Affichage des articles dont le libellé est Malaga. Afficher tous les articles
Affichage des articles dont le libellé est Malaga. Afficher tous les articles

jeudi 12 septembre 2013

Messi-less Barca still too much for Malaga

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Adriano scored the only goal as a Barcelona side without the injured Lionel Messi laboured to a 1-0 victory over Malaga.

The Brazilian struck the decisive blow a minute before half-time with a left-footed effort that Malaga goalkeeper Willy Caballero will have been disappointed to see slip through his grasp.

However, Malaga were left to rue two huge chances after the break as firstly Fabrice struck the post and then Sebastian Fernandez headed straight at Victor Valdes when completely unmarked inside the area in the closing stages.

And Cesc Fabregas admitted that going forward the Catalans will need to improve on their performance in the second period.

"The first-half was very good and we could have scored more," he told Canal Plus.

"In the second it is true that we lost a bit of our intensity due to tiredness from the game on Wednesday.

"In the last five minutes we struggled but sometimes you have to do that. It was a hard-fought and important victory."

Despite Messi's absence, Barca boss Gerardo Martino once again started with Neymar on the bench as Fabregas replaced the Argentine, whilst Alex Song and Adriano replaced Sergio Busquets and Dani Alves from the side that started Wednesday's 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid in the first-leg of the Spanish Super Cup.

Without either of their South American attacking stars, Barca's build-up play was somewhat ponderous in the first period as they failed to break down a solid but limited Malaga side.

Andres Iniesta then fired an effort from the edge of the area straight down Caballero's throat, but the Argentine was forced into a stunning save nine minutes before the break as he blocked Alexis Sanchez's header from point-blank range.

However, Caballero was slightly at fault when Barca did eventually take the lead as Adriano cut inside onto his left foot and his curling effort flew over the Malaga keeper's outstretched arm on its way into the far corner.

Gerard Pique nearly added a fortunate second after the break as Xavi's free-kick rebounded off the defender's back and looped off the crossbar before Martino finally introduced Neymar just after the hour mark.

Malaga then passed up a huge opportunity to level with their first clear opening of the match as Roque Santa Cruz rounded Valdes and from a tight angle cut the ball back for Fabrice, but the young Cameroonian could only pull his effort off the base of the post.

Neymar nearly made it two goals in as many games with a well-struck free-kick that Caballero did well to parry to safety.

And Malaga passed up another great chance in the final minute as Jesus Gamez's cross found Fernandez completely unmarked, only for the Uruguayan to head straight at Valdes, while the Barca keeper comfortably held Fernando Tissone's follow-up.

Barca's win took them to the top the table by a single goal ahead of Atletico Madrid after Diego Simeone's men continued their 100 percent record in the league with a 5-0 mauling of Rayo Vallecano at the Vicente Calderon.

Raul Garcia, Diego Costa and Arda Turan had the hosts 3-0 up after just 34 minutes and further goals from Tiago and Garcia after the break rounded off a perfect afternoon for Atleti ahead of the second-leg of the Super Cup at the Camp Nou on Wednesday.

Elsewhere, Sevilla's faltering start to their league campaign continued as they could only manage a 0-0 draw away to Levante.

And it was an even worse night for the other half of Seville as Real Betis lost 2-1 at home to Celta Vigo.

Injured Messi a doubt as Barcelona travel to Malaga

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Lionel Messi is a major doubt for Barcelona's trip to Malaga on Sunday after he was again forced off with bruising on his hamstring during the Catalans' 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid on Wednesday.

Messi has now played the 90 minutes in just one of Barcelona and Argentina's last 27 matches stretching back to when he initially picked up a hamstring strain against Paris Saint-Germain in April.

Should the 26-year-old not recover in time to play on Sunday against a much changed Malaga side to the one that made the Champions League quarter-finals last season, Neymar could be handed his first start after coming off the bench to salvage a draw for Gerardo Martino's men with his first goal for the club against Atletico in the Super Cup.

"I hope it will be the first goal of many," he told Spanish television station TVE.

"I score very few goals with my head so they are even more valuable. I am happy to have got my first goal.

"It is a shame that I haven't been able to play with Messi yet, he is the best in the world and everyone wants to play with him."

Whilst Neymar has so far been Barca's only new recruit during the transfer window, there has been a revolving door of comings and goings at La Rosaleda with new boss Bernd Schuster welcoming eight new signings to replace the likes of Isco, Jeremy Toulalan, Martin Demichelis and Julio Baptista who left over the past few months.

One of those to make his debut in last weekend's 1-0 defeat to Valencia was Argentine defender Marcos Angeleri and he is aware of how difficult it will be to stop Barca, even if they are without his compatriot Messi.

"Barcelona can surprise you with the magnitude of their results, but they are always an opponent that you have to prepare for in a special way given the quality of the players they have," he said.

"They have players that are difficult to control, but it is not impossible. With the whole team working well together we can have a good match."

Real Madrid have to wait until Monday for their second outing under Carlo Ancelotti when they travel to Granada.

Los Blancos were somewhat fortunate to escape with all three points thanks to Isco's late header in a 2-1 win over Real Betis last weekend and Ancelotti won't be able to call on the experience of Xabi Alonso for the next three months as the Spanish international broke the fifth metatarsal bone in his right foot in training on Wednesday.

Granada are one of the few La Liga sides to have significantly strengthened during the transfer window and have already shown they have the capability to beat Madrid having done so on home soil last season thanks to an own goal from Cristiano Ronaldo.

Elsewhere, Real Sociedad look to continue their fantastic start to the campaign after 2-0 wins over Getafe and Lyon in the past week when they travel to face Elche, who make their first home appearance in La Liga for 25 years.

Sociedad's Anoeta stadium will still be in use however as Basque rivals Athletic Bilbao have been forced to play their first home game of the campaign there as construction on their new stadium will not be completed until September.

Friday

Getafe v Almeria, Athletic Bilbao v Osasuna

Saturday

Elche v Real Sociedad, Espanyol v Valencia, Villarreal v Valladolid

Sunday Atletico Madrid v Rayo Vallecano, Levante v Sevilla, Malaga v Barcelona, Real Betis v Celta Vigo

Monday Granada v Real Madrid