrahimovic and Iniesta. Guardiola’s selection seemed a bit odd to have two defensive midfielders starting and Iniesta play again as a left winger in Henry’s usual spot.
The game started off in the worst way for Barcelona when just four minutes into the game, Atlante was able to get the first goal of the game by catching the Barcelona defense napping. Atlante’s Argentinean keeper Vilar free kick from the midfield resulted into a long ball landed to long ball beat Rafa Márquez and Alves and allowed Atlante player Rojas to get to it first, lob it over VALDÉS and score courtesy of his sliding effort to ensure the ball goes into the back of the net off a tight angle. Just like that 1-0 and a great sucker punch delivered to Barcelona.
Barcelona immediately tries to respond when Alves’s danger cross missed the rushing Pedro’s head by inches. Barcelona then was awarded a corner kick and almost scored from Busquets’s header had it not been for the quick reflexes of Vilar.
Atlante would catch the defense napping again in the 10th minute as they a through ball from the midfield beat the offsides trap. However Puyol was able to catch up to Atlante’s counter attack and mess up their counter attack chance when he deflects a pass backwards to eliminate the scoring threat. From them on, Barcelona would dominate possession and have some scoring chances the rest of the half.
In the 23rd minute, during a counter attack for Barça, a cross from Alves to Ibrahimovic eludes Vilar and both Vilar and Ibrahimovic battle for the ball outside the left side of the box. Ibrahimovic crosses into the unmanned goal but Atlante’s defenders clears it. In the 25th minute, Iniesta blasted a shot from outside the box that just sails over the cross bar. Lots of possession for Barcelona but they lacked that last killer pass or valid shot on goal.
In the 30th minute, Touré had a nice give and go with Xavi that Touré controls and takes a shot from outside the box but his effort is high over the goal. Two minutes later, Barcelona were awarded with a free kick and Ibrahimovic’s long range effort blazed over the wall and just over the cross bar and Vilar’s hands. Barcelona’s hard work and determination would finally pay off a few minutes later with an equalizer.
As the half continued to be dictated by Barcelona, one had to wonder if Guardiola’s decision to start with the two defensive midfielders of Touré and Busquets was a mistake given that Atlante had taken the early lead and were now parking the bus and waiting for the perfect moment to go on a counter attack. Fortunately, these two players would be involved in getting the game tying goal off a corner kick. In the 34th minute, Xavi’s corner kick was headed by Touré and the ball landed in front of Busquets to score the equalizing goal. Barcelona would continue to threaten courtesy of another corner kick that Xavi passed to Dani Alves who cross was headed wide by Rafa Márquez in the 43rd minute.
The referee would award one minute of injury time and Barcelona had a chance to end the half in their favor when Xavi got the ball back from a turnover and delivered a fine through ball into the box for Alves only for Alves’s shot is inches wide. That would be the last scoring threat from Barcelona as the referee whistled the end of the half. What started badly for Barcelona at least ended on a good note with the Busquets goal.
Both sides started the second half with no changes to the starting lineup but that would not last long. After watching the team play five minutes into the second half, Guardiola decided to make two substitutions. In the 53rd minute, Messi came on for Touré and Piqué came on for Rafa Márquez . The substitutions would pay immediate dividends just a minute later.
Barcelona’s hopes of reaching the final took a positive step just a minute after those two players came on the pitch with Messi adding to his memorable year with the go ahead goal. The goal came from a nice pass from Ibrahimovic to Messi who was able to control the ball and elude Vilar and tap the ball under Vilar that took a slight deflection from Vilar’s hand, and a sliding Atlante defender for the go ahead goal. Just like that, the magic between Messi and Ibrahimovic leads to another goal and gave Barcelona a 2-1 lead.
The game was now swinging in Barcelona’s favor since that go ahead goal meant that Atlante would have to abandon parking the bus and attack. Atlante did manage to create a slight scare in the 59th minute when they caught Piqué flatfooted but they failed to get a shot on goal. Barcelona then would create a scoring chance thanks to a free kick that sailed into the Atlante box that allowed Ibrahimovic to heads it back into the box but no one was there to score and Atlante defense kicked it out for a corner. The game would finally be out reach after the hour mark thanks to the record setter Pedro.
In the 66th minute, Pedro would become the first player to score in six competitions in a single season, courtesy of some nice work from Iniesta. Iniesta displayed some great skill as he took on two defenders inside the box and was able to beat 3 Atlante players with a magnificent pass to the onside Pedro. Pedro would then calmly strike the ball to the top left of the goal and calmly write himself into the history books as the first player ever to score in six different competitions. Since August, Pedro has scored in Spanish League, Champions League, Copa del Rey and the Spanish and European Supercups. The score now was 3-1 and that goal was the final nail in the coffin and ultimately, 3 goals courtesy of La Cantera for the victory.
The rest of the match would continue to full of blown chances, especially from Bojan who came on for Iniesta, and missed scoring opportunities but the score would remain the same and Barcelona are heading to their third ever final for this intercontinental event. They will be facing Argentina’s Estudiantes this Saturday after Estudiantes defeated Pohang Steelers yesterday. All Barça fans will be hoping that third time’s a charm this Saturday and lift the cup that has eluded their grasps twice in the past.
Match Facts:
Atlante: Vilar; Miguel Martínez, Fernando Navarro, Guillermo Rojas, Luis Velásquez (Pereyra, min.63); Daniel Arreola, José González, José Guerrero, Christian Bermúdez; Santiago Solari (Carevic, min.56) y Rafa Márquez el Márquez.
FC Barcelona: Valdés; Alves, Puyol, Rafa Márquez Márquez (Gerard Piqué, min.54), Abidal; Xavi, Touré (Messi, min.53), Sergio Busquets; Pedro, Ibrahimovic e Iniesta (Bojan, min.76).
Goals: 0-1, min.5: Guillermo Rojas. 1-1, min.35: Busquets. 1-2, min.55: Messi. 1-3, min.67: Pedro.
Referee: Carlos Simon (Brazil)
Bookings: Solari (min.8), José Guerrero (min.40), Luis Velasquez (min.61), Ibrahimovic (min.65), Piqué (min. 90 + 2)
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