Barca beats Celta de Vigo 3-1

Barca continued on its quest for greatness last night by beating Celta de Vigo by a convincing 3 goals to one with strikes coming from Adriano, Villa and Jordi Alba although the last goal should have been off-side.

Thus Barca demolished Celta de Vigo at the Nou Camp and continued its awesome run of success. This also means that Tito’s team has had the best ever start to a season in its history. Barca has two firm hands on this league and they want it bad!

It wasn’t an easy game for the Catalans however, as a heroic Celta de Vigo brought the game to Barca to fight one on one at the Nou Camp.

9 wins and a draw firmly puts the name of Barca coach Tito Vilanova in Barca’s history books as he steps out of Pep Guardiola’s shadow and takes control of the best outfit in the world.

Celta de Vigo had no problems in facing Barca at the Nou Camp and made it difficult for the Blaugranas and played without the inferiority complex many teams have when they walk out to meet Barca at the Nou Camp stadium. The side from Galicia tried to go mano a mano with Barca and the Catalans didn’t quite monopolize the ball as they usually do against lesser teams. In the end it was the quality of the Barca side that shone through and made Celta succumb to its dominance.

Tito tries new tactics

Tito used Busquets and Mascherano in the centre of the field at the start of the game and they were the axis for the Barca defense. The idea behind Tito’s plan was for Busquets to play a more centre role when Barca defended but move upfield when they attacked.

After a quarter of an hour of new tactics and a few surprises from Celta de Vigo, Tito ordered Sergio Busquets to stay back and not move up. Now with Barca more organised, the goals started to come.

Adriano was first to hit the target and put the home side in the lead after a nice combination with Pedro. Celta didn’t take long to react and pushed upfield to Barca’s penalty area and after a save from Valdés in a one on one with Alex López, Mario Bermejo managed to slot in the ball from the rebound.

Celta’s joy was short lived as just a few minutes after, David Villa found the net after teaming up with Andres Iniesta to make it 2-1 to Barcelona.

Second half changes and some controversy

Before the break, Tito made his first change in the shape of Dani Alves for Adriano who went off the field in some discomfort, obviously hurt. As the second half got under way, Cesc Fabregas went off in favour of Marc Bartra.This left breathing space for Busquets and allowed him to return to his usual position.

On 60 minutes Jordi Alba scored number three to put the game well and truly beyond Celta but it came with some controversy. The goal was clearly offside but the referee’s assistant didn’t see it. This effectively put the last nail in Celta de Vigo’s coffin who, up til this point, were playing quite well.

With half an hour still to play the intensity of the game dropped and Barca’s players seemed more interested in helping Messi, who’s just become a father, get on the scoreboard. It wasn’t to be however and the little Argentine was unable to dedicate a goal to his newborn son, Thiago.

Barca did their job last night by keeping the lead in La Liga and maintaining their unbeaten record this season.