Saturday February 4, 2012 Day 22 Finished Camp Nou

FC Barcelona 2 - 1 Real Sociedad

  • Tello 9’
  • Messi 72’
  • Vela 74’

64 comments | Write your comment

  1. Barcelona youngsters beat Sociedad

    Barcelona youngsters beat Sociedad

    Barcelona were not at their brilliant best but still did enough to see off Real Sociedad 2-1 in their Liga clash at Camp Nou. More

  • Live Commentary

    Time:90'
    • FC Barcelona
    • Real Sociedad
    • - Hope you enjoyed the game - we'll be back tomorrow for several Serie A games and more from La Liga. Join us then!
    • 90+4' FULL-TIME: Barcelona wrap it up. They weren't great today, but they did enough - just as Real Madrid did earlier. Tello was most impressive. Real's lead still seven points at the top of La Liga. Barcelona's thoughts can turn to the Copa del Rey in midweek now.
    • 90+3' Vela with a decent cross, but Agirretxe with too much to do to power a header at the near post. Valdes gathers.
    • 90+2' Fabregas tries a shot from 25 yards - not his finest effort, just wide of the post. But again, the time ticks down a little further.
    • 90+1' Time dripping away in this one, and Barcelona soaking up possession.
    • 90' Four added minutes to be played. Tello takes the ball down the wing.
    • 89' Awkward, bouncing ball into the Barcelona box. Valdes claims in the nick of time.
    • 88' Vela looks suspiciously like he handballed to control the ball on the right flank, but it's unpunished. He is punished, however, for bringing down Mascherano moments later.
    • 87' Yellow for Llorente after clashing with Cuenca. Time running out, no time for silly fouls.
    • 86' Sociedad having a go here - and they may as well - what is there to lose? Agirretxe caught offside this time, though.
    • 85' Agirretxe on for Prieto, Llorente for Pardo.
    • 84' Pique on for Busquets - who himself only came on eight minutes ago.
    • 83' Busquets stretchered off - that looks like the end of his night. He went into a challenged and his knee jarred as he made contact.
    • 82' Busquets has been caught here - looks a bad one. Valdes and Fabregas wincing.
    • 81' Close to a moment of magic between Thiago and Messi - the former with the chipped pass, the latter with the control and volley, but not enough behind it to beat Bravo.
    • 80' Valdes nowhere near claiming that corner and there's a moment of panic in the penalty area before Abidal clears - what was that flap from Valdes?
    • 79' Griezmann makes a good break, crosses to the right for Prieto, who is ushered out by Busquets at the expense of a corner.
    • 78' Barcelona keep coming forward relentlessly, as if the goal never happened.
    • 77' Griezmann thumps a volley from the D of the penalty area - but well over the crossbar.
    • 76' Dos Santos off, Busquets on - and captain Puyol is replaced by Abidal.
    • 75' Three extraordinary minutes. Here come some Barcelona changes...
    • 74' THIAGO SHOULD SCORE! Fabregas finds him with the pass, and a desperate block lofts his effort off target! Great defending.
    • 73' OR MAYBE NOT! VELA PULLS ONE BACK FOR SOCIEDAD! The Nou Camp falls silent. Griezmann picks the pass out, Vela slides it under Valdes. As you were.
    • 72' GOAL! MESSI! Well, to say that had been coming is something of an understatement. A lovely finish, far harder than some of the ones he's missed tonight - left-footed, lofted over Bravo from an acute angle. Game over, surely.
    • 70' Messi down after a challenge from Griezmann - studs on the foot, nasty. He's up though.
    • 69' Remarkable, but the right decision. Are Barcelona going to get nervous if the lead stays at 1-0?
    • 68' GOAL! NO! ALVES OFFSIDE! How did Barcelona not score? Alves rips Sociedad apart, Cuenca has the shot which hits the bar - Tello puts the rebound in the net - but Alves, whose run has taken him to the edge of the area, is offside!
    • 66' Puyol makes a run into the penalty area as if to instil some urgency into the Barcelona attacks. Tello picked out on the left, but for once his cross lets him down.
    • 65' Cuenca on the right has been good, but outshone by Tello tonight, and this time Cadamuro gets the better of him too.
    • 64' Quite a string of misses from Messi tonight. Not time to be pressing the panic button over the Argentine's form, though...
    • 63' MESSI - MISSES AGAIN! Played straight through by a beautiful through ball from Thiago - and past the goalkeeper, who rushes out. And yet somehow he doesn't pull the trigger, allowing the defenders to scramble back.
    • 62' Tello wins a corner after forcing Mikel into a lunging block. Hint of a handball too, though that would have been harsh.
    • 60' Fabregas tries a cute floated cross for Thiago - but Bravo gets there first. He's had a superb game so far.
    • 59' MESSI - CLOSE AGAIN! Tello picks him out, and just as it looks like Messi will step in from the edge of the box and bury his chance, he ends up stroking the ball tamely to Bravo.
    • 58' Ifran off, Carlos Vela on.
    • 57' Ifran in some pain here after going for the ball with Puyol. Feet clashed. He's hobbling off, and is going to be replaced.
    • 56' Fabregas finds no way forward on the corner of the penalty area, so turns back and plays the ball to Dos Santos. The move breaks down.
    • 55' Guardiola has plenty of experience on the bench - Xavi, Pique, Sanchez and Busquets for starters...
    • 54' Sociedad starting to find a little bit of purpose and direction. It might be route one stuff, but it's enough to make Barcelona think twice at the moment.
    • 53' Messi and Tello almost combine in devastating fashion - but the 20-year-old is half a step offside.
    • 52' Barcelona have had a big warning - could very easily be 1-1 now. Puyol with the ball, looking for a way to send the home side forward.
    • 51' GRIEZMANN! CHANCE FOR SOCIEDAD! Was that their moment? It was route one, but Griezmann held off the challenge to get one-on-one with Valdes, and from the edge of the box fired a shot straight at him.
    • 49' Barcelona camped out in the Sociedad half once more. Can they get the second goal?
    • 48' Free-kick for Sociedad after Cuenca's foul - Cadamuro stands over it.
    • 47' As you were - Tello causing mischief on the left, cutting back across Martinez and trying a shot at the near post.
    • 46' The second half begins!
    • - Looking for something to fill your time during the break? Why not head over to Twitter and chat about the game by following me @Mark_Eurosport
    • 45+1' HALF-TIME: Barcelona 1-0 up - on another day it could be 5-0. A second goal would kill this game off completely, but for now there's just that nagging doubt that one slip-up could let Sociedad back in. Tello, the goalscrer, a revelation on the left hand side.
    • 45' One minute of stoppages to be played.
    • 44' ALVES! Messi almost found a way through four bodies - but when he's blocked it breaks for Alves - whose shot misses wide of the far post. Another good chance gone.
    • 43' Messi shoots... Messi shoots straight into the wall. He's had his opportunities, and has been playing well enough - but by his high standards he should really have a couple of goals already.
    • 42' Free-kick from 25 yards for Barcelona. Will Messi shoot this time? It's certainly in his range.
    • 41' Sociedad venture forward, but it fizzles out - Tello once more the outlet on the left for the hosts.
    • 40' Barcelona have missed several clear chances in this match - will they come back to haunt them? Unlikely - but the Catalans have drawn their last three games...
    • 39' Another corner - Puyol comes forward, but again, Sociedad clear their lines.
    • 38' Mascherano slides through on Ifran - gets the ball, but you suspect that could have been a yellow or even a red in England these days.
    • 37' Tello wins another corner - Barcan's fourth. Fabregas sends it in, Bravo comfortably first to it.
    • 36' Cat on the pitch! CAT ON THE PITCH! The crowd at the Nou Camp as excited by that as they have been about the football so far.
    • 35' Sociedad just looking a bit more settled, as if they've worked out how to stifle Barcelona. Nowhere near scoring, mind.
    • 34' Inigo Martinez gets the first card of the evening after clipping Puyol.
    • 33' Tello leaves Martinez for dead again - his cut-back from the byline is good too, but Sociedad scramble clear. Dangerous again!
    • 32' Possession stats creeping up in Barcelona's favour - they've now had 76% of the play - but still no sign of that second goal.
    • 31' Fabregas adjudged to have fouled Martinez - he doesn't like that verdict, but Sociedad have a free kick.
    • 30' Dos Santos tries a shot from all of 35. Unsurprisingly, it's still 0-0. Goal kick.
    • 29' Another free kick from some way out for Barcelona - Messi declines the shot once again...
    • 28' Tello has been giving Carlos Martinez a torrid time on the left flank, and this time he wins his side a corner.
    • 27' FABREGAS MISSES! How did he manage that? It was Messi's delicate work to play him through, but the ex-Arsenal midfielder fires over and should have done much better.
    • 26' Tello unleashes the stepovers before laying the ball back to Thiago - who is dispossessed.
    • 25' Curled in by Messi towards the penalty spot - shame nobody was on his wavelength...
    • 24' Free-kick for Messi to take - but it's a little far out, you'd suspect - more than 30 metres from goal.
    • 23' All the classic short passes between the Barcelona players - really doesn't seem to matter which men are wearing the shirt, the patterns are the same.
    • 22' Messi moves it left to Adriano, who knocks it forward to Tello - Thiago next splashes a ball out to the right, but Cuenca is dispossessed.
    • 21' Free-kick for Sociedad in their own half as dos Santos fouls Pardo. Heaved forward by Bravo without great thought.
    • 20' Swept wide to Adriano, but Barcelona not going anywhere fast this time.
    • 19' CLOSE! It was the Barca youngsters linking - Cuenca's low cross from the right, Thiago's shot. Not quite enough power behind it and Bravo can get low to make the stop.
    • 18' Possession stats so far say Barcelona have had 73% of the ball - but you could have guessed that already... conditions far better in Barcelona than they were in Madrid for Getafe v Real.
    • 17' MESSI - SAVED! Great exchange of passes with Thiago to find the room to shoot, and Bravo forced into another sharp stop to deny the Argentine.
    • 16' Not the best delivery from Alves, who keeps popping up centrally - the visitors clear their lines.
    • 15' Sociedad sitting very deep, unsurprisingly, but they're just inviting Barcelona forward in waves.
    • 14' Barcelona back in action against Valencia in the Copa del Rey in midweek - that is poised at 1-1 after the first leg. Guardiola will want fresh bodies for an important game - hence this line-up.
    • 13' Fabregas afforded a bit too much room, but his shot from 20 yards sails just over the crossbar.
    • 12' Messi's dinked pass a little ambitious for Thiago, but it's all Barcelona at the moment.
    • 11' Cuenca gets past Cadamuro, but his low cross is cleared. Earned that new contract in recent weeks...
    • 10' You sense the floodgates could open tonight if Barcelona get the second goal early. They've looked more diret and dangerous early on, even with some key names out.
    • 9' GOAL! TELLO SCORES ON HIS FIRST START IN LA LIGA! It was Messi's through ball which made it possible, a beatiful, weighted ball, and Tello gets just enough of a touch on it to trickle the ball past Bravo and into the far corner.
    • 7' Tello almost centres a telling ball into the middle, but it's scrambled clear. Lively start to the match.
    • 6' Wonderful stuff from Puyol, slicing through the Sociedad defence and getting to the right wing. He's a centre-half - not that you'd know it from that jinking run.
    • 5' AND IFRAN AT THE OTHER END! Sociedad break at pace, and Valdes called upon to stop it at the near post.
    • 4' MESSI - SAVED! Huge slice of fortune to get him through as Fabregas' deflected path falls his way - but Bravo pulls off a terrific stop! Maybe Messi could have done more...
    • 3' Cuenca at the heart of a good Barca move there, with Fabregas and Messi also involved. The ball across to Tello just slightly overhit.
    • 2' Messi hustled off the ball. He didn't have the best game against Valencia in the Copa del Rey in midweek - will be looking to deliver tonight.
    • 1' Away we go! Sociedad kick us off.
    • 21:00 We're having a minute's reflection before this game for those affected by the Egypt stadium tragedy. Well observed.
    • 20:55 My name is Mark Patterson. You can hit me up on Twitter if you want to discuss Barca's youthful line-up. Or anything else. FOLLOW ME HERE!
    • 20:50 That seems like a very under-strength Barcelona midfield/attack - let me double-check that the team I've been given is correct. Appears it is - 10 points behind the leaders Real Madrid and Barca are blooding the next generation Tello, Cuenca, Thiago and Jonathan (brother of Spurs flop Giovani) all start. Crumbs.
    • 20:45 TEAMS - Barcelona: Valdes, Alves, Adriano, Puyol, Mascherano, Fabregas, Thiago, Tello, Cuenca, Jonathan, Messi; Subs: Pinto, Pique, Abidal, Busquets, Xavi, Roberto, Sanchez /// Real Sociedad: Bravo, Martinez, Cadamuro, Gonzalez, Berridi, Markel, Aranburu, Prieto, Pardo, Griezmann, Ifran; Subs: Estrada, Demidov, Anon, Agirretxe, Ramirez, Demidov, Vela, Llorente
    • - Hello and welcome to our LIVE coverage of Barcelona's Liga clash with Real Sociedad, from 9pm UK time.

  • Summary

    • 74' THIAGO SHOULD SCORE! Fabregas finds him with the pass, and a desperate block lofts his effort off target! Great defending.
    • 73' OR MAYBE NOT! VELA PULLS ONE BACK FOR SOCIEDAD! The Nou Camp falls silent. Griezmann picks the pass out, Vela slides it under Valdes. As you were.
    • 72' GOAL! MESSI! Well, to say that had been coming is something of an understatement. A lovely finish, far harder than some of the ones he's missed tonight - left-footed, lofted over Bravo from an acute angle. Game over, surely.
    • 63' MESSI - MISSES AGAIN! Played straight through by a beautiful through ball from Thiago - and past the goalkeeper, who rushes out. And yet somehow he doesn't pull the trigger, allowing the defenders to scramble back.
    • 59' MESSI - CLOSE AGAIN! Tello picks him out, and just as it looks like Messi will step in from the edge of the box and bury his chance, he ends up stroking the ball tamely to Bravo.
    • 51' GRIEZMANN! CHANCE FOR SOCIEDAD! Was that their moment? It was route one, but Griezmann held off the challenge to get one-on-one with Valdes, and from the edge of the box fired a shot straight at him.
    • 44' ALVES! Messi almost found a way through four bodies - but when he's blocked it breaks for Alves - whose shot misses wide of the far post. Another good chance gone.
    • 27' FABREGAS MISSES! How did he manage that? It was Messi's delicate work to play him through, but the ex-Arsenal midfielder fires over and should have done much better.
    • 19' CLOSE! It was the Barca youngsters linking - Cuenca's low cross from the right, Thiago's shot. Not quite enough power behind it and Bravo can get low to make the stop.
    • 17' MESSI - SAVED! Great exchange of passes with Thiago to find the room to shoot, and Bravo forced into another sharp stop to deny the Argentine.
    • 9' GOAL! TELLO SCORES ON HIS FIRST START IN LA LIGA! It was Messi's through ball which made it possible, a beatiful, weighted ball, and Tello gets just enough of a touch on it to trickle the ball past Bravo and into the far corner.
    • 5' AND IFRAN AT THE OTHER END! Sociedad break at pace, and Valdes called upon to stop it at the near post.
    • 4' MESSI - SAVED! Huge slice of fortune to get him through as Fabregas' deflected path falls his way - but Bravo pulls off a terrific stop! Maybe Messi could have done more...
    • 20:45 TEAMS - Barcelona: Valdes, Alves, Adriano, Puyol, Mascherano, Fabregas, Thiago, Tello, Cuenca, Jonathan, Messi; Subs: Pinto, Pique, Abidal, Busquets, Xavi, Roberto, Sanchez /// Real Sociedad: Bravo, Martinez, Cadamuro, Gonzalez, Berridi, Markel, Aranburu, Prieto, Pardo, Griezmann, Ifran; Subs: Estrada, Demidov, Anon, Agirretxe, Ramirez, Demidov, Vela, Llorente

Team Line-up & Ratings

  • FC Barcelona

    Manager: Josep Guardiola

  • Real Sociedad

    Manager: Philippe Montanier

  • Line-up

    Live Team Line-Up

  • Rate Players

    Rate Players

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    • Player Y! Users Expert My Rating
      Goalkeeper
      6.7 -
      Defenders
      5.5 -
      Substitution Out76′ 5.5 -
      5.5 -
      5.5 -
      Midfielders
      Substitution Out76′ 6.7 -
      7 -
      7 -
      Strikers
      7 -
      Goal 5.5 -
      Goal 8.2 -
      Subs
      Substitution In76′ 5.5 -
      Substitution In83′ 5.5 -
      Substitution In76′ Substitution Out83′ 6 -
    • Player Y! Users Expert My Rating
      Goalkeeper
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      Defenders
      2 -
      1 -
      Yellow Card 1 -
      7.7 -
      Midfielders
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      Substitution Out83′ 4 -
      Substitution Out77′ 3 -
      4 -
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      Substitution Out58′ 3 -
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      Substitution In77′ Yellow Card 4 -
      Substitution In58′ Goal 6 -
      Substitution In83′ 1 -

Comment 45 - 64 of 64

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  1. well, i'm glad we paid the ref to let us win. Visca­ Barca

    From Barcelona Dream Team Nr 2, on Tue 7 Feb 1:30

  2. what was the point of buying mascherano if he was going­ to play as CB in barca?he's 1000 times better­ player than that @#$% busquets,transfers are­ guardiolas's only serious weakness as I see,he has­ no adequate cover in CB position if puyol and pique are­ injured,yet he brought alexis sanchez instead of some­ good CB,I think that's one of the reasons of their­ current 2nd place and practically no chance of winning­ la liga,real can happily lose classico,win all the­ other games and become champions,mascherano is NOT a­ CB,he's the best def.mid currently,well if not the­ best than he's definitely one of the best,and it­ saddens me that f*****t busquets is favoured by pep

    From painkiller14, on Mon 6 Feb 4:38

  3. @MISI: Thank you for the intelligent observation. The­ headline is thoroughly misleading. Perhaps a Barca fan­ must have written it. Such are the kind of authors that­ are particularly biased against Madrid and Mourinho,­ and any little thing done by these people, they would­ blow it out of proportion.

    From Adam, on Sun 5 Feb 22:54

  4. Six out of the eleven players sent on were from the­ first line: Valdes, Mascherano, Puyol, Thiago,­ Fabregas, and Messi; also all three subs (Abidal,­ Pique, Busquets) were from the first line, so the­ question is: What youngsters? To be fair, nice result,­ especially considering the aggressive faults you made­ in the first ten minutes. I wonder how it is possible­ that Barcelona fans label everyone that ventures a­ tackle an animal and yet allow beasts like Busquets and­ Pique to play.

    From Misi, on Sun 5 Feb 22:19

  5. great job barca

    From yurgen_spain, on Sun 5 Feb 18:22

  6. Up barca!!! Thanks to my humble players they made me­ proud

    From muyi4reall, on Sun 5 Feb 17:42

  7. not bad

    From Fared Hamed, on Sun 5 Feb 14:30

  8. NEXT GAME NO REF ALLOWED...ONLY REAL MADRID VS REAL­ MADRID FAN...SO THAT NO MORE REF TO BLAMED....THANKS­ REF WE WON THE GAME....MADRID ALWAYS JEALOUS! REF PLS­ HELP THEM TOO....HAHAHAHAHA...KEEP WINNING­ BARCELONA!!!!!

    From skie, on Sun 5 Feb 8:21

  9. Alves was offside you idiot, there is no viable penalty­ claims for anything else you said

    Madrid had a clear­ penalty denied against Getafe as well, Higuain did not­ handle the ball, even most who support Valencia admit­ that

    From G, on Sun 5 Feb 8:07

  10. @78
    Remember the 2-2 against Real? Barcelona got some­ serious help from referee in that match. Today maybe it­ was against Barcelona.
    But, the thing is, you should­ get these conspiracy theories out of your head, the­ referees don't pick sides, and they do try to be­ fair, but obviously they will always miss something, it­ is just something you have to deal with.

    From Eriks, on Sun 5 Feb 7:12

  11. Bjørn, you lick arse for a living. Glad someone is­ messing up this comment page most of you are bigoted

    From super_slo_mo, on Sun 5 Feb 7:01

  12. The ref once again was a discrace, once again the ref­ goes against Barcelona, 3 clear penalties not give to­ Barca, 2 handballs and one back pass. A clear goal not­ give to Barca as Alves was inside the goal and should­ have stood, on the other hand refs are at the rescue­ for madrid, allowing them to use their hands everytime­ they need too like higuain against valencia now ugly­ pepe against getafe and no penalty once again. Plus the­ ref did not even give a foul or a red card for the­ dirty tackle by the real sociedad player on Busquet.­ Anyways we won I am happy, Visca Barca.

    From Barcelona Dream Team Nr 2, on Sun 5 Feb 6:57

  13. @ Bjørn,

    You are 100 % RIGHT !

    From Istina Boli, on Sun 5 Feb 6:49

  14. idiot spammers !

    From Istina Boli, on Sun 5 Feb 6:49

  15. Oye Homer! I had a good laugh today, after seeing Bart­ poking your eyes! You couldn't choke him, you­ chocked Marge by accident. :)

    From aurib, on Sun 5 Feb 6:46

  16. how did Jonathan dos Santos look? I was unable to watch­ the game cause of work...

    From Luis, on Sun 5 Feb 6:40

  17. If it wasn´t for the refs....Barca would be in clear­ lead of la liga. Pepe would be baned from football for­ the rest of his life. Muuuhhhrinino would be training­ Torqueys second team.
    Spanish football association is­ payed by RM. Just like in the old days when Franco­ lived.

    From Bjørn, on Sun 5 Feb 6:36

  18. Sociedad the team that almost won it and never there

    From Homer, on Sun 5 Feb 6:35

  19. 2-1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    SOCIEDAD SCORED BACK!

    From Eriks, on Sun 5 Feb 6:33
  20. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

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    From Homer, on Sun 5 Feb 6:30
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