La Liga - Barcelona rally to late win

Eurosport - Sun, 11 Jan 22:19:00 2009

Barcelona came from behind with late goals from Xavi and Lionel Messi to win 3-2 at Osasuna and re-establish a 12-point lead at the top of La Liga.

FOOTBALL 2008-2009 La Liga Osasuna-Barcelona Miguel Flaño Leo Messi / Foto: EFE - 0

Los Cules had trailed 2-1 going into the final 10 minutes of the game after Miguel Flano and Walter Pandiani's second-half strikes overhauled Samuel Eto'o's 44th-minute opener.

But Xavi's low drive and Messi's spectacular shot from the edge of the area gave Barca two goals in five minutes and a sixth consecutive win in La Liga.

The match was played in freezing conditions and it was not the classic that the scoreline would suggest.

Osasuna mostly chased their illustrious visitors and were fortunate to only be one goal down at half-time.

Thierry Henry went close when two of his shots were saved by back-up keeper Roberto after marauding runs on the left, while Messi hit the woodwork with a low, angled finish after a mazy dribble.

Barca finally went in front when great play on the left by Messi set up Eto'o, who drilled low into the bottom left from the edge of the box.

Home boss Jose Antonio Camacho brought on Josetxo for the whole of the second half and Javier Portillo just before the hour mark.

The changes seemed to work as on 62 minutes Miguel Flano - who at 5'9 is no giant for a defender - leapt well to arc a looping header over Victor Valdes from a right-wing corner.

Four minutes later Messi was denied by Roberto, who saved well from the Argentine after he initially spilled a long-range shot from Eto'o.

There was a moment of controversy when Osasuna played on and almost scored after Messi went down, although replays later suggested that he feigned injury and referee Jose Antonio Teixeira Vitienes had already instructed them to continue playing.

Osasuna took an unlikely lead when Jaroslav Plasil found Juanfran on the right and his low cross was prodded past Valdes by arch-poacher Pandiani for his third goal in as many games since recovering from injury.

Barcelona were frustrated and emotions almost spilled over a second time when the referee halted a Dani Alves counter-attack following Plasil's collision with Valdes, fearing a head injury to the Czech midfielder.

Pep Guardiola's men managed to challenge their aggression effectively, though.

Alves went on another run down the right and drilled a low ball to the unmarked Xavi, who fired past the helpless Roberto to equalise with nine minutes left on the clock.

And on 85 minutes Messi unleashed his winner from the edge of the box after he was allowed to cut in from the right on to his preferred left foot.

Roberto prevented late sub Bojan Krcic from adding another to the tally with a smart, near-post stop, and Barca comfortably closed out the win that has led some bookmakers to stop taking bets on them winning the title.

Reda Maher / Eurosport

Comment 3 - 22 of 22

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  1. Great playing by Barca. Messi and Eto are our greatest assets. But what makes it really clique, is that they play not just as stars but as a team. Keep up the good game.....Barca..Barca... Barrrrrrrca!

    From marilacson, on Tue 13 Jan 12:03AM

  2. to comment no 13...
    suggesting ronaldo was a key contributor to the victory against chelsea is ridiculous....firstly how does a disallowed goal contribute anything to a game...secondly if you analyse ronaldo's performance, it was as average as it is against any half decent team ronaldo faces.....he struggled to go past players every single time he tried to....lampard, ashley cole, bosingwa stopped him with consummate ease...even joe cole stopped him at one stage. Ronaldo also misplaced several easy passes and could not have any influence on the game...same as what always happens him when not facing inept opposition. Ronaldo struggles beyond belief in these games and the quality of his performances for a winner of all the personal awards he has received is embarrassing. The supposed best player in the world should stamp his quality on these games and produce man of the match performances and generally look like the best player on the pitch...not every time admittedly but more often than not...a la the real Ronaldo used to, or Zidane or Figo in recent years...even Kaka year before last...Cristiano Ronaldo fails to perform to any level of quality in big games and is generally on the periphery of these matches. His goals last year masked the fact that the general quality of play was far from that of a great player...now that he is not scoring as much his lack of TRUE quality is blatantly apparant. MESSI is head and shoulders above Ronaldo and everyone else on the planet as essentially Messi is the best player on the pitch every single time he plays no matter what team or player he plays against...that's what the best player in the world should do...precisely what messi does...that messi is scoring for fun and giving performances of the highest quality shows him to be the best...again to comment no 13...messi also has 5 goals in champs league to ronaldo's none...also messi has made 5 appearances and played just 297 mins...ronaldo has 5 apps and 380 mins...go figure

    From akkm100, on Mon 12 Jan 5:49PM

  3. And way too much inaccuracies. Xavi scored in the 78th minuted that is with 12 minutes on the clock not with 9 minutes remaining. And lot of incoherent words like "Pep Guardiola's men managed to challenge their aggression effectively, though." where it should be channel. Come on, we expect a far more convincing article from an eurosport writer.

    From t.raghavasimhan, on Mon 12 Jan 4:04PM

  4. And way too much innaccuracies. Xavi scored in the 78th minuted that is with 12 minutes on the clock not with 9 minutes remaining. And lot of incoherent words like "Pep Guardiola's men managed to challenge their aggression effectively, though." where it should be channel. Come on, we expect a far more convincing article from an eurosport writer.

    From t.raghavasimhan, on Mon 12 Jan 4:04PM

  5. What @#$%! The author should atleast watch the match before writing. It was Busquets who went down before Messi stopped playing and the controversy arose not Messi. Please atleast be accurate enough in writing a report. And as somebody said CULES are the supporters of Barcelona, not the players. Barcelona are called Blaugrana or Azulgranan.

    From t.raghavasimhan, on Mon 12 Jan 4:00PM

  6. I'm a liberian from Africa and a fan of Barca, Messi conn't be compared to anybody as relates to Football playing he geves results to his fans whan and he is the best to win any f'ball tittle. C. Ronaldo is also a good f.ball payer but Messi is far better than him when it comes to giving needed results at time. Anther important information is Eto'o is the best striker in the world

    From PurpleBabe987, on Mon 12 Jan 3:32PM

  7. Messi is class, whereas poor Ronaldo is a diver.

    From avanze, on Mon 12 Jan 1:34PM

  8. #14,
    Messi scored 20 goals in 22 games in all competitions !!

    From Tim, on Mon 12 Jan 10:18AM

  9. I am a Barça fan but I think Ronaldo will win the FIFA award based on his contributions to his club last season. He is in no way as talented as Messi but that is the trend. The best player on the club that wins the CL will get most or all the awards. Same applies to Messi. If he stays healthy and Barça can get La Liga AND the CL titles , he will SWEEP all the awards next year without any doubts. Let's just wait and see !!

    From Tim, on Mon 12 Jan 10:15AM

  10. #8 - Messi will probably get it in 2009 (11 league goals and scored an amazing one yesterday), but let's wait for spring. I wish he would as he is an outstanding player. However to say that C. Ronaldo is not among the best even now is out of line. C. Ronaldo was undoubtedly the best in 2008. He is still in excellent form. He was the key contributor in the victory over Chelsea (he scored a goal that was disallowed). He already scored 8 goals (just three less than Messi:). Mind you he is not a forward!!! He won't probably score another 31 league goals per season, but if he goes beyond 10 is sufficient for a great season.

    For comparison, the greatest season totals (Premiership only) of such a great professional as Ryan Giggs (also a winger) was 13, 11, 9.

    From Funny, on Mon 12 Jan 7:52AM

  11. BArca Barca Oje Oje Oje oje oje oje ! :-)

    Another game another peace of cake awaits :-)

    European Chompions next :-)

    From art_tidesco, on Mon 12 Jan 6:36AM

  12. Josh, where do you put Eto'o is in ranking? To me he's simply the best striker in the world, by far. Messi and Eto'o are the top 2!

    From steve.blesson, on Mon 12 Jan 6:26AM

  13. Barca is the king of football!!!

    From saint.luke, on Mon 12 Jan 6:17AM

  14. Barca! Barca! Barca!!!

    From Segun, on Mon 12 Jan 3:50AM

  15. Messi is by far better then c.ronaldo .. in my opinion ronaldihno ,messi, kaka, and Zlatan Ibra best players in the world

    From Josh, on Mon 12 Jan 2:25AM

  16. We have all it takes to go for a tripple this season,come on barcelona!!!!

    From collinsc, on Sun 11 Jan 11:51PM

  17. Blaugrana al vent
    Un crit valent
    Tenim un nom el sap tothom
    Barca, Barca, Baaarca!!!

    From BiggR, on Sun 11 Jan 10:36PM

  18. Dear author,

    los cules is the nickname of the FANS of FC Barcelona, not the players.
    DO YOUR HOMEWORK!!!

    From BiggR, on Sun 11 Jan 10:31PM

  19. Barca was down, But Never out.. Its no surprise they came back like that, they have the quality to do so, and it shows... ViVa barca.

    From TITUS N, on Sun 11 Jan 10:21PM

  20. This was too close for comfort for Barça. There was no reason to leave Iniesta and Toure on the bench. Henry was absolutely clueless !!

    From Tim, on Sun 11 Jan 10:07PM
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