Messi scores and Barca draws in Balaídos

Celta Vigo vs FC Barcelona 2013
Barcelona must have been thinking about the clash against PSG in the Champions League and ended up giving two points away at Balaídos. Celta took advantage and Abel Resino’s men, following the 2-2 draw still have their hopes alive of staying in La Liga before the final stretch of the season.

With the international matches, the players out injured and next week’s match in Paris, forced Roura to make numerous squad changes, but always with Messi as the key player. The Argentine left his mark again and it was business as usual regarding his goal scoring talents. Only he can put a limit on his ability to find the net surpassing all his past records and improving on them every season.

Besides scoring Barça’s second goal, we shouldn’t forget Messi’s gameplay. He has the scoring ability of the best striker in the world and the ease to boss the game at the highest level. The Argentine has it all and though we are reminded of his talent everyday, we should never get tired of emphasizing it.

When all is said and done, Barcelona should have done enough to win on Saturday, but the truth is that Barca showed a lack of ability or ambition to put the game to bed. With a narrow lead on the scoreboard, Barca faced the last few minutes as if the three points were already in the bag, but were surprised to see how Oubiña caught them slumbering and put home an accurate header past Pinto.

Roura opted for Bartra, Song, Thiago, Tello Alexis as starters, with only Song and Tello taking full advantage. The centeral midfielder played ok but added to the two defensive errors that cost both goals. Thiago lost many balls in midfield and Alexis Sánchez was way off the mark.
In contrast, Alex Song cut out the home side’s advances and bossed the ball around with intent. Along with Messi, Tello was the man of the match. He scored Barca’s first goal, ran Jony ragged up the wing. Messi then provided the young Tello with a beautiful left footed cross that tore open the Celta defense for Tello to latch onto and put the ball out of reach past Varas at the far post.

Until the Celta keeper had to pick the ball out of the back of the net for the first time, the home side had taken full advantage of their attacks in Pinto’s area. The players from Celta Vigo were ambitious; they tried to pressure Barca on the field but ended up giving in to the sheer quality of an opposing side. However, Insa managed to get on the scoreboard the scoreboard thanks to an assist from Orellana who, without feeling the pressure, held the ball and waited for the right time to offload it to Insa to put the ball past Pinto much to the delight of the crowd.

As already mentioned, Messi didn’t want to miss his appointment and after several crosses that died in the opposing area, the Argentine found Tello just onside and crossed the ball with pinpoint precision for him to pick up on and shoot past Varas.

After the break, Barca began to boss the game and put its foot down. Thiago, who started very active but failed to impress later on in the match went off for Andrés Iniesta so he could take charge of the midfield. As ever, Iniesta is always a good addition. He does not care whether he’s in Paris or Vigo, every day offering us something new on the pitch. He joined Cesc who wasn’t having the best of matches either but did try.

Barcelona’s second came after Messi found Tello running up the left to the byline. The 21 year old promptly returned the ball to the centre where an awaiting Messi hit the ball first time, which was impossible to stop.

Finally, when it looked like the 3 points were secure, Busquets tried to avoid a giving away a corner but ended up giving the ball to Celta. Orellana managed to control the ball on the edge of the area, saw the gap and crossed for Oubiña to head past Pinto.

Oubiña should have been picked up by Dani Alves but was occupied with Bermejo who was unmarked because Pique, Song and Bartra were pre-occupied with other things. We can’t blame Alves for the goal but Barca did relax towards the end of the match and paid the price.

It should have been 3 points but Real Madrid couldn’t capitalize on it either as they drew against Zaragoza 1-1.

Video highlights of Celta Vigo vs FC Barcelona 2013

About Barca Blogger

My name's Steve aka Barca Blogger and one of the founding members of the team at Barcelonafcblog.com. I've been around since the blog started and we aim to bring you the most up to date information on this great club.

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  1. Información Bitacoras.com…

    Valora en Bitacoras.com: Barcelona gave away two valuable points on Saturday night at the Balaidos stadium in Vigo. The match ended in a 2-2 draw with Tello getting Barca’s first and Messi knocking in the second in which is his 19th consecutive match….