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Match

Marcador del partit

Date: Sunday, 04 May
Competition: ???label.competicio0???
Stadium: Camp Nou, Barcelona

Resultat:

FC Barcelona: 6
Valencia CF: 0

Match report

Match Report
Pre-Match

Match Report

More info

The goals

1-0, Messi (pen, min 5)
2-0, Xavi (min 8)
3-0, Henry (min 14)
4-0, Henry (min 58)
5-0, Bojan (min 72)
6-0, Bojan (min 79)

Thumping victory with pride (6-0)

Roger Bogunyà

FC Barcelona brought together the pride and character shown in Manchester with great attacking flair to achieve an historic winning margin against Valencia. Messi, Xavi, Henry (2) and Bojan (2) scored the six goals.

After a week which saw them knocked out of Europe, the azulgranas faced a difficult test against Valencia with only four league games remaining. And Rijkaard’s side came through with flying colours. They showed the necessary unity, pride and professionalism and swept Valencia aside with some crushing, yet sublime, football.

With three goals in each half, Barça paid a small tribute to the Conde de Godó trophy, which was played for this week in Barcelona, and completely whitewashed the team which knocked them out of the cup. The goals were shared by Messi, Xavi, Henry (2) and Bojan (2).

Three goals in the first 15 mins

The Nou Camp witnessed the best start to a game all season. In fifteen minutes Barça had recovered from the blows suffered during the last four games. Firstly, Messi converted the penalty he himself had won. Almost immediately, in the 7th minute, Xavi finished off a counter attack with a powerful shot from the right. And in the 14th minute Henry scored from an Eto’o assist; game over via the fast lane – three chances and three goals.

More chances

Valencia, who looked as though they weren’t playing for anything, were just watching as Barça played neat little triangles for fun in the Valencia half. Messi was everywhere, interchanging positions with Henry, and both, along with Eto’o, could have added a fourth on various occasions. Rijkaard’s players were vastly superior.

More goals after the restart

Nothing changed in the second half. Barça moved the ball with ease but also at speed and were getting into the Valencia are with relative ease. With the attacking dynamic in their favour, the fourth goal finally arrived courtesy of Henry again, this time shooting home from the edge of the box (57 min). On the other hand, Valencia’s first shot on goal came in the 70th minute from Joaquin, which Valdes knocked away for a corner.

Bojan’s turn

Just before this, in the 65th minute, Rijkaard sent Bojan on for Eto’o and he quickly joined the goal scoring party with two killer goals. The first came from a Deco pass and the second from a Gudjohnsen assist, which was his first touch of the game. Goal, set and match.

Preview

Four draws

The last four Barça-Valencia games played in the Nou Camp all finished in a 1-1 draw, including the semi-final of this season’s King’s Cup.

Character to finish second

Roger Bogunyà

Against Valencia this evening (19.00 live on Barça TV, PPV and R@dio Barça) the azulgranas will want to end their run of four games without scoring.

They will need pride, unity and professionalism to overcome the disappointment of being knocked out of the Champions League.

That result will have to be forgotten about on Sunday. There will have to be focus on what’s left of the season because second place is still up for grabs and with it, direct qualification for next season’s Champions League. To get there, Barça first have to close in on Villarreal, who are four points above the azulgrana side.

First, Valencia

First of all though, Valencia have to be beaten this evening in a game which will see Barça without three regulars. Milito and Iniesta, who both have knee injuries and Touré Yaya, who has ankle ligament problems, will miss out and give their places to Giovani, Oleguer and Marquez.

Goals must return

Despite these absentees in the heart of midfield and defence, the worry for the team is in front of goal. Rijkaard’s side haven’t scored for four games and have only scored once in their last four home games at the Nou Camp. If they overcome this poor run then victory should come more easily because Barça continue to have the best defensive record at home, having only conceded nine goals all season. Meanwhile, only two teams have conceded more goals than Valencia in the first division.

Mentally strong

Numbers apart, Barça’s job today will mainly be in the mind. What we saw last week in the Riazor wasn’t what was wanted and the good football shown in Old Trafford wasn’t enough to topple Manchester United. Elimination in the semi-finals of two cup competitions (Champions League and King’s Cup) was a hard blow for Barcelona, coming so close to the finals of the competitions in question, but they must now go out and show their pride and character this evening.

Recent draw

The league is the only concern for the Barça players today who, once again, face Valencia, who came away from their last visit to the Nou Camp with a brave 1-1 draw in the semi-final of the cup. Barça were miles better than their opponents on that day but they were undone by their final ball and so missed out on a deserved win. History cannot repeat itself this afternoon. There is still second place to play for.