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15.01.2009 13:19
Comebacks all down to spirit
Vanessa Forns
On Wednesday against Atlético Madrid, Barça came from behind to win for the fourth time in five games. Something which goes to show what a tremendous fighting spirit there is in a team that never gives up.
After defeating Javier Aguirre’s side to reach the quarters of the Copa del Rey, Josep Guardiola reiterated in his press conference the importance of “never losing our spirit … We all feel part of every game in every competition, that’s a good thing, knowing that we have to keep taking things game by game, and that we can’t start relaxing yet.”
And he’s quite right. Amazingly in four of the last five games, one in the cup and three in the league, Barça have had to come from behind, and done so in spectacular style each time.
First at El Madrigal
The venue for the first comeback was El Madrigal. Villarreal
went ahead just after the break (Cani, minute 48). But rather than let their heads drop, Barça took
just six minutes to respond to the setback. First Keita with a brilliant header (min. 54) and then
Henry, following a Xavi assist, scored to make it
1-2
in the end.
Similar situation against Mallorca
In the
first game of 2009
, at the Camp Nou against Mallorca, something similar happened. First Henry (min. 30), with a
shot from an angle, then Iniesta, on the day he returned from injury (min. 75) and finally Touré
Yaya (min. 92), provided the response to an early goal scored by Aduriz (min. 15).
Tremendous stuff against Osasuna
Barça were much the better side, boosted by a Lionel Messi
hat-trick, against
Atlético Madrid
in the Copa del Rey first leg. After that it was off to the Reyno de Navarra, and the side had
to bring out their very best to resolve a more than delicate situation.
They may have taken the lead through Eto’o (min. 45), but the bottom placed club turned things around in the second half (Flaño, min. 62; Pandiani, min. 72). But the runaway league leaders never gave up and brought out all their character to win the game with fantastic goals from Xavi (min. 80) and Messi (min. 84).
Into the quarters
The
most recent comeback
saw Pep Guardiola’s side beat Atlético Madrid to secure a place in the last eight of the
Copa del Rey. Goals from Bojan (min. 28) and Gudjohnsen (min. 76) served to cancel out the opener
converted by Atlético’s Sinama (min. 23).
Two other comebacks
FC Barcelona have come from behind to win two other games this season. The first was in the derby
with Espanyol at Montjuïc, a game blighted by the unfortunate events on the terraces. Coro made it
1-0 to the hosts in the 20th minute. But first Henry, in the 83rd and then Messi, from the penalty
spot in extra time, meant Barça would be taking the three points back to the Camp Nou.
The very next game was a Champions League trip to Shakhtar Donetsk, where Barça had to deal with a late first half opener scored by the Ukrainian club’s Isinho. But two classic goals from Messi gave Barça a famous win in the final minutes of the match.
The very next game was a Champions League trip to Shakhtar Donetsk, where Barça had to deal with a late first half opener scored by the Ukrainian club’s Isinho. But two classic goals from Messi gave Barça a famous win in the final minutes of the match.
