Brilliant Barça Batter Basel

CelticKing · Oct 22, 2008

Brilliant Barça Batter Basel

Barcelona dominated Basel from start to finish on Wednesday night as Bojan Krkic grabbed two and Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets and Xavi all got on the score sheet to condemn the Swiss side to a five nil mauling...

Basel 0-5 Barcelona

Barcelona ran riot against Basel in Switzerland on Wednesday night as they secured their status at the top of group C with an emphatic 5-0 victory.

The Catalan side were in control of the game right from the off as Lionel Messi grabbed a goal within the first five minues and then Sergio Busquets added a second with less than twenty minutes gone.

Basel simply had no answers to the attacking brilliance of their opponents and by half-time they were three nil down as Bojan Krkic scored his first but it could easily have been more at the break.

That was to be fixed straight after the teams came back out though as Bojan added a fourth and then Xavi scored with a low drilled shot from outside the area to give Barcelona a five goal lead with less than fifty minutes gone.

Barcelona oozed class all over the park and were it not for Franco Costanzo in the Basel goal they could have easily had more than five. Most of the blaugrana forwards were denied by the keeper and he was undoubtedly the best performer in an otherwise poor Swiss side.

Christian Gross will be especially disappointed with the time and space his defenders gave to their opponents, which simply allowed the Barcelona front men to pick and choose their passes. When given that option they are unstoppable, as Basel found out, and Pep Guardiola will be delighted with his sides performance.

Barcelona Burst

Both sides rang the changes from their last Champions League matches, with the home side preferring two upfront rather than just Marco Streller as against Sporting Lisbon. Guardiola was more wholesale with his shuffle as Bojan Krkic started in a front three with Lionel Messi and Aliaksandr Hleb, Sylvinho started at wing back and Andrés Iniesta was rested in midfield with Barcelona playing a 4-3-3 formation.

The game started in stunning fashion too, with the Barcelona front trio combined to devasting effect as early as the third minute to give the Spanish side the lead. Some lovely build up play between Messi, Xavi and Busquets resulted in the ball being cut back to Daniel Alves on the edge of the box and as soon as Messi played the pass to the Brazilian he recieved a chipped ball over the top from the defender which he tapped home on the volley from 5 yards out. It was the perfect start for the away team and it looked as though it was going to get even better just minutes later as Bojan was played over the top and he bent a shot around Franco Costanzo in the Basel goal, only to be ruled out for offside.

The early goal and slick passing from Barcelona seemed to spark Basel into life and Streller should have done a lot better when he was played in behind the defence with just Valdés to beat, but he seemed to get the ball caught under his feet and didn't even muster a shot. That chance aside the visitors were looking by far the more dominant side and in midfield especially they were orchestrating the play, much to the frustration of the home side who were left chasing shadows. Predictably, after just fifteen minutes Barcelona went even further ahead as Sergio Busquets picked on a delightful chipped ball over the defence from just outside the box by Xavi to slot home past the keeper in acres of space. There was a hint of offside to the goal but there was no doubt it had been coming and just minutes later they could of had another as Busquets found himself away down the right hand side only for his square pass to Messi to be cut out by David Abraham.

Barcelona were absolutely running the show and Costanzo saved well from Alves before Messi shot over, only for Bojan to add a third with just twenty minutes gone. The young striker was given far too much space on the edge of the box and he drive a fine shot low across goal and into the far corner to effectively finish the game after less than half an hour of play. It was an awful start for the Swiss side and they were saved on more than one occasion by the linesman who ruled Hleb and Busquets offside on a couple of occasions in the early stages. Costanzo too was certainly their busiest player in the early exchanges and Barcelona could have had a fourth with 30 mintes gone were it not for him. A lovely square ball found Bojan and his shot was blocked only for Alves to burst into the box, take one touch and fire at goal from the penalty spot, unfortunately for him his shot was saved well by the goalkeeper.

The Basel shot stopper was extremely fortunate not to concede a penalty minutes later though as Xavi robbed the ball in midfield and Bojan played Messi through only for the Argentine to dart round the keeper and be bought to ground. The referee somehow gave a corner to Barcelona and from that they should have scored again, as a near post header forced a save from Costanzo and Bojan found himself alone at the back post, about 3 yards out, only to blast high and wide. The hosts were simply being torn apart by the slick movement of Barcelona and Hleb forced Costanzo into another good save before Eren Derdiyok finally showed his promise as he burst forward from half way, only to be tackled with relative ease by Puyol.

As half-time loomed it was Barcelona who were in total control as they had being all half and Alves especially was getting plenty of joy down the right flank where he was more forward than back. Eduardio Rubio got his name into the referee's book as he committed an awful tackle on Busquets before the same man in black called time on a half which had totally belonged to the visitors and which could easily have produced more than just the three goals.

Back To Business

To amend for that though Barcelona came out in the second half with the same desire and intensity that they had shown in the opening forty-five minutes and scored two in the opening three minutes to turn the scoreline into a rout. First Bojan added his second and the fourth as he was put through on goal to slide underneath the keeper and then Xavi scored with a fine low shot from outside the area after great work by Messi, who was down on one knee at one stage inside the box but still managed to cut back for the midfielder. It was turning into a total rout and Guardiola was in no mood to halt the proceedings as he bought Thierry Henry into the fray with less than ten minutes gone in the half, just after Bojan had a chance to secure a hat-trick but was denied by the keeper.

The visitors were playing some simply sublime football as they passed it around effortlessly and although sometimes the final pass or touch was missing they left Basel simply standing watching at times. Victor Valdés was becoming a spectator in goal but when was called into action he saved well from Valentin Stocker and then plucked a couple of good ball out of the air, although one at the second time of asking as he spilt it. Barcelona were starting to look a little open at the back as they surged forward, with everyone keen to get on the score sheet as the clock wore down. Alves saw a shot well saved by Costanzo whilst Henry missed a great chance to get his first but he headed wide when he only had the keeper to beat.

The right hand flank was proving to be a great outlet for the visitors and Hleb, on his return to the side in Europe, was linking up well with Alves to put in some fantastic crossed for the forwards. None of them managed to add to their tally though and in the last ten minutes Basel actually started to get a foothold in the game as Barcelona dropped off and seemed content with the scoreline. Eduardo saw a shot saved by Valdés in injury-time before Henry was denied the sixth goal by Contanzo, who was the best player on the pitch for the Swiss side.

The final whistle blew to give Barcelona a perfect nine from nine and to condemn Basel to bottom place with zero points from their three match so far. Next they face a trip to the Camp Nou which, judging by their home performance, should be another easy three points for the Catalan side.

Basel 0-5 Barcelona

0-1 `4 Messi
0-2 `15 Busquets
0-3 `22 Bojan
0-4 `46 Bojan
0-5 `48 Xavi
Click to expand...

Claud · Oct 24, 2008

I actually watched this game and Bojan looked real good.

CelticKing · Oct 24, 2008

Yeah Bojan has been doing great these past few games, hopefully he continues that.

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Brilliant Barça Batter Basel

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