Barca Captain Carles Puyol allows Tito Vilanova and Eric Abidal to lift the trophy first
It was a rainy night here in Barcelona but that didn’t stop the league champions from beating Valladolid by 2 goals to 1 and then showing off the silverware to their loyal fans.
And in another gesture that can only describe Carles Puyol as a gentleman – he allowed Tito Vilanova along with Eric Abidal to lift the trophy first. It was a great night for Barcelona despite the torrential rain.
Valladolid committed Hari Kari last night at the Camp Nou and provided Barca with the win. One was an own goal and the other a blundering error in the 18 yard box. Valladolid’s president Pucela said after the game that those two errors cost them the match.
It was Pedro who scored first on 22 minutes to put the champions in front then just before half time it was Valladolid’s Marc Valiente who found his own net to put the Catalans in the driving seat.
It was then up to Victor Pérez to put some points on Valladolid’s scoreboard with a late goal on 89 minutes. It was one of the lowest attendances at the Camp Nou this season (50,000) because of the rain but it didn’t stop the team winning and seemed to ease off at the end to allow the festivities to take place.
Carles Puyol had some kind words at the end when he said: “We’ve won the league but more importantly, Tito and Abi are still with us.”
Barca are still on course for the magical 100 points this year with the last remaining games against Espanyol and Málaga. It would be another milestone for the Catalan club to reach after a hectic year at the club.
To be fair, Barca could have caused mayhem in the second half of the match with some good football and most of the possession, but the Catalans were too forgiving. Valladolid put on a limp display of football and allowed Barca to rule the roost on their home ground. It was as if the league had already finished for them.
The scoreboard should have been at 0-0 for the first half, too as Valladolid played well, bringing the ball up from the rear with some nice touches. That clashed with Barca’s plan and avoided a scandalous first half.
The second half saw Barca monopolising the ball to an extreme state, but they couldn’t amplify their two goal advantage. It was then up to Víctor Pérez to beat Víctor Valdés in the keeper’s 500th appearance for Barca in the dying moments of full time.
That was it, Barca kept the ball in their court and Valladolid accepted defeat and the fact that they were not leaving the Camp Nou beaten by a bigger margin.
Barca must wake up. We must not forget Bayern defeats. As World’s football power house, we still remain the team to beat. I disaggdree with Tito, the team needs great changes, we must get a world’s stopper, superb attacker and a good deffending midfielder who can run fast to defend, preferably, a very tall guy like Pique so that he can effectively clear aerial balls during corner kicks. Remember we have conceeded many aerial goals this season