Monday 17 November 2008
Recreativo vs Barcelona 0-2, Spanish Primera Liga 2008, week 10
RECREATIVO
Riesgo – 7: Made a number of excellent, crucial saves in the first half to keep his side afloat and continued to look sharp for the rest of the game. Nothing he could do to prevent the two goals.
Bouzón – 6.5: Shadowed Henry closely and won almost every one-on-one battle. Even helped out in the centre of defence once or twice, making a few critical interceptions.
Arzo – 6.5: Formed a solid wall at the back alongside Beto. Had to work hard to keep Eto’o and co as far away from the goalmouth as possible.
Beto – 7: Constantly helped out Poli to double team Messi and Dani Alves. But never left his position in the centre unattended either.
Poli – 6.5: Had the toughest job in football this weekend as he was given the responsibility of shackling Messi and Alves. He was beaten more than he would have liked but he always put up a good fight and never got discouraged.
Sisi – 5.5: Barely had a touch of the ball in the first half. More involved in attack in the second, but still did not trouble the Barça backline enough.
Jesús Vázquez – 6: Helped out his centrebacks greatly and even made a few threatening runs forward.
Morris – 5.5: A largely anonymous display but he did his job to overload the midfield.
Aitor – 5: Made a very lively start with a few threatening crosses into the box but faded away very quickly.
Adrián – 6.5: Almost every Recre attack or counter attack went through him. Very lively, wasn’t afraid to take on defenders, but ultimately, didn’t get the support upfront from his teammates.
Javi Guerrero – 4: Very isolated upfront. Like most of his attacking teammates, he had to play out of position just to get a glimpse of the ball. Didn’t even have a shot at goal to show.
Substitutes:
Camuñas – 5.5: Gave the team much more attacking width.
Akalé – 6: So much more dangerous and energetic than the man he replaced, Guerrero. Should have started the match instead.
Marco Rubén – 5: Caused a few nervous moments for the Blaugrana backline with his height but other than that, he never really looked like scoring either.
Valdés – 6: Only had to make a few routine saves. Marshalled his backline well on set-pieces.
Dani Alvez – 8: Played almost entirely as an attacking winger. Saw plenty of the ball and combined well with Messi and Xavi. Had trouble defending against Adrián, though.
Márquez – 7.5: A steady rock at the back for
Piqué – 7: Largely untroubled at the back. Formed a good partnership with Márquez and showed good understanding.
Puyol – 7: As usual, very solid at the back. Didn’t push up as much as a conventional leftback would but he never allowed Sisi any space to run.
Busquets – 7: Very involved with the attack in the first half and even had a few look-ins at goal but a rather quiet second half display.
Yaya Touré – 7: Lost the ball a number of times as he got too adventurous when he joined in upfront. But he was always diligent enough to track back and win possession back.
Xavi – 7.5: Another hassle-free showing by the deep-lying playmaker. Took a while to get going but it was his gorgeously disguised through ball that set-up Messi for the opener.
Messi – 8.5: As expected, a livewire across midfield and upfront and almost impossible to deal with at times. Constantly took on defenders by the numbers. Showed great composure and a killer left-foot to finish off what was his only real chance of the game.
Eto’o – 7: Restricted to a few half chances in the first period. Looked surprisingly off-colour infront of goal but it was his miscued volley which allowed Keita to score the all-important second goal.
Henry – 7: Didn’t quite provide the speed and flair on the left side of the pitch. Had a couple of clear-cut scoring chances but spurned them both. Still, he looked dangerous at times whenever he had the ball at his feet.
Substitutes:
Sylvinho – 5: Looked very shaky at the back. His lack of pace was often exposed by Adrián and Camuñas.
Keita – 6: At the right place at the right time to tap in the second goal. Didn’t see much of him otherwise in the 15 minutes he was on the pitch.
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