Europe has started! Spartak Moscow visited the Camp Nou midweek to begin the CL group stages. It was a slightly nervy affair to begin Tito's European career. Barcelona got off to a solid start with a beautiful Tello goal just 15' into the game. Central defense seems to be the constant thorn in the side of this Barca squad. Pique went down with an injury just before Tello's goal, forcing a CD pairing of Mascherano and Alex Song. Yipes. Spartak exposed the Barca defense forcing Dani Alves into giving up an own goal following a disastrous clearing in the box. However, Alves shows he certainly is in sync with his keeper, with their synchronized tumbles and recovery following the goal. Stuff worth watching the video for. Spartak grabbed the lead an hour in when Romulo finished a counter-attack off by slipping through the defense and slotting past Valdes in a goal given far too easy, and a goal you usually see Barcelona scoring, not giving up. With a 2-1 lead and Spartak happy to defend, it looked like Barcelona's long unbeaten European home run might come to an end. The last home loss was against Rubin Kazan, a 2-1 defeat in the CL group stage in 2009. With 20 minutes left if was the talisman to the rescue as Messi poked in a gimme after a nice cutting run by Tello. With a point in hand, Barca wanted all three to start the European campaign and in the 80th minute, Messi struck again, this time heading from close range to seal the win for FCB. Highlights! Not in English, not even in Spanish, but hey, it's in HD. Unai Emery, former Valencia coach and Spartak made a game of it, and the away fixture will be difficult, but we travel there before winter really settles in, so I expect at least a point from that fixture.
With a perfect record in the league and in Europe, I don't want to say there is a defensive 'crisis', but a back four of Adriano, Song, Mascherano, and Alves doesn't quite instill a lot of confidence. Abidal is still recovering from his liver transplant, and Puyol might be out until mid-October. Piques injury appears to be a foot sprain and might keep him out for the next two league games as well as the trip to Benfica. Hopefully he will return before the Classico. Jordi Alba should be returning shortly to help on the wing. I expect Marc Bantra to get a look in the league game against Granada on Saturday, but Barcelona should already be looking at who is available during the winter window.
Barcelona host Granada this Saturday and look to keep their perfect domestic record in tact. Week 5 in La Liga has some good games on the docket, with Mallorca hosting Valencia, Malaga traveling to Athletic Bilbao, and Real Madrid still looking for their first away win at Rayo Vallecano. I can only hope their nightmare continues.
See you next time!
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