FC Barcelona vs. Real Betis, 4-2
Messi saves our collective asses again
Lionel Messi did not play a single minute in Wednesday's disastrous match against Bayern Munich, and it did not bode well when he began today's on the bench. In his absence, Tello, Villa, and Alexis played in front, Iniesta, Song, and Xavi manned the midfield, and Jordi Alba, Adriano, Pique, and Dani Alves "defended," with Pinto filling in for an injured Valdes in goal.
The start of the match was spirited, to say the least. Pabon scored for Real Betis in the second minute when we took our sweet time clearing the ball and it came right back into our area. David Villa appeared determined to regain his title of offside king, and his gesture signifying that he'd only been a tiny bit ahead of the last man didn't fool anyone. Luckily, Iniesta crossed the ball into the box in the ninth minute and Alexis launched himself forward and drove it in with a diving header, evening the score. 1-1.
The game remained lively throughout the first half. Betis continued to test our defenders, prompting a monstrous save by Pinto. We created many chances that came to nothing: an open Xavi unselfishly offered an assist to Villa, who sent it into the stratosphere; Tello set up Villa beautifully but he completely failed to follow though; and Tello also made a shot of his own that bounced out of the goal but appeared to have crossed the line on replay. Unfortunately for Barcelona, it was R. Perez from Real Betis who scored before halftime with an unexpectedly powerful shot from outside the box. 1-2.
Vilanova must have been worried by what he saw because Messi started warming up shortly after the second half started. It was no surprise when he was put on for Villa, who had continued to flounder; what was a surprise was the perfect cross from Dani Alves that allowed Villa to head in a goal right before he left the field. Messi is rumored to still be less than fully fit, but he almost immediately made an enormous impact with a gorgeous free kick into the top left corner. This was almost repeated about ten minutes later, but the ball bounced off the posts. Just three minutes after that, though, an amazing combination play between Messi, Iniesta, and Alexis resulted in an assist for Alexis and a second goal for Messi. 4-2.
Alexis really gave his all tonight - three minutes later he found himself alone in front, collided with the keeper as he attempted to control the pass, and was left groaning on the ground, clutching his cojones. He was therefore shortly substituted by Thiago, which was no comment on the quality of his performance. Both teams continued to press until the end, with my comm screaming "VIENE LA MANITA! VIENE LA MANITA!" when an uncharacteristically rapid Barcelona counterattack almost put Iniesta and Messi through, but it was not to be. At least we got the three points and are one step closer to League victory.
Iniesta approves.