0-1 Puyol (min.20)
0-2 Messi (min.35)
0-3 Ronaldinho (min.37)
0-4 Messi (min.51)
1-4 Grahn (min.83)
1-5 Zambrotta (min.91)
Jordi Clos
Barça’s rout of Nastic proved in vain tonight as Madrid came from behind to secure Liga honours. Therefore, due to unfavourable head to head goal difference, Barça end their Liga campaign in second spot.
For 80 minutes, Barça appeared on course for the title, however, in the end, their triumphant
victory was not enough. Rijkaard’s men went to work early on; securing a 3 goal advantage by
the break. Despite all eyes focused on the Bernabeu in the second half, Barça were not prevented
from extending their lead.
Total control
Barça clearly dominated Nastic in the encounter, despite lacking a little depth in the
opening minutes. The first chance coming in the 13th minute; Eto’o unable to steer
Ronaldinho’s cross on target.
A goal to add hope
On the quarter hour mark, the Nou Estadi erupted; not due to things happening in Tarragona
but Varela’s goal in the Bernabeu. With the news filtering onto the pitch, Barça began to
attack with intent. A nearly identical chance as his last fell to Eto’o, but it was the
continuation play which saw Puyol power through into the box to get a foot onto Messi’s well
worked cross.
Unstoppable in attack
Nastic’s defence was experiencing a torrid time in trying to get to grips with
Barça’s attacking three. Eto’o had two further chances which turned out to be the
prelude to the goal by Messi. In the 34th, Messi skipped past a few defenders on the edge of the
box and drove a curling shot from the right, past the outstretched keeper. Barça did not stop
there. A few minutes later, Ronaldinho scored another masterful free kick from the edge of the box
to take the score to 3-0.
More of the same
The break did not serve to quell the attacking surge from the Barça players. Rijkaard’s
men appeared comfortable and confident in their actions; their play being quick an accurate. Five
minutes after the break, Messi was left with a simple tap in after all the hard work had been done
by Eto’o.
The final
With the game clearly out of reach of the home team, the intensity of the game dropped a
little and all eyes turned to Madrid. Despite this, Eto’o found himself on a one on one with
the keeper and Ronaldinho also tried his luck with a volley. Tobias Grahn scored a consolation goal
the same time as Madrid found the equaliser in the bernabeu. The crowd became quiet with news of
what was happening in Madrid, however, Zambrotta still found time to notch up Barça’s fifth
at the end.
This is how it ended with Barça finishing in second place, with the same points but with a
lower head to head goal average.
The game earlier in the season, which Barça won 3-0, resulted in Barça being crowned Winter Champions. Sevilla’s draw with Villarreal meant Frank Rijkaard’s men re-affirmed themselves as Liga leaders and Winter Champions.
Anna Segura
Barça take on Nastic this Sunday evening with the need to win if they are to stand a chance of winning the Liga title. The blaugrana will be keeping a close eye on their rivals to see who will come out on top.
The final day of the Liga has arrived, and after Sunday night’s games, the Liga champions
will be known. Barça, still with options, play Tarragona with the objective of winning and hoping
Mallorca can cause an upset at the Santiago Bernabeu. Barça have to get a better result than
Madrid, regardless of what Sevilla achieve.
With the players available: For the game against Nastic de Tarragona, Frank
Rijkaard has all his fit players available. Ronaldinho and Saviola are back in having missed the
last game through suspension and technical decision respectively. Sylvinho, Edmilsona dn Gudjohnsen
are out through injury.
Relegated Nastic: The team from Tarragona lost their fight to remain in the top
flight in round 36 of the Liga. However, Paco Flores’ team are in no mood to give the
blaugrana an easy ride and want to give their supporters something to cheer about in this last game
of the season. History, however, favours Barça as the blaugrana have never lost to Tarragona when
they have been visitors. FC Barcelona won in the season of 1947-48 (1-2) and 1949-50 (1-4). In the
season of 1948-49, the teams drew 2-2.
Preview: In the game at Camp Nou earlier in the season, Barça beat Nastic 3-0
thanks to goals from Saviola, Giuly and Iniesta. However, the last time the two teams met was a
much closer affair in the Copa de Catalunya semi final. Rijkaard’s team won this close
encounter 3-4 with 2 goals from Giovanni dos Santos, an own goal from Matellan and Ezquerro.
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