Scottish Premier League - Barcelona thrash Hibs

Eurosport - Fri, 25 Jul 09:09:00 2008

Hibernian's dented confidence was dealt another blow when they were beaten 6-0 by a rampant Barcelona in a friendly at Murrayfield.

FOOTBALL; Hibernian's Steven Fletcher and Barcelona's Lionel Messi, July 2008 - 0

While Josep Guardiola cruised to victory in his first game as Barca boss, Hibs counterpart Mixu Paatelainen was left facing the prospect of lifting his players for a second time with the start of the new season still several weeks away.

A 4-0 aggregate defeat to Swedish outfit Elfsborg saw the Edinburgh side crash out of the Intertoto Cup earlier this month - and on Thursday Barca racked up as many goals in the opening 26 minutes.

An Eidur Gudjohnsen double and goals from Lionel Messi and Pedro in the first half were followed by further breakthroughs from Bojan and Yaya Toure after the break as Hibs were outclassed.

Daniel Alves and Gerard Pique made their debuts for Barcelona from the start, while fellow summer signings Martin Caceres, Alexander Hleb and Seydou Keita started on the bench.

Cardiff claimed the Algarve Challenge Cup after following up their defeat of Guimareas with a 1-0 win over Celtic at the Estadio Algarve.

Joe Ledley scored the decisive goal in the first half as the Championship side took advantage of a lack of cutting edge in the Scottish champions' display.

Youngsters Paul Caddis and Paul McGowan were included in the Hoops line-up and Gordon Strachan's side started well, creating a host of breaks for Georgios Samaras, who looked lively up front.

Cardiff gradually got themselves into the game and midfielder Stephen McPhail was thwarted as he lined up a 35-yard strike when the referee got in his way.

Miguel Comminges then had a chance but Mark Brown recovered well after initially reacting slowly to the danger.

The Bluebirds turned their possession into a goal after 18 minutes when Kevin McNaughton lifted the ball towards Stephen Thompson, who beat Bobo Balde in the air to tee up Ledley.

The midfielder then rifled home from the left with a powerful finish.

There were worries over Celtic's Scott Brown when he went down under a heavy challenge from Glenn Loovens, but the Scottish side's bench breathed a sigh of relief when he emerged unscathed.

Former Manchester City forward Samaras continued to see plenty of the ball but his occasional impressive touch began to be outnumbered by mis-timed runs and wasted chances.

A second-half mistake from Paul Hartley allowed Ross McCormack to set up Comminges but the former Swindon man could not convert.

Stephen McManus and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink were thrown on by Strachan after 65 minutes but there would be no equaliser.

The Dutch striker nearly stole in at the near post with 10 minutes to go but was effectively steered off target by marker Roger Johnson and the Welsh side closed out the win.

Sporting Life / Eurosport

Comment 1 - 19 of 19

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  1. Eto'o,Messi,Henry,Alves,Keita,Hleb,Toure,Xavi...watch out for them next season!!!ENOUGH TO ROUGH-HANDLE the confused Real Madrid squad (the Robinho saga,C.R saga,aging Raul,Vanest.,return of the depreciated Cannavaro...)Do not add failures like Drogba,and Adebayor to kill,I MEAN CRUCIFY THE CATALANS!!! NO WE DO NOT NEED THEM.They are unproductive.WATCH OUT FOR ETO'O NEXT SEASON.He will be dangerous.

    From justiceategha, on Fri 25 Jul 7:46PM

  2. What a shame for the auld hibees. Never mind. a learning curve. Thats life as they say. I'll stick to ludo this year. Awe the best. Gouranga folks Gouranga

    From bvkusumswami, on Fri 25 Jul 12:25PM

  3. mAn U 1-2 west ham.

    ENOUGH SAID

    From mecsb_23@rocketmail.com, on Fri 25 Jul 10:22AM

  4. Barca is the team to watch this season - and not because of above 6-0 against average Scotish team (excuse me Hibs but that's true). Just Barca need some competitive games against English style teams because again this season they will play in Champs leage against EPL teams - Man U, L'pool, Arsenal, Chelsea. Forget about those stupid "Galactical" ladies from Madrid. This will be Barca season - be sure.
    Man U will be the only dangerous oponent in CL. Forca Baca!!! In Spain - it will be 2 horse competition, but our horse is stronger, than the white one :-)

    From dveselin73, on Fri 25 Jul 7:26AM

  5. Man united 1 - 0 Barca

    ENOUGH SAID

    From benbear76, on Fri 25 Jul 4:13AM

  6. yer but look at the team they but 6 past i mean come on who the f**k are they

    oh yer and one more thing 4-1 4-1 4-1 4-1 4-1 4-1 4-1 4-1 4-1 4-1 4-1 LMFAO

    MADRID 4 LIFE

    From richard M, on Fri 25 Jul 12:54AM

  7. la liga is good but it is not the barclays premiership home of all football think about it barca have not got a chance now ronahldinho and deco have gone they only have in your fiesta and and chavi!! they have even lost dos santos oh well lets look forward to the premiership and serie a!

    From dbowzee, on Fri 25 Jul 12:53AM

  8. eidur wow thats 5 in 2 games. imagine this form contiuing during the season. haha.

    From sf, on Fri 25 Jul 12:23AM

  9. i rele think barca are the real deal but i cant see them winnin the champions league i tink liverpool wil!european nites at anfield are just to be honest and i tink dat rafa and the fans can drive liverpool al the way to a 6th european cup!!but i tink barca wil definitely win la liga and i dont tink real madrid wil be there nearest challengers.possibly athletico madrid or else valencia i tink

    From karlgreen92, on Thu 24 Jul 11:44PM

  10. BARCA, ForEver You Are GREAT, I Love BARCELONA, BARCA is MY HoBBy. I Am EnjoyiNg My LIFE As A BArCA FAN. Just WaTchOut, BARCELONA is De KING Of LA LIGA. real madrid In Quote Is Fucked With BunCh of WorLd Class PlayerS But BarCeloNa will HoLd De Cup Next SeaSon. hahahhahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

    From kingsley i, on Thu 24 Jul 11:27PM

  11. good match.

    From kiarash_athari, on Thu 24 Jul 11:27PM

  12. ruddy hibernian-consistant sh*te
    an ex-hibee

    From marcus.young24, on Thu 24 Jul 11:13PM

  13. Just back from this game, Barca were fantastic, Messi looked great.

    Hibs made a few decent chances but Barca were simply too good.

    Hibs must bring in some decent players.

    From darren.laughlan, on Thu 24 Jul 11:09PM

  14. with the barca style of play hes gonna be pretty much operating on the right wing and floating in a bit sometimes to provide cover for xabi and iniesta (alves)

    From 'm', on Thu 24 Jul 11:04PM

  15. i wouldnt say the 'best' midfield in the world.

    From badrulislam, on Thu 24 Jul 11:00PM

  16. dougie deuce, cork, ireland.

    From 'm', on Thu 24 Jul 10:56PM

  17. The unbelievably annoying ongoing ronaldo saga will surely affect the club in general and more importantly the players during pre season and i expect this to carry on into the start of la liga. With van the man nearing the end, raul(fair enough he had a good season last year) also and the very distinct likliehood of robinho leaving i wouldnt be looking forward to next season if i was a madrid fan on the attacking front.At the back theyre solid enough but no amount of hair gel can disguise what a woeful player ramos is (not that that would be a good disguise). Midfield obviously sjneider is imperious, but diarra just isnt a Real type player. A bit like gravesen in terms of quality. All the imputus for winning la liga is with barca for obvious reason. I think Schuster will look to re establish Real as a european force to the detrement of their league aspirations and from. If barca get rid of valdes( please oh please oh please), milito, if henry pulls the finger out and bojan fufils his potential dont be surprised if you see barca parading around placa cataluyna next year holding aloft 3 trophies.

    From 'm', on Thu 24 Jul 10:55PM

  18. By 'm' ,

    "and alves joining the best midfield in the world by a country mile(more than an adequate replacement for deco).."

    Daniel Alves isn't a midfielder, he's a right back?

    From pj10130, on Thu 24 Jul 10:54PM

  19. obviously not much of an indicator for the coming season...but now barca have gotten rid of that dead wood ronaldinho there wont be as much (not any) off-field distractions disrupting the team. If Henry manages to find his old form and Messi keeps doin what hes doin..things already look good. Both madrid and barca dropped so many points last season so in a way it was a joke season..whilst still being the best league in the world (technically). With the aqquisiton of Pique shoring up the dodgy defence (Milito anyone? ) and alves joining the best midfield in the world by a country mile(more than an adequate replacement for deco)..i already have my money on barca for domestic and euro double. They say la liga is cyclical with madrid and barca sharing it every two years or so besides the likes of valencia..and i expect madrids cycle to end this season. They are not a good team.

    From 'm', on Thu 24 Jul 10:47PM
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