La Liga - Ibrahimovic on target in Barca win

Eurosport - Tue, 01 Sep 08:01:00 2009

Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored with an acrobatic header on his La Liga debut to seal Barcelona's 3-0 win over Sporting Gijon at Camp Nou as they opened their title defence in style.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, in action for Barcelona against Sporting Gijon, August 31 2009 - 0

The Sweden striker dived full length to nod in a deflected Daniel Alves cross in the 82nd minute after teenage striker Bojan Krkic and Mali international Seydou Keita had put the European champions 2-0 ahead at the break.

With Argentina forward Lionel Messi on international duty, coach Pep Guardiola started with Pedro Rodriguez on the right wing, Ibrahimovic at centre forward and Krkic on the left.

The 19-year-old popped up to nod in at the back post in the 18th minute after Keita flicked on Xavi's corner and Keita doubled the lead just before halftime when he headed home an Alves cross.

The match had been put back due to Barca's European Super Cup match against Shakhtar Donetsk in Monaco on Friday, which they won 1-0.

In weekend matches, World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo converted a penalty to help Barca's arch-rivals Real Madrid beat Deportivo Coruna 3-2 at the Bernabeu.

Atletico Madrid were humbled 3-0 at Malaga, Valencia beat visiting Sevilla 2-0, and Villarreal surrendered the lead to draw 1-1 at Osasuna.

Reuters

Comment 15 - 34 of 34

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  1. barcelona is the best he will remain the beast the­ only champion of one champion the fighter team the­ invicible

    From Anaas, on Mon 14 Sep 4:25PM
  2. barca was totally stronger with Ibra, Messi and Henry­ infront plus many talented midfielder,,,wow its­ superve men back to back laliga champ and Champions­ League campion........ I can't wait any longer­ ....real madrid the real galactico looser...har har­ har...

    From Willy, on Wed 2 Sep 5:13AM
  3. Dante your an idiot if you think gijon is technically­ the worst team the league has. are you ignorant or new­ to la liga? Plus all of you saying Barca is weaker this­ season, your judging us on a couple games in which we­ had starters sitting on the bench.

    From nestoralves, on Tue 1 Sep 5:41PM
  4. With Zlatan Ibra on board, Barcalona most likely to go­ a long way this season,
    and I am looking 4ward seeing­ the Barca - Inter games, wow ! ! ,, a Stunners

    From AsgeirragnarB, on Tue 1 Sep 4:55PM
  5. @Leonel

    You better watch you back, cuz I will remember­ those words when Sporting G. beat Real Madrid...

    From vosfodo, on Tue 1 Sep 9:41AM
  6. dante GET A LIFE

    From barcelonamesqueunclub_aleksa, on Tue 1 Sep 8:53AM
  7. Think about this: Not easy to play when you have 2,3­ players glue at your feet.. But easy for the teammates­ to strike!
    He managed to show what he is made of­ several times during the time by playing not for­ himself but for the team unlike Bojan Krcic who is more­ selfish even if he is a good striker!
    Zlatan shows his­ good willing to play FOR the team!
    He was an easy­ target for S.Gijon which had always two, three players­ devoted to him!

    And please stop comparing Ibra. with­ Eto'o: they are definitly not the same type of­ players: Eto'o = Bojan.

    For the sceptics who­ still believe he is too slow or not a good transfer for­ Barca: let him some time: he will improve and finally­ find his place in the team as many are sure he will. He­ has not recovered yet from his injury and trained 100%.­

    Let's wait and see in a couple of months!

    Barca­ will be hard to play with a team including: Henry,­ Messi, Iniesta, Xavi, Alves, Ibra, ....

    From Laurent, on Tue 1 Sep 8:34AM
  8. re: to indonoob
    very well said i am a barca fan and i­ Appreciate your attitude

    From raed i, on Tue 1 Sep 7:42AM
  9. BARCA BEATS THE WORST TEAM OF LA LIGA

    From dante, on Tue 1 Sep 7:33AM
  10. PINOCCHIO SCORES FOR THE BLAUGRANA..

    From dante, on Tue 1 Sep 7:32AM
  11. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    I predict JUVENTUS WINS CL ! SERIE A 2009/10 plays best­ football in Europe..

    From dante, on Tue 1 Sep 7:30AM
  12. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Barca 0 Inter 2 Samuel Eto'o scores two goals!! AC­ Milan 2 Real 0 Pato scores two goals!

    From dante, on Tue 1 Sep 7:27AM
  13. Good game in general. Barca saved some force leaving­ Henry and Toure on the bench. But Hijon is not a big­ force so game went pretty well, without any rush.­ Having in mind also that Leo and Andres were also­ missing the game - it's OK for the begining. Hope­ Bojan and Maxwell are not seriously injured. Forca­ Barca!!!

    From Vesso D, on Tue 1 Sep 6:57AM
  14. Sporting Gijon watz that.... sure every one can score­ against a team that plays 45 minute football!

    From Lionel, on Tue 1 Sep 6:48AM
  15. if you barcelona and ibra the way they play, u would­ agree with me they can beat any team in the world. pure­ brilliant from the swede. its just a beginning of a­ wonderful season for barca...oh yes barca you can!!

    From mun c, on Tue 1 Sep 4:48AM
  16. barceloeona is not as strong as they were­ initialy.....i think they won't perform so well­ like last season..coupled with realmadrid having a­ better squad presently

    From chijioke a, on Tue 1 Sep 3:29AM
  17. well done you skillful sweedish pig

    From david_beckham200954, on Tue 1 Sep 2:56AM
  18. nishansahodree, you should know that it takes games to­ melt a team together. La Liga is about endurance and­ capability to run long and hard. We'll see what­ Barcelona will be in a couple of months. And let's­ not forget that Real played Deportive, which is 10­ times better than Gijon. As per those who are attacking­ Ronaldo, he is much much better than the over-rated­ Ibrahimovic. Ronaldo delivered when ManU needed him.­ Ibrahimovic always plays average in crucial games and­ CL. And why don't we compare him to Eto? shall we?­ after all Eto was sold to bring Ibrahimovic.... I think­ I will wait a couple of months before I start laughing­ like Mourhino did

    From Half A Brain, on Tue 1 Sep 2:38AM
  19. Considering that Barca were playing their 2nd team, and­ strolled through against Sporting, the bastion child of­ Franco and their mass collection of egos struggled to­ conjure a victory. It's no good having a Ronaldo­ who seems half the player he was at Man Utd, and a Kaka­ who looks out of sorts, when you're defence is­ completely nonexistent.

    Oh and as for the gloating, if­ you didn't have a dictactor ruling Spain in the­ late 50s and early 60s I very much doubt Real Madrid­ would have succeeded in amassing all those European­ Cups they so greatly gloat about. Madristas, come back­ to the table when you've learnt how to fight fairly­ ;)

    From nishansahodree, on Tue 1 Sep 1:58AM
  20. please do not compare Ibra with Ronaldo.Ibra is better­ and don't need penalty to score.we will see who is­ better?Ibra is the best player and that is a reasen why­ he loved to play in the best team in this planet.VIVA ­ CATALUNIA,BARCA,IBRA,MESSI,and people of KOSOVA

    From Albanian L, on Tue 1 Sep 1:53AM
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