Barcelona 4-1 Almeria: The chase is on!

Posted by: neydmin Posted date: March 02, 2014 In: Neymar news | comment : 0

Full-time: Barcelona 4-1 Almeria
Goals: Alexis Sanchez (9′), Lionel Messi (24′), Puyol (83′), Xavi (89′)
Match date: March 2, 2014
Stadium: Camp Nou
Competition: La Liga
Barcelona line-up: Valdés, Adriano, Mascherano, Puyol, Daniel Alves, Busquets, Xavi, Fabregas, Neymar, Lionel Messi, Alexis Sánchez.

After last week’s defeat against Real Sociedad, Barcelona knew how important it was to get back in the winning track this weekend, especially with their two rivals from Madrid meeting each other at the Vicente Calderón. Barça hosted and easily defeated Almeria at the Camp Nou this Sunday evening, beating them in a clear 4-1 win.

Tata Martino lined-up Neymar and Lionel Messi right from the start, but it would be the third attacking man scoring the opener early in the first half. We had been playing for almost 10 minutes in the Camp Nou, when Cesc Fabregas tried to curl in a short into the far post, but saw the ball being blocked by Almeria‘s goalkeeper and falling into Alexis Sánchez foot. The Chile international kept his composure and finished it off with one touch, against an empty net.

The second goal of the night arrived in the 24th minute and it would be Lionel Messi scoring it, from a terrific free-kick roughly 25 yards out of Almeria‘s goal. The Argentina international curled the ball perfectly over the wall and straight to the top right corner, extending Barça‘s lead to two goals.

Almeria responded immediately after though, and unsurprisingly they’ve done it from a corner-kick play. Victor Valdés made a mistake and stepped back after he was already committed to meet the cross and Trujilo managed to head the ball into the back of the net without much trouble. The game was far from being over and the hosts knew they couldn’t rest until they scored at least another goal.

However, the 3-1 only came in late in the second half and it had to be the team’s captain Carles Puyol showing how it’s done. Just like Almeria had done earlier in the first half, Barça exploited their opponents vulnerabilities in defending from a corner-kick, and after a first header from Messi that hit the cross bar, Puyol reached the rebound before everyone else and touched it in for his first goal of the season.

The count was closed shortly after, when Xavi managed to score the 4-1 in the 89th minute. The Spain international midfielder picked up a pass from Pedro coming from the left, aimed for one of the bottom corners and gave no chance for Almeria‘s goalkeeper to stop his shot. With this win Barcelona are now only 1 point behind Real Madrid, who didn’t go beyond a 1-1 draw against Atletico Madrid this Sunday afternoon. Neymar will now join Brazil for an international friendly against South Africa next Wednesday and only after that game he will start preparing Barcelona‘s upcoming league fixture, scheduled for next Saturday, against Real Sociedad.