Last year, Barça only got three points from their first four games, which put their qualification in doubt. This season they have shown that they learned from that lesson and have won their first three games, this afternoon against a gallant Swedish outfit in Sävehof. But the Catalans were deserved winners, with Mikel Aguirrezabalaga leading the scoring with seven.

Long distance scoring

Barça Intersport went 2-0 up early on and never lost that lead, finding goals with relative ease, and sometimes from surprisingly long range. Mikael Franzen’s timeout did nothing to change things as Mikel, Entrerríos and Igropulo racked up the goals, while Johannesson made three consecutive point blank saves off Sorhaindo, as the score rose to 11-6.

The visitors’ best player, Friden, made a huge contribution as they clawed their way back to 14-12 but that glimmer of hope soon darkened, with things standing at 17-12 at the break, with Mikel having already scored 5 goals and Sjöstrand making 8 saves.

The art of counter attacking

In the second half, Víctor Tomás and Laszlo Nagy complemented Ugalde’s speed, and the FCB counter attacks were simply astounding, with Johannesson’s excellent goalkeeping the only reason the margin wasn’t wider. Ten minutes after the break, with things at 23-15, which soon became 28-17, the win was confirmed.

Barça could have relaxed but instead continued as intensely as ever, and secured their ninth win in a row in both Europe and the domestic championship. Playing like they did today, Cologne most certainly beckons.