Football reports:
Well...what an experience that was. In terms of proximity it was like watching the world's best players play at Whaddon Road. The crowd became more incensed by various refereeing decisions as the game went on which led to an electric atmosphere inside the ground. This combined with my position in the stadium and the fact that it was a really good, competitive game of football made it a great game to be at. It finished Zaragoza 1-2 Barcelona. Again, feedback would be most gratefully received (email me):
16/02/08
It was a game which Zaragoza could and possibly should have come away with a point if not all 3. However some poor finishing and even poorer refereeing meant Barcelona were able to capitalise on Madrid's loss earlier in the evening and reduce the gap at the top of La Liga to 5 points. It was the tail of two penalties and two 'hand balls'. Zaragoza started the brighter but missed a penalty and went in at half time 1-0 down to a Thierry Henry goal that looked to have been helped into his path by his right arm. The second half saw Zaragoza step up their efforts even further to find an equalizer through former AC Milan striker Ricardo Oliveira before JuanFran was adjudged to have handled in the area in the 80th minute. Ronaldinho then stepped up and showed Diego Milito how to take a penalty and sealed the victory.
The first half saw Zaragoza create the best chances but fail to apply the finishing touch on too many occasions. Twice they had the goal gaping in front of forward players who both times failed to put the ball in the net, shooting high and wide the first time and failing to make foot and ball meet on the second occasion. Zaragoza's attacking instinct paired with JuanFran's man of the match performance to keep Messi 'as quiet as he's been in his playing career so far', according to one Spanish pundit, denied Barcelona any rhythm going forward. However, it was Barcelona who broke the deadlock on 34 minutes as Henry controlled with his arm from a ball lofted forward by Deco and slotted it into the net. Zaragoza pushed on as before from the restart and finally got their reward when Oliveira was sent tumbling on the edge of the area by Mexico captain Rafael Marquez. However, striker Diego Milito, who's younger brother and former rock of Zaragoza's defence, Gabi was playing directly against him in the heart of Barcelona's resistance, skied the ball emphatically over the bar. Half time came and the Zaragoza crowd felt a sense of misjustice. The players obviously did too and came out at an even higher tempo in the second half. The game became quite open and it was attack after attack, one end then the other. A good tackle from Diego Milito made up for his penalty miss as the interjection of possession and resulting pass put Oliveira through to neatly square the game from a tight angle on 53 minutes. From this point Zaragoza were a little more cautious in attack, looking to make sure of a decent result rather than go all out for the win, as Barcelona tried to find a way through. Three second half changes from Rijkaard firstly saw Yaya Toure make his comeback appearance having returned from the African Cup of Nations. He was met with absolutely thunderous jeers and boos not only upon entering the pitch but also at any moment when he got close to the ball. This particular hatred towards him stems from a horrible tackle he made in the corresponding fixture at the Nou Camp. Ronaldinho on for Giovanni and the subdued Messi off for Bojan were the next two substitutions and they seemed to pay off. Ronaldinho's presence and cute touches in particular unnerved the Zaragoza defence. It was in the 80th minute when JuanFran, who had played so finely throughout, jumped high to defend a ball that he could have let go out for a goal kick. The ball actually made contact with the top of his shoulder but the referee gave a penalty. The penalty was taken a good 5 minutes later with massive protests from the Zaragoza players and fans alike delaying the proceedings. Finally, Ronaldinho cooly and powerfully slotted the ball into the bottom right hand corner of the net to leave all but one small corner of the stadium silent. Barcelona held out to the final whistle where further protests ensued and fans threw what they could find, mainly their free seat pillows, onto the pitch and at the referee. Unjust as it may have been the result has kept the league title race alive and Barcelona now find themselves in the same position as Manchester United in the Premiership, 5 points behind with the league leaders still to play.
Some pictures (videos to come):
^^my position!^^
