08.02.2010 13:02
Red Card Reaction
Roger Bogunyà
The Barça team seems to thrive on adversity. Whenever players are missing through injury or suspension the squad always reacts well.
Barça is the cleanest side in the Spanish league. Having won the Fair Play award last season, the
team leads this season’s competition at the half way stage. But they’ve shown that they
know how to react when weakened by suspensions and injuries. They’ll need all their
resourcefulness this coming weekend when Piqué, Márquez, Alves and Touré will all be unavailable.
Three improvised defences
The first time Guardiola had serious difficulties in fielding a strong defence was
against Sporting last season. Piqué and Márquez had been sent off the previous match in Santander
so Guardiola choose a defensive line of Alves, Puyol, Cáceres and Abidal. The team responded well
and won 3-1.
The second time Guardiola was forced to line up a completely new defence was in the Spanish
Cup final against Athletic Club. With Márquez and Milito both injured and Abidal banned, Guardiola
brought Touré into the back line alongside Alves, Piqué and Puyol. Barça won 4-1 and lifted the
Club’s 25th Spanish Cup.
The last time the manager had to improvise a defensive foursome was in
the Champions League final. Alves and Abidal were suspended while Márquez and Milito were injured.
Guardiola choose Puyol, Piqué, Touré and Sylvinho, a defence that kept a clean sheet against the
likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney. Despite missing four of their defensive regulars,
Barça won their third Champions League.
Red cards followed by wins
However, there’s a statistic that demonstrates that the team responds well
after having a player sent off. So far, Guardiola’s teams have had 11 players sent off in 9
different matches. In the 8 following matches, the team has only been beaten once, winning 6 and
drawing 1.
The only defeat in these circumstances came against ….Atletico Madrid – this
weekend’s opponent – in the match that ended 4-3 last season.
Seventeen years later
The last time the Camp Nou witnessed the sending off of two or more Barça players was on 13th
February 1993. Barça and Atlético Madrid drew 11 (1-1) and Bakero, Amor and Koeman, plus Vizcaíno,
were all sent off. Johan Cruyff’s team ended up with 8 men.