Bravo’s dreams of a clean sheet shattered, Messi’s free kicks way off the mark and Alvarez proves to be Celta’s hero for the night!
Date: 1st November 2014
Venue: Camp Nou
Attendance: 98,787
Kick Off: 19:00 GMT
Referee: Inaki Bikandi Garrido
Score: Celta Vigo 1 – 0 Barcelona
Scorers: Larrivey 55’.
Yellow Cards: Hernandez 14’, Gomez 72’, Pedro 93’.
Red Cards: None
The first half was rather a dull tug of war between the two teams on the pitch with Barcelona having 5 shots on goal and Celta Vigo just one. Regardless of that, the first half saw Celta quite in control with the keeper making some very excellent saves. There is a reason Celta Vigo are 6th in the league, and they were keen on showing that in the game tonight.
The highlight of the first half was the immaculate save made by Johnny who deflected Barcelona’s shining star’s on shot goal onto the crossbar and denied the Argentinean the opportunity to sore. There were several tries by Neymar and Messi combined but none found home in the first 45 minutes of the game. The game was slow and rather uneventful the first half of the match and due to that the pace of the game was slow as well.
The second half, on the other hand, was just as eventful as the first was monotonous. Alvarez deserves all kinds of praise for his amazing goalkeeping against Barcelona’s top strikers. He held down the fort and did not let any of Barcelona’s numerous shots on goal pass the line. A Shout out to the Celta Keeper for his efforts in the match. It was not long before Celta claimed the first goal of the game. Larrivey slid the ball into the net with ease, leaving the Barca keeper Bravo’s dreams of a clean sheet unattended to. With all that said and done, Celta Vigo bagged an understandably shocking victory against Barcelona shocking many and bringing joy to their fans.
This is the first time Celta has won at Camp Nou and the last time they won against Barcelona was two months before the attack on Pearl Harbor. Alvarez deserves all the respect in the world for this match, which is why even though my previous 3-0 prediction in favor of Barcelona was way off the mark, I have never been happier to be so wrong.
Line-Ups:
Barcelona: Bravo, Alves, Mascherano, Mathieu, Alba, Busquets (Xavi 67’), Rakitic, Rafinha (Pedro 67’), Suarez, Messi, Neymar.
Celta Vigo: Sergio, Mallo, Cabral, Gomez, Jonny, Radoja, Hernandez (Fernandez , Krohn-Delhi, Orellana, Nolito (Madinda 88’), Larrivey (Charles 76’).
Man of the Match:
Alvarez - The reason being very obvious, if it wasn't for the man's saves Barcelona might have won 7-0 against Celta. A round of applause for the keeper!