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Match

Marcador del partit

Date: Tuesday, 16 Sep
Competition: ???label.competicio1???
Stadium: Camp Nou, Barcelona

Resultat:

FC Barcelona: 3
Sporting Clube: 1

Match report

Match Report
Pre-Match

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THE GOALS

1-0, Márquez (min 20)
2-0, Eto'o (min 60, pen)
2-1, Tonel (min 71)
3-1, Xavi (min 87)

Good football brings fair result (3-1)

Roger Bogunyà

FC Barcelona looked convincing as they beat Sporting Clube in their opening Champions League encounter. Márquez, Eto'o (penalty) and Xavi were the scorers as the side put together a classy performance to go to the top of Group C.

Everything about the first half went to plan. Barça dominated possession and Sporting Clube were enclosed in their own half, it appearing to be just a matter of time and patience before the deadlock would be broken, as indeed it was by Rafa Márquez. The second half brought much of the same with Eto'o adding the second from the penalty spot. Sporting managed to pull one back shortly after but, unaffected by that, the home side pressed on and eventually made it three thanks to Xavi.

The win means Barça have now gone nine Champions League seasons with a win in their opening match, and the three goals mean they shoot to the top of Group C, after Shakhtar won 2-1 in Basle.

Barça possession

The four changes to the side that drew with Racing Santander at the weekend did not show, with Barça playing in much the same way as they did in the league encounter. With Messi and Henry playing wide their was plenty of room for manoeuvre, and Iniesta and Xavi in particular enjoyed the additional space. Both attempted strikes from outside the area, which missed the target, but the goals were surely just a matter of time as Barça held onto the lion’s share of the possession and managed to recover lost balls with admirable speed.

A fair reward

Barça had all the chances, and Messi made his presence felt as the danger man. The Argentinian almost scored the most sublime of goals in the 17th minute, but it skimmed wide of the post. Three minutes later and that was all forgotten as an unmarked Márquez stepped up at the far post to nod home a 20th minute corner and make it 1-0. It was just what Barça needed, following the frustration in recent games of playing well but failing to turn that dominance into goals.

2-0 looking likely

Very little was happening at the other end of the pitch. One effort from former Barça man Rochemback did call Valdés into action, but that was the exception to the rule, with most of the football being one-way traffic. Guardiola’s side eased of the pace in the final minutes of the first half, yet even so Henry almost scored after a powerful counter attack and Messi also came amazingly close, for the second time, to scoring an impossible looking goal.

Penalty, goal, and off goes Eto'o

There were no major shocks in the early moments of the second half, with Barça again in complete control of the game. After a run down the wing followed by a cross, Eto'o was pushed from behind and the referee considered the offence worthy of a penalty. The Cameroonian was handed the task of converting it, and made no mistake. That was in the 60th minute, just six minutes before the player was substituted by fellow African Touré Yaya.

Sporting Clube make it 2-1

But just when the game looked as good as won, the Portuguese outfit pulled one back. It was totally against the run of play, coming from a free kick that Tonel acrobatically turned goalward inside the six-yard box. More than anything the goal served to raise some of the tempers, something the Camp Nou faithful vociferously manifested their opposition to.

Xavi finishes it off

There was only one goal in it, but Barça did not look like they were panicking. Josep Guardiola seemed perfectly at ease, while the game was turning into a nightmare his counterpart Rui Patricio’s charges, who desperately dealt with shots delivered by Messi and Iniesta, before the latter lay on the pass for Xavi to make it 3-1. From just six metres out, the Barça midfielder’s goal was enough to confirm that his side would be taking all three points from this game – the ninth time in a row that the Champions League has got off to a winning start for the Catalan giants.

Preview

The last eight Champions League starts

1999/00 ALK Solna-FCB (1-2)
2000/01 FCB-Leeds Utd (4-0)
2001/02 FCB-Ol. Lyon (2-0)
2002/03 FCB-Bruges (3-2)
2003/04 Played in the UEFA Cup
2004/05 Celtic-FCB (1-3)
2005/06 Werder B.- FCB (0-2)
2006/07 FCB-Levski (5-0)
2007/08 FCB-Ol.Lyon (3-0)

Champions League off to quality start

Jordi Clos

The Camp Nou opens its doors to the Champions League with an intriguing tie involving Barça and Sporting Clube de Portugal (20.45, Antena 3 and R@dio Barça), in which both sides will be seeking three important and confidence boosting points.

The second game in three days at the Camp Nou holds plenty of promise. Sporting Clube de Portugal visit Barça in the opening game of their Champions League group. Both the Catalan and the Portuguese outfit have gained a reputation for attractive, flowing football, and this match promises to be one of the most enticing we will see in Group F.

Needing a result

Barça will probably stick to a similar plan to that which they employed against Racing Santander. Guardiola’s side, especially in the second half, showed us what they are made of, but sadly failed to turn that play into three points in a 1-1 draw. It is time for the side to start finding its touch in front of goal, and there could not be a better occasion for that to happen than against Sporting – and on the back of a streak of eight opening day wins out of eight in the Champions League, the omens could not be better.

18 in the squad

There have been a few changes with respect to the squad that was named for Barça’s weekend league outing. Rafa Márquez, Martin Cáceres, Thierry Henry and Sylvinho are all back in, while there is place for any of Éric Abidal, Víctor Sánchez and Sergio Busquets, while Alexander Hleb is out through injury.

Sporting on form

Sporting Clube de Portugal, meanwhile, come to Barcelona after winning their first two league fixtures. Paulo Bento’s side have long been promising to take over from Porto as the top side in Portugal, and perhaps this will be season when their excellent youth system finally makes itself known beyond the national borders. The Lisbon based side is coming without striker Liedson, but is bringing Rochemback back to his former club, and can also boast Moutinho, one of the outstanding players at this summer’s European Championship.

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