Barcelona have finally gotten their game in hand out of the way, besting Sporting Gijon in routine fashion. It wasn’t entirely easy though as Carlos Castro’s tally came in between Lionel Messi’s brace which gave Barcelona the lead. Luis Suarez made sure of a calmer final stage of match, scoring Barcelona’s third midway through the second half.
| Sporting Gijon | Barcelona | |
| Possession | 22% | 78% |
| Total Shots | 6 | 17 |
| Shots on Target | 2 | 8 |
| Corners | 1 | 4 |
| Fouls | 10 | 7 |
| Offsides | 0 | 2 |
| Yellow Cards | 2 | 1 |
| Red Cards | 0 | 0 |
This game was scheduled to be played in December, but due to Barcelona’s (successful) involvement in the Club World Cup, the league rescheduled it for February 17, smack in the middle of the grueling schedule. As a result of said schedule, Luis Enrique continued to rotate his players, this time resting starters Andres Iniesta, Dani Alves, Javier Mascherano and Jordi Alba. The one regular remaining in defense was therefore Gerard Pique who formed a back four with Aleix Vidal, Jeremy Mathieu and Adriano Correia. In midfield, Sergio Busquets and Ivan Rakitić were joined by Arda Turan, while the attacking trio remained unchanged.
Like most teams have done in recent weeks, Sporting Gijon also started the game with good pressure all over the pitch. It wasn’t as fierce as those put on by Celta Vigo or Atletico Madrid and it quickly dialed down so Barcelona managed to fairly easily control the ball through the early stages of the game. Creating chances, however, didn’t come easy and all the Catalans had to show for in the opening 20 minutes was a harmless Rakitić shot from the perimeter.
Sporting looked comfortable defending and were patiently waiting for their chance on the counter attack. They launched their first one in the 9th minute as Barcelona loanee Alen Halilović won acres of space before laying the ball off to Alex Menendez whose shot from the edge of the area just missed the target.
Barcelona’s potent attack finally showed its teeth in the 21st when Neymar brilliantly found Suarez through the legs of Halilović. In the box Suarez escaped his marker and was left with a marvelous chance to score the opening goal, but goalkeeper Ivan Cuellar did well to rush off the line and leave the Uruguayan with very little to shoot at, resulting in a wasted opportunity.
Five minutes later, Cuellar had no chance of keeping the game scoreless. In what appeared to be a relatively harmless situation, Messi decided to take things into his own left foot, firing a low drive out of the reach of the goalkeeper and just inside the far post.
But Barcelona’s celebrations didn’t last long as just two minutes later the hosts equalized. Mathieu lost the ball in attack due to a poor long pass, leaving Barcelona’s defense shorthanded on the ensuing counter-attack. It was a counter from the textbooks, with the ball slowly working its way to the left side from where Menendez sent a perfect low cross to the other side where Castro slotted the ball home.
The scoring spree would continue in the 31st minute, this time on the other side, where Barcelona players combined beautifully on the right side before Suarez set up Messi in a good position. The Argentine wasted no time and powered the ball under the crossbar, leaving Cuellar with no chance, to restore Barcelona’s lead. The Catalans would have a great chance to add to the lead two minutes later, but Messi’s shot was excellently saved, while Neymar’s curling effort from the rebound hit the far post.
The scoring run would end there though and neither team would create anything noteworthy during the remainder of the first half. The second half would also start slow as the first shot of the half on target didn’t come until the 55th minute when Omar Mascarell tried his luck from distance but couldn’t beat Claudio Bravo. Sporting would threaten again two minutes later through Halilović, but Arda excellently dispossessed him in the area and the referee didn’t point to the spot despite a theatrical fall from the young Croatian.
But Barcelona slowly started to pick up steam and in the 61st minute Neymar won a penalty kick for his side after a quick fall on the left side of the area. With Neymar and Messi showing poor form on penalty kicks it was Suarez’s turn to take. And much like his two aforementioned teammates he too had his kick saved. It wasn’t a particularly bad shot as it had plenty of power, but it was at the perfect height for the keeper to make the save. Suarez atoned for his miss six minutes later. He received the ball from Vidal and quickly made easy work of Nacho Cases before sending a beautiful curling shot in off the post to double Barcelona’s advantage.
Barcelona would continue to dazzle in attack and would create a golden opportunity to extend the lead in the 72nd minute, after Messi sent a stunning diagonal ball to Arda who escaped the offside trap. The Turk quickly tried to find the wide open Suarez in the middle, but his pass was off the mark and the chance went begging. Quickly thereafter Neymar tested the goalkeeper from distance, but Cuellar was well-positioned to make the save.
Lucho would in the 81st minute make his only two substitutions of the game, giving some much deserved rest to Pique and Busquets and replacing them with Marc Bartra and Javier Mascherano. The subs didn’t come until after Busquets picked up his fifth yellow card of the La Liga season though, resulting in a one-match suspension for the Barcelona midfielder.
The final ten minutes of the game were largely uneventful and Barcelona ran out deserved winners, increasing their league lead to six point ahead of Atletico Madrid and seven points ahead of Real Madrid. Barcelona will look to extend their unbeaten run on Saturday against Las Palmas.
Roll Call:
| Roll Call Info | |
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