We all know what this match was, right? The return of Lionel Messi! He’s finally got his groove back after shuffling through two half-matches, and was his amazing self again against the Sounders. Leo took full charge of the attack, putting so much effort – maybe a bit too much for just a friendly – and it paid off, as he netted two spectacular goals in the forty-five minutes he played.Barca were completely dominant throughout the first half. The defense was staggering, they never let the opposition get too near a real attack and always won back possession right away, and we noticed a lot of long passes as the ball was continually played up to the front from the back. There wasn’t much ballwork in midfield, but that’s a good thing because the play was shifted straight from defense to attack, no fumbling in between, no loss of possession, just Leo leading the way with chance after chance.
That said, the players were a bit slow in the box, which accounted for several lost chances, for while Leo was on fire, Bojan was quite out of it and Henry also seemed slow. But we’re not worrying too much, it’s preseason and they can’t be expected to jump into form right away.
Pep made plenty of changes at the half, and with Messi out the attack wasn’t as snappy, things picked up in midfield to build up the attacks, led by Jeffren and Pedro. Barca maintained possession, not letting the Sounders see too much of the ball, and our pair of attackers along with the lively Jonathan were able to keep up a steady threat on the opposition goal.
Jeffren scored a lovely goal not long after the half, and the phenomenal Pedro followed it up by grabbing a spectacular shot in the dying minutes of the match, the score ending at 4-0 for Barca. That’s our kind of score, and our kind of match; great work by Messi and the kids.
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