Well, Barca went out with a bang in their last fixture of the year, running away to a 9-0 win over third division side, and geographical neighbors C.E. L'Hospitalet. What is somewhat confounding is that the first leg ended 1-0 to Barcelona, with a squad that featured Iniesta, Puyol, Keita, David Villa, Xavi and Fabregas. The lone goal in a rain soaked affair by Iniesta didn't foretell that the reverse would get close to a double digit scoreline.
Barcelona started with a stronger lineup in the second leg, starting Busquets, Puyol, Pique, Iniesta, Thiago, Pedro, Xavi and Fabregas, but for the most part featured all spanish players, as the Leo Messi's and Dani Alves' were sent home a few days early for the holidays.
The first ten minutes were battled in the midfield, with Barca unable to create a rhythm, until the 11th minute. Issac Cuenca, who has been very impressive in his first team outings this year, took on a defender at the touch line, and as he nipped past him the defender reached out for his shirt. A good half second after very light contact, Cuenca tripped over his own feet and tumbled in the box in a blatant dive that was pretty disgusting, even more so when the ref pointed to the spot. Pedro stepped up to take the PK, and it was 1-0 Barcelona.
At that point the gates opened and the goals poured in. Even though Barca were clearly the better team, this is a tainted victory by how the first goal was scored. With every Barca match lately, they were hit by the injury bug. Iniesta was taken out in the first half with a torn muscle, Fabregas suffered an injury blow, but he played through it, and Busquets and Xavi were pulled out to rest early in the game.
After Pedro's goal, Iniesta scored in the 19th, Thiago in the 23rd, Xavi in the 36th, and Christian Tello in the 43rd before halftime. After half, Cuenca got on the score sheet in the 49th, Thiago got his second from the spot in the 55th (how obvious does a penalty have to be to point to the spot in a 6-0 game?), Tello added his second in the 65th and Cuenca scored a brace by finishing the scoring in the 81st.
In another game without Leo Messi the Barca youngsters looked scary good. And on top of it, it seems they have a much more aggressive attitude than their first team counterparts. They were hungry to score for all 90 minutes and never took their foot off the gas. I think in the spirit of good sportsmanship that was a little cruel to their third division side, but it should put people on notice who believe that life after Messi and Xavi will be bleak for the Catalans. Christian Tello was particularly lethal, and added his name to the list of Barca B players who are ready to step up when the time comes.
Later this week i'll be back with a year in review for the Blaugrana, and look ahead to an exciting new year in 2012. Felices Fiestas!
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