More goals as Barca steamroller Thailand

Barcelona quenched their thirst with more goals against an impetuous Thailand this afternoon. Goals came from Neymar, Messi Pedro and finally Alexis to seal Thailand’s fate with a 1-7 victory.

The friendly game served to show one of Barcelona’s major weaknesses: a central defender who provides the team with guarantees.

The weaknesses are buried by the team’s offensive ability, a well-oiled piece of machinery that is calibrated and tuned to scoring goals. Even though Neymar is not 100% fit, he still leaves enough evidence to give the fans hope for when he’s in tip-top condition. If Barca was a goal-scoring machine before, then we cannot wait for the new season to get under way.

The Brazilian got his first start alongside Messi and Pedro, who is perfect for this three-pronged attack. The Argentine only a few minutes to get into gear and he did so by scoring goals. Messi now has five goals and is the top scorer. Against Thailand he scored two and there was a slight change in his position with respect to last year: he’s playing more up field and closer to the opponents goal.

Another highlight of the game was the constant presence of the wingers in Barca’s attacks. The wingers dragged their markers to the centre of the pitch and huge open spaces were opened up for the Catalan giants’ attacks. It’s quite an advantage to be able to exploit players like Dani Alves and Jordi Alba.

The freshness of ideas and the pressure in attack disappeared in the second half of the match, conditioned by the changes made by Martino. Pedro completed his hat trick after the break and Alexis netted Barca’s seventh and last goal.

Gerardo Martino gave an opportunity to the young Cameroonian Bagnack, who will play as a central defender in Barca’s youth B team this coming season. He paired up with Pique in the first half. He had a great game until smoothly until he was late in a challenge, which led to a Thai penalty and the local side’s only goal. Just minutes before, Adriano picked up a yellow in a bid to cut out another Thai attack.

Bartra and Mascherano came on in the second half. The Argentine managed to leave his mark on a couple of Thai players and was lucky not to be booked. These are the four defenders that Barcelona have available in Asia. The symptoms are clear. There is a clear lack of guarantees at the back and Barca are clearly going to have to spend money to remedy it.