Sport

‘Villarreal dampens Barcelona’s celebration again’

“La Liga returned to the Camp Nou on Saturday. After the holidays, Barcelona starts 2010 with a main course straight-away, Villarreal – a bone that is always hard for the Catalans to chew,” acknowledges the loyal Catalan sports paper.

“Knowing that, Guardiola did not want to take risks and bet on a strong line-up, with only the inclusion of canterano Jonathan dos Santos the big difference.”

“Heeding Guardiola’s message, the players disregarded their past achievements, and focused on the game. It just took them seven minutes to break the dead-lock. Peter once again the scorer, slotting the ball from six yards out capitalising on a Henry strike that rebounded off the crossbar. The Frenchman, very active in offense, had one of his best games of the season – one of the most dangerous Barca players in the first half.”

“Despite leading, Barca did not quite dominate the match in the first half. Guardiola’s men just looked uncomfortable faced with a Villarreal team that despite conceding the early goal, never gave up the fight.”

“The script did not change in the second half. Fuster drew level to finish off a good move by Villarreal off a cross from Cani at the far post.”

“The rain that arrived only made matters worse as despite regaining some control of the match after the goal, the Blaugrana team were always looking nervous. Guardiola substituted Jonathan for Iniesta – even though the canterano had not disappointed, he still lacks the experience to take charge of the match that his seniors have.”

“Toward the end, there was a scare but thanks to a very attentive San Puyol – who made a crucial intervention after Rossi managed to beat Valdes in the 86th minute – the status quo was kept.”

“For the first time this season, two points were lost in the Camp Nou. As was the case last season, Villarreal returned to spoil the fun of Barca on its home turf. A setback that Guardiola said should be taken as a reminder that the ‘six cups’ are now already in the past.”

El Mundo Deportivo

‘1-1: Villarreal ties Barcelona in the Camp Nou’

“Villarreal dampened Barcelona triumphant return to the Camp Nou when it managed to tie the very nervous home side,” opens the other Catalan paper’s article.

“Just like last season, the Yellow Submarine again managed to spoil the Catalan’s festive mood. Tonight, the Basque side cancels out a 7th minute Pedro’s opener through Fuster in the second half.”

“Villarreal played a high tempo game, and when the ball was in Barcelona’s possession, stood firm in defence. The home side found it very difficult to create any meaningful move pass midfield.”

“The early goal did not provide an edge to Barcelona what so ever. It was not a problem of mindset but because Villarreal played without fear of the best team in the world.”

“To top off their sorrow, the match official Bernardino Gonzalez Vazquez had left a lot to be desired. To be fair, his refereeing was awful for both sides as he also failed to point to the penalty spot after a Puyol’s tackle on Nilmar in the 40th minute of the first half.”

“Decisive on many occasions at late stages of a lot of matches, Ibra failed to replicate them this time. He lost his temper in the final minutes when the team needed it most.”

“After the goal by Fuster, Pep had no choice but to seek solutions. Iniesta was introduced and he should have given the victory to Barca in the 65th minute had it not for a brilliant save by Lopez. It was one of the few good chances that the home side had in the second half.”

“The first two points dropped in the Camp Nou has not only prevented Barcelona from opening the gap to Real Madrid, but there is a possibility that Real can be the Liga leader if they beat Osasuna.”

Marca

‘Barcelona puts it lead in jeopardy’

The Madrid based sports paper summarised last night’s match as “Barcelona had started the New Year in a bad way. Guardiola’s men had to settle for a draw against a very tough Villarreal side that even had the opportunity to take all three points. Barcelona took the lead early through Pedro and David Fuster equalised in the second half.”

THE KEYS

The ever-reliable Pedro. “The Tenerife-born player is having the best moment of his career. Everything he touches turns to ‘goal’ and this was demonstrated again against Villarreal.”

The way to take on Barça. “Villarreal showed how it is possible to contain Barcelona. The ‘Yellow Submarine’ troubled the home side by playing a defensive game.”

The referee can be a friend. “Gonzalez Vazquez’s performance was significant in this match. The Galician referee failed to point to the spot in the first half.”

AS

‘Fuster tarnishes the six-cups celebration’

“The first two league points dropped in the Camp Nou sets Villarreal on course to be one of the top teams in the championship, after a miserable start to their season,” surmised the other Madrid paper.

“Pedro scored, referee Gonzalez Vazquez did not see an Alves foul on Marcano – that should be a penalty, and Fuster did justice for Villarreal – who managed to contain Barcelona’s usual domination and possession.”

“Villareal managed to halt Barcelona’s 8-game winning streak in all competitions including the recently concluded Club World Cup.”

“The exploit achieved by Villarreal has two faces: David Fuster and Ernesto Valverde. The coach through his calm demeanour was rewarded for his hard work in resurrecting the fortune of the team. After a terrible start to the season, and a traumatic transition from Pellegrini, Valverde has managed to return the team to playing good football and with personality. David Fuster, for his part also chose the perfect stage to show his true class. His equalising goal vindicated his selection in the starting line-up in place of Rossi.”

“What about Barcelona? Without their ‘African guard’, and without Messi and Iniesta in the line-up, it failed to take control of the match that usually governs its game.”

“Villarreal defended higher up the pitch than Barcelona are used to against other teams, and play a high-pressure game, hindering and obstructing the home side’s ball movements. When they managed to get hold of the ball, they use it well.”

“The match was a back and forth affair, alternating opportunities for both sides, and it served as a lesson to other teams, such as Inter – who had more resources and budget but chose to play hide and seek at the Camp Nou.”

“The draw is a fair reflection of the match, and it makes La Liga title chase, if anything, on an even more spicy footing.”

In last night Villarreal’s post-match press conference, FC Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola tried to be upbeat in his assessment of the match, saying, “It is a lesson for the future, and this result can only make us better. All this could be worth-while for us in the long run.”

“But what Villarreal has demonstrated tonight is that any team can win against anyone, and that we can also lose or draw a match. But we shouldn’t dwell on something that was already done.”

“It was a tough game. Facing one of the good teams, like Villarreal, right after the holidays makes things that much more complicated. We knew it would be difficult, but now we have to recover our strength, just as we always have done, no matter if we had just lost or won,” he said, trying to explain the team’s performance, while not wanting to give an excuse.

The Barcelona coach saw the tie as “a pretty fair outcome, in a game with chances for both sides, and with none dominating the match,”

While insisting that he has “nothing to criticise” about his players’ performances – who he said “played with pride and endeavour” – he nevertheless admitted that he needs to “tune his game-plan a little.”

Touching on Ibrahimovic’s unprofessional conduct late into the match, that saw him cautioned, Guardiola said, “He is a temperamental person but he must tread carefully, because someday we may have to play a match with ten men. He must be strong mentally and ignore referee’s decisions, because that can never be controlled by us.”

Taking the Swede striker’s case as an example, the coach again saw something positive to take from last night’s match: “These are the kind of situations that can only make us stronger over time. Knowing who we are (limitations) and where we can go from here.”

Asked about Jonathan dos Santos’ performance, Guardiola only had praises for the 19-year-old: “He is very good. He moved the ball well, and made a lot of good judgment in a very difficult game.”

Finally, the coach also acknowledged his mistake when asked about his decision to substitute Pedro late into the match, “Perhaps I should have made the Bojan change a lot earlier.”

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