Barca v. Sevilla Post-Match
Sevilla look to be one of the most exciting teams on the planet. The match yesterday against former La Liga leaders Barcelona was one of the better matches I have seen all year - in any league. Danny Alves is a monster. He covers the entire pitch: he defends, he attacks, and he takes marvelous free kicks. I have seen him play several times now and without question he is one of the top players in the Spanish league.
I felt the ref lost control in the second half. Unless Giuly muttered something in Spanish to piss off the ref I saw nothing that deserved a red card. When it got down to 10 v. 9 there was a ton of space on the pitch and Sevilla where unlucky (Alves & Kanoute in particular) not to make this a more one sided display.
More to the point, Barca took an early lead and then were awarded a penalty that saw Sevilla defender Aitor Ocio sent off. Ronaldinho missed the penalty and Sevilla never once hinted that they may have lost their belief. What a testament to the team that coach Juande Ramos has built. There are no global names on Sevilla (Alves is close to bucking that trend) and they play such determined and beautiful football you cannot help but feel they are going to snatch La Liga this season. It is a shame they didn't make the Champions League this year, but look out next year.
However, once again we saw a team weather the storm that is the first 25 minutes of a match against Barca. Liverpool did it so well in the first leg of the Champions League tie and Sevilla did the same yesterday. Both sides then were able to control the match and put two goals past a shakey Barca defense (aside from Carlos Puyol) and a shambolic at times Victor Valdez.
In recent matches we have seen Valencia, Liverpool and now Sevilla stand up to Barcelona - and then see them off decisively. Will Real Madrid do the same in Barca's next La Liga encounter? Will Liverpool handle them at Anfield on Tuesday? Barca no longer strike fear into the hearts of their opponents. They appear very beatable.
I felt the ref lost control in the second half. Unless Giuly muttered something in Spanish to piss off the ref I saw nothing that deserved a red card. When it got down to 10 v. 9 there was a ton of space on the pitch and Sevilla where unlucky (Alves & Kanoute in particular) not to make this a more one sided display.
More to the point, Barca took an early lead and then were awarded a penalty that saw Sevilla defender Aitor Ocio sent off. Ronaldinho missed the penalty and Sevilla never once hinted that they may have lost their belief. What a testament to the team that coach Juande Ramos has built. There are no global names on Sevilla (Alves is close to bucking that trend) and they play such determined and beautiful football you cannot help but feel they are going to snatch La Liga this season. It is a shame they didn't make the Champions League this year, but look out next year.
However, once again we saw a team weather the storm that is the first 25 minutes of a match against Barca. Liverpool did it so well in the first leg of the Champions League tie and Sevilla did the same yesterday. Both sides then were able to control the match and put two goals past a shakey Barca defense (aside from Carlos Puyol) and a shambolic at times Victor Valdez.
In recent matches we have seen Valencia, Liverpool and now Sevilla stand up to Barcelona - and then see them off decisively. Will Real Madrid do the same in Barca's next La Liga encounter? Will Liverpool handle them at Anfield on Tuesday? Barca no longer strike fear into the hearts of their opponents. They appear very beatable.
posted by Anonymous at 9:35 AM
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