Top Stories

Barcelona rolls in La Liga opener

Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Getty Images) 

European champions FC Barcelona opened defense of its Spanish Primera championship on Monday with a 3-0 win vs. Sporting Gijon. The convincing victory was made even more impressive by the fact that the following players did not play for Barca: Lionel Messi, Thierry Henry and Andres Iniesta.

Goals from Bojan Krkic, Seydou Keita and newly-acquired star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic provided the winning margin for the champions.

Here are the highlights:

What did you think of Barcelona's performance? Think Barcelona is the favorite to repeat in La Liga, or do you see Real Madrid winning the league? What did you think of ESPN's broadcast of the match?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Ibra is like a modern basketball player….all for the highlight reel, nothing for the team.

    Will be interesting to see in Barca can change him. I know why they bought him: so Chelsea can’t park the bus like last time…and that they’ll have a plan B from their pass-to-death style.

    Don’t get me wrong: I love Barca and want them to do well…he just seems to be the kind of player and personality that is all about him and not the team.

    I feel the same about Berbatov….perhaps we Brits are just not cool enough to get that underneath their cloak of disinterest, these sophisticated continentals are really trying very hard indeed.

    Reply
  2. Om my gosh this was the WORST broadcast I’ve ever watched. For starters, everyone is correct in saying that ESPN did NOTHING to advertise that they were showing La Liga games. But the worst part of all was their broadcast–for some reason, aside from the two guys who I’m guesing we’re ESPN commentators, you could hear other people commentating in English and Spanish. WTF???!!! It was impossible to understand what they were syaing because there were at lerast two or three people talking at the same time. If this was an advertisment for what ESPN plans to do in the future, I’m scared.

    Also, right before the match, some host on their news show said, “And now here’s soccer!” and then turned to his co-host and said, “You know, I think I could score a goal.” What is that?!

    Reply
  3. Not hating but that goal from Ibra looks offsides and this team without messi and Henry will struggle to get goals. Ibra is not Eto in this sytem and Inter robbed Barca. they got 40 mill for a player that is not worth more than that and Eto a 40 mil striker for free. ask me that is some dumb stuff from Barca.

    Reply
  4. Ibra isn’t match fit (coming off an injury lay-off) and he isn’t in synch with his teammates yet. He’s already looking better than Henry the first year. He’s going to make Barca even better, but it’s going to take time to hit top speed.

    Reply
  5. Considering they were missing 2/3 of their creative hydra (Messi-Iniesta-Xavi) and just played 120 minutes in a mud bowl against a disciplined physical team (Shaktar) on Friday, this was impressive. These were the types of games they would have struggled mightily in last season. If they consistently score from set pieces, that’s yet another thing for defenses to worry about.

    To pass judgment on any player after four games with no preseason is insane. We’ll see what happens with Ibra but to say he WILL fail or has failed after so little time is stupid. He might but nothing is certain. Henry struggled his first season and had 25 goals and 6 assists last season. Barca’s system takes time to get used to if you come from outside.

    Reply
  6. There are a lot of opinions being shared about Eto’o versus Ibrahimovic. I’ve shared mine before (that I think Barca got the short end of the deal, and that Inter Milan is a certainty to win Serie A), but I’m going to post what the incomparable Phil Ball had to say about it:

    “It is rather curious, nevertheless, that Pep Guardiola should have got rid of Eto’o in the final analysis because there was no ‘feeling’, to use his diplomatic phrase. What he meant was that he didn’t really like Eto’o, and that he thought he was a troublesome presence in the changing-room. Interesting then, that he swapped him for a chap whose reputation for histrionics and dodgy declarations is similarly well-developed. I’m not sure about the signing, and it’s unclear as yet whether the Swede will fit into the system, so well-oiled but to some extent proscribed on Eto’o’s unselfish and constant movement. David Villa might have suited them better.”

    Reply
  7. Caption: The Shire FC realize they may have to import talent to become competitive in the Middle Earth Champions League.

    Posted by: Chg | September 01, 2009 at 01:36 AM

    Thanks, Chg. Now I can go to work with a smile on my face.

    Reply
  8. I’ve never understood the recent trend to leave the back post undefended for corners. A team can save a few goals a season by occupying both posts.

    Posted by: NJ Guy No Longer Stuck in DC | August 31, 2009 at 08:25 PM

    i just saw a highlight to answer your ?. it was a corner where the ball was flicked to another player for a diving header GOAL. that diving player was clearly offside if it wasn’t for the defender at the post that kept him onside.

    Reply
  9. Anybody who thinks Ibra is automatically a downgrade is insane.

    He obviously doesn’t have any chemistry with his teammates yet, but he has the potential to be insane in La Liga. I’m sick of hearing people say he scored fewer goals than Eto’o. The goals he scored for Inter were spectacular solo efforts where he took the team on his shoulders. Eto’o had most of his goals served on a silver platter by others in the Barca squad.

    I agree with everyone else that Bojan is going to be one hell of a player. Glad to see Pep realizes he needs to split PT between Bojan and Henry.

    Reply
  10. Let’s discuss Barca after they have played Real, Atletico, Villarreal, Valencia, Sevilla, or even Espanyol. Silly to gush about them after beating up on a minnow.

    Real’s win against Depor was far more impressive — much better competition.

    Reply
  11. IBRA>>>>Etoo. Naysayers just wait-it’s the first match of the season and the man has scored. So many more to come-Ibra Messi Henry Xavi Iniesta is the ulimate attacking force in the game, barnone. He provides SOO much that Eto’o doesn’t, physicality, aerial prowess, and once he gets fit-pace, quickness and raw power.

    I love Barca so I love Eto’o, but as w/ Ronnie, his time has come-and the upgrade is significant.

    Reply
  12. Ibra definitely is not match fit yet – he was sucking wind in the opening minutes! Hes pressing and looking for how to fit in with this team (he didnt have much of a preseason with them), but I think he will slowly but surely come on and be a force as the season progresses. Bojan and Pedro (and later Jeffren) looked lively all game though. Add in Keirrison and Barca should be making plenty of plenty pretty goals for years to come.

    Reply
  13. Great. I taped this game. Now I know the result. And Great! Barca won! ESPN did advertise this game the last few days, but not much, I suppose.
    Or maybe I just watch too much ESPN … nah.

    Reply
  14. I watched the ESPN broadcast and at first I thought I was losing my mind because I could have sworn I heard about 3 or 4 different commentators all jabbering at once. It them about 15 minutes into the game to fix the audio feeds. But after that, I loved the HD and I loved watching a league I am not too familiar with because it is never shown here… until now!

    Reply
  15. Best striker in the world is Villa than Eto’o than Torres than Forlan than Ibrahimovic. He can score but not as much as Eto’o but he makes them look classy.

    Reply
  16. I have to be honest, I fell asleep during this game. But only cause I didn’t sleep sunday night. Glad Zlatan got his 1st goal. Took the likes of Tevez, Berbatov, Crouch many, many matches to score their 1st for a big club.

    Reply
  17. Audio problems in the beginning (both Spanish and English tracks playing simultaneously) and all the graphics were in spanish, but the picture was pretty

    Reply
  18. Ohh, sporting Gijon. Name a player. I watched the match and still can’t. La liga is so shallow it’s not even funny. The only two teams that come close to Real or Barca are Athletico Madrid and Villarreal and at time Sevilla. It’s only a matter of time before Real or Barca runs the table in that league.

    Reply
  19. I’ve never understood the recent trend to leave the back post undefended for corners. A team can save a few goals a season by occupying both posts.

    Reply
  20. barca played well, real should still struggle after watching both teams play this week. Real has some real defensive issues that need addressing.

    Reply
  21. Agree with the Ibra comments. Inter got a great deal from Barca, I don’t see the Ibra appeal. For his few shining moments he offers, is it worth a more capable goal scorer plus 40 million? I don’t think so.

    Reply
  22. Barcelona was on a roll, played a good game, and showed why Real will have big problems in El Classico this season. Should be exciting.

    Agree with you Amit, I think Inter got a GREAT deal from the Eto’o/Ibrahimovic swap. Eto’o may disrupt the locker room, but he has proven to be useful in Europe. Plus they got 40 million, seems ridiculous to me.

    Reply
  23. Ibra was pretty poor: he offers no movement and seemed interested only in patches. Is he just unfit? He’s certainly not as dynamic as Eto’o….still trying to figure this transfer out (other than the fact Eto’o is supposed to be a pretty unpleasant character….but if that was grounds for dismissal, half the squads on the planet would be down to six players).

    Reply
  24. did ESPN broadcast the game?
    they should do a little more marketing about this……lots of people don’t know that also ESPN is broadcasting the premierleague

    Reply
  25. Barca looked like they were in cruise control most of the game, not really exerting themselves, just doing enough to win 3-0, which sounds funny but is true. Bojan looks dirty though, when Henry leaves (for MLS?) he will fill in nicely.

    Reply

Leave a Comment