Heads held high (2-1)

Heads held high (2-1)

Barça let victory slip away from them at the Sanchez Pizjuan. The blaugrana ended the game with nine men on the field with Giuly and Zambrotta given their marching orders.

Goals from Kerzakhov and Alves caqncelled out Ronaldinho's opening goal. Barça let victory out of their grasp after controlling the play for much of the game and even having a chance to double the lead through a penalty. Barça also finished the game with only nine men on pitch after Giuly and Zambrotta saw red still with 15 minutes on the clock. Despite the victory, Barça maintain their goal advantage over Sevilla.

More suprises

Rijkaard expressed his surprise at the loss despite controlling the game early on. Zambrotta started the game in midfield with Xavi and Iniesta. Ronaldinho started in the middle up front and combined well with the midfield trio, allowing Giuly and Messi to lead the attack. Like last Wednesday, the midfielders were able to be involved in the attacking plays and in one such play, Zambrotta avoided the offside trap, raced to the touch libne and wipped in across which was met sublimely with the head of Ronaldinho (0-1) after 13 minutes. Sevilla's response saw their first chance come in the 19th minute.
However, in a game between the top two clubs in the league can cause many things to happen. In the 27th minute, Alves, Sevilla's most imposing player in the game, made a threatening run down the right, however, Valdes was alert to his cross. A few minutes later and a little confusion in the Sevilla defence allowed Ronaldinho to be clean through on goal, Ocio brought him down with a professional foul - red card and a penalty for Barça. Palop, although diving to his right, saved the ensuing spot kick with his legs; denying Barça doubling their lead.
This moment brought about a response from the home team as they bid to capitalise on the effect of Barça's missed penalty. Despite having only 10 men on the field, Sevilla appeared intent on getting the equalizer and in the 39th minute, Kerzakhov turned well on the edge of the box and slotted home past Valdes (1-1).

Two Obstackles

In the second half, Barça came out strong and looking to utilize their wing men. Giuly at one end and soon after, Kanouté at the other gave both teams the opportunity to take the lead. Iniesta and Xavi combined well and were dominating the game in the centre. Xavi and Messi both tried their luck from distance, however, it was Sevilla who found the breakthough through a free kick from Alves, which took a slight deflection off the wall leaving Valdes helpless to stop the ball from going in the net. A few minutes later, Giuly got a straight red card in a fracas involving Alves again.

Even match up till the end

With Barça a goal down, Rijkaard decided to change things around a little; bringing on Eto'o and Saviola for Marquez and Messi. Barça looked to capitalise on Sevilla's lull in offensive play, however, worse was to come as Zambrotta was given his marching orders in the 75th minute, much to the surprise of his team mates. Barça from this moment on found it tough to find any gaps in Sevilla's defence, while having to contend with the quick counterattacks. In the last minutes, Xavi and Eto'o on separate occasions had chances at one end while Kanoute and Alves had better chances at the other, all of them being unable to convert. With the result, Barça find themselves a point behind, however, with favourable goal difference.