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.
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.
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| Match |
|---|
| Independiente 1 - 1 Argentinos Juniors |
| Colón (Santa Fe) 1 - 0 Godoy Cruz |
| Huracán 0 - 0 Boca Juniors |
| Match |
|---|
| Leeds United 5 - 1 Kettering Town |
| Aldershot Town 1 - 2 Tranmere Rovers |
| Barnet 0 - 1 Accrington Stanley |
| Barrow 3 - 1 Oxford United |
| Luton Town 3 - 0 Rotherham United |
| Match |
|---|
| FC Astra 1 - 1 Dinamo Bucuresti |
| Time | Match |
|---|---|
| 19:45 | Liverpool v Fiorentina |
| 19:45 | Olympique Lyon v Debrecen |
| 19:45 | Dynamo Kyiv v FC Barcelona |
| 19:45 | Internazionale v Rubin Kazan |
| 19:45 | Sevilla FC v Rangers |
| 19:45 | VfB Stuttgart v Unirea Urziceni |
| 19:45 | Olympiacos v Arsenal |
| 19:45 | Standard Liège v AZ Alkmaar |
| Time | Match |
|---|---|
| 19:45 | Barnsley v Scunthorpe United |
| 19:45 | Coventry City v Newcastle United |
| Time | Match |
|---|---|
| 19:45 | Millwall v Staines Town |
| Time | Match |
|---|---|
| 17:00 | Shakhtar Donetsk v Metalurh Zaporizhzhya |
| Time | Match |
|---|---|
| 20:00 | San Lorenzo v Lanús |
| 22:10 | Gimnasia (La Plata) v Newell's Old Boys |
| Time | Match |
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| 16:00 | Al Ahli v Auckland City |
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Comment 15 - 34 of 34
barcelona is the best he will remain the beast the only champion of one champion the fighter team the invicible
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...
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.
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
@Leonel
You better watch you back, cuz I will remember those words when Sporting G. beat Real Madrid...
dante GET A LIFE
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, ....
re: to indonoob
very well said i am a barca fan and i Appreciate your attitude
BARCA BEATS THE WORST TEAM OF LA LIGA
PINOCCHIO SCORES FOR THE BLAUGRANA..
I predict JUVENTUS WINS CL ! SERIE A 2009/10 plays best football in Europe..
Barca 0 Inter 2 Samuel Eto'o scores two goals!! AC Milan 2 Real 0 Pato scores two goals!
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!!!
Sporting Gijon watz that.... sure every one can score against a team that plays 45 minute football!
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!!
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
well done you skillful sweedish pig
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
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 ;)
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
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