FCBARCELONA.CAT

22.02.2009 19:45

Still in with a chance in Europe (36-27)

Verónica Díez

Barça Borges isn’t ready to say goodbye to the Champions League just yet. An easy win over Gudme by 36 to 27 and defeat for Ciudad Real against THW Kiel by 33 to 26 means the Catalans are still going in Europe.

Sunday was a good day for FC Barcelona as they won, their main rival lost and Marco Antonio Oneto and Álvaro Ruiz made their European debuts. The Chilean scored to make it 31 to 19 but was shortly afterwards sent off with a straight red card. Xavi Pascual’s men showed how well they can play and Albert Rocas was top scorer with eight.

The outstanding features of the game were Barça’s defence, wide play and keeper Venio Losert.

Good start

Barça Borges controlled the game right from the start and were only threatened by Gudme when the Danes scored three in a row to go ahead at 3-4 in the fifth minute. It was their first and last time in the lead as Barça reacted and upped their game to be ahead by 5 at 11-6 after 15 minutes. Barça’s defence became more solid as the game went on and Gudme’s only options were to wait for a mistake to hit on the break. At halftime the score was 17 to 14.

Kill off game

GOG Svendborg Gudme started the second half more brightly but then Barça scored eight on the trot to take a 29-18 lead and virtually kill off the game with twelve minutes left on the clock. The visitors’ only hope was Petersen who scored both from out wide and from seven metres. Albert Rocas was superb out on the right and combined well with Víctor Tomás, while Mikkel Hansen scored five against his former club.