Saturday, January 22, 2011

WHERE ARE YOU?

According to my stats people actually read this blog.
Which leaves me with one question:

Racing Santander Barcelona


This morning I woke up with a negative air and a horrible feeling that Barcelona lost. I'd had this on my DVR and for once didn't ruin the game for myself :)
A few days ago Barcelona lost to Betis in the Copa Del Rey second leg, but not that it matters, as we won the first leg by 5 - 0, 3 - 1 isn't going to do anything in the long run.
However Dani Alves did pick up an injury, so Adriano is playing at right back today. And Pique is given a rest, with Abidal playing in centre back for him.
Minute of silence before the game. not to be disrespectful, but is it me or has this been happening almost every week now?
I just died inside because my TV lost signal for a second. but it came back on so life is okay.
This is the beginning of the second half of the season, Barcelona won the away match earlier this year by 1 - 0.

1' Corner to Barcelona off a run from Lionel messi.
1' GOAL! Pedro! i know, what the fuck!? Well, it was kind of Messi's goal, but Pedro just made sure it went in, tipping it on the goal line.
4' there was just a ball that i was 100% sure it was out, but it might just be my eyes.
6' David Villa being stupid and challenges a Santander defender when he could've gotten a corner. Santader gets a free kick.
7' Shit stop diving Santander! can't believe the ref fell for that...
8' Eric Abidal with an excellant clearence in front of the goal.
9' Pedro tries to cross to Messi but
9' Alright here we go again. Barca players being too selfless. Villa should've scored himself, instead his cross is wide to Iniesta.
10' Leo Messi's goal is flagged offside! i can't complain too much, it was really quite obvious.
11' ha! Pedro is outmuscled, he just bounces off the defender who's just standing in front of him.
12' Messi surrouded by 4, 5 defenders in front of the goal. Mate he looks like he's being gang raped.
15' Victor Valdes with a great save!
16' Pedro is offside! wow he's taking on David Villa's usual role now...
19' Adriano with a failed strike...
20' Busquets is down... well, he looks like he's holding an area that was untouched by the defence... i'll just leave it at that.
21' David Villa making a run! oh dear Henrique challage... it's out for a corner.
21' Commmentator just said "Carlos" Puyol. (there was someone down there but I thought that mistake was more important)
23' David Villa almost heel flicking back to himself for a goal. Ah, so close. Would've been incredible...
26' David Villa fails to control the ball properly and it's cleared for a corner.
27' Two failed shots! Messi can't score it, and nor can Puyol! AH! They were both about half a meter from the goal...
28' In the frenzy it seems the Racing Santander keeper is injured. He's okay for the moment.
30' Adriano close to a goal! it's saved after being one on one with the keeper. Pedro is fouled on the sidelines. He's in a lot of pain. First aid spray and he's back on his feet.
31' Messi wasting the free kick and unable to score from it.
32' David Villa with a crazy piece of footwork, but he's taken down in the box... PENALTY!
32' Lionel Messi takes it. I think to silence the stupid "he can't do penalties" since the Betis game. He scores it! He lifts up his shirt and the undershirt says "Happy Birthday Mom" awwww...
36' Corner! David Villa with a repeat of having the ball cleared out.
36' Busquets heads it to the goal but it's saved...
37' Santander shot goes wide. It's offside anyway. Actually, now looking at the playback it isn't clear if it was offside or not...
39' Late challange on Xavi. It's a free kick. Messi takes it. It's a shot. Curling into the goal. Saved. He's biting the shirt again. As with all missed goals from Messi.
43' David Villa's shot is wide. A pass from Eric Abidal sent him running down the pitch. sha,e.
44' Victor Valdes save! it's out for a corner though. Nah they make a bit of a mess of it.
45 + 1' WHAT!? alright that was really good attempt from Santander. Where is our defence.

Half Time!

YES! looks like pique is comming off! *dance* there was just camera footage of him basically chugging down half a bottle of powerade. that... was caveman like of him. He's on for Puyol.
45' Santader close to a shot but it's wide. COME ON BARCA DEFENCE.
47' Messi plays it to Iniesta, who is offside. haven't really seen much of iniesta this game...
48' Adrian from Racing with a shot over to crossbar. I hate how there's an Adrian and an Adriano on pitch.
50' Maxwell's offside... it's Villa's fualt. actually it was barely offside.
51' Adriano's shot/cross is wide. I say that because it was so bad that i didn't know if it was a cross or a shot.
53' What's going on here.... Ball comming into the 18 yard box and Messi's just standing in an offside position. Doesn't matter... the ball is picked up by the keeper.
55' INIESTA GOAL! Ball from Pedro to Iniesta and it was deflected off a defender but still found its way into the goal. Scoresheet says Iniesta, I say own goal. Probably less embarassing for Santander though.
57' Keita is warming up. I reckon his game time is affected by how much Guardiola likes him as a person, rather than him as a player.
59' The Gerard Pique moment... being impatient and kicking it out of touch.
62' Maxwell wobbles over to try get a ball ahead of him. It skipps pass him and he looks like an idiot.
63' Iniesta with a rediculous foul. He just tugs on the guys arm for about 10 seconds.
63' Jeffren is seen in the stands under a blanket. haha. it looks like my blanket.
64' Maxwell comes in with a cross but it's wide.
65' Iniesta is surrounded by 3 defender and comes away with the ball. that's insane control there.
65' Villa flicks the ball on for Messi but there's just too much on it and Tono pick it up.
67' Apparently Racing Santader has only scored 15 goals all season. Lionel Messi himself has scored more than their entire team.
68' Xavi off for Keita. He gets a standing ovation. I admire Keita's patience...
68' Bojan is warming up.
69' Rosenberg from Santander is down and Barca asking if he wants them to kick the ball out of play for him. This is why I love Barca. They're not all just about winning.
74' Substitution for Santander. Rosenburg is off. He looks like he's about to cry.
75' Both Afellay and Bojan are warming up now.
77' DAMN IT! Messi's shot is saved after a MEGA JEDI run. AHH frustration.
79' Bojan is needing help putting on his shoes. oh come on he's not THAT young. I think Afellay is staying on the bench. Why get him to warm up then?
81' Pedro is off for Bojan! he has 9 minutes to impress.
83' Again Bojan overestimating himself. trying to wriggle free and left the ball with the defence.
85' Bojan wins a corner for the team when his shot is deflected.
88' Iniesta's shot is saved again! Messi's pass to him was supurb, twisting around yet know exatly where Iniesta was.
90+2' FULL TIME! WIN!

So basically it was a good weekend because all the teams i support won by 3 - 0
there's Barca, Liverpool and Arsenal :D
And yes this means that this game mirrored the one in the first half of the season. Hopefully we'll be doing as well as we did for the last few months with that pace we can actually win the league.
There's a cup game in the midweek fixture, not sure if i'll be following that one against Almeria.

Monday, January 17, 2011

Barcelona Malaga

EDIT: Shit, i didn't realise Messi was sick during the night. it might've affected his performance and I feel like I've insulted his play way too much in this post. So just... yeah... Either that or he was so angry that he didn't do well and got a fever from that.

this is the life.
am sitting on the sofa just about to start my pre-recorded barcelona game, knowing that we win and real madrid had drawn earlier. am also eating a ham and cheese sandwich and just got back from an hour and a half of a rather relaxed football training. today was a good day.

0' kick off!
1' after a few attacking threats from barca a free kick is given to malaga as iniesta commits a handball.
3' already I am feeling a bit annoyed at the defensive style that malaga are playing. but of couse to play barca it's probably the only way to go.
3' Abidal takes a shot and it goes wide! it hits the side netting. It's good he's got the confidence to come up the field and take a few shots since he'd recently scored the goal that put barca through the quater final of the Copa del rey.
7' INIESTA GOAL! beautiful. powerful shot from outside the box, dani alves with a simple touch of an assist. just brillant.
8' Malaga threatening to score.the cross goes off to no one.

Messi in his new adizero f50s that he released earlier this week, bright orange. i like them.

10' david villa take a cross from xavi but goes down. probably his own fault. no foul.
11' busquets is down. basically got hit in the face and the malaga guy falls on him.
12' Villa passes to Abidal who makes the run for a cross. It's blocked off by the malaga defence.
13' Messi passes to iniesta to try for a goal but he's run out of space and it's a goal kick. shaame.

camp nou firing up with the chants. loving the spirit.

16' Xavi's shot hits the crossbar! from outside the box and it clashes with the frame of the goal. SO CLOSE.
17' DAVID VILLA GOAL! brillant timing with collective effort from busquets recoving the ball, xavi to pass, messi to run through the defense, and villa to finish.
since when did sergio busquets have a beard...
19' Ball from Messi is offside from Dani Alves.
20' Pedro is offside... here we go again.
23' Dani Alves is down. He walks off the pitch, being unable to continue. Adriano is warming up on the sidelines.
26' Busquets commits a foul. there was NO attempt to get the ball. he just pushes him down. Free kick goes nowhere.
26' Adriano comes on for Dani Alves.
27' David Villa is down, kicked in the ankle. Demichelis is carded. Villa looks like he's in severe pain.
28' Pep is seen talking to Puyol who has gone to the sidelines.
30' Malaga goes for a run but is offside.
31' Messi fail. I seldom say this but it was a fail. In a one-two with iniesta he runs out of space and is unable to score. I would like to point out it's a bit of iniesta's fualt considering he put the pass too long.
31' Messi is taken down by the back of Duda's heel. nothing is given.
33' David Villa is offside. this... this is really his first time.
34' Messi is taken down again. He says nothing but Puyol appeals for a card. nothing is given. What i like about messi is that he doesn't make a fuss.
35' PEDRO GOAL! Iniesta makes a mess of Messi's perfect pass through to him but Pedro scores it.
36' Apono looses his temper with Puyol. He pushes him a bit but Puyol tells him to calm down and he does.
37' Messi makes a mess of a chance. He was literally inches away from finishing it. I am so annoyed. He's still 4 goals behind Ronaldo for the Pichichi.
41' >:( ANGRY FACE. Messi misses a shot again! He takes a shot but it's blocked off by the keeper. He could really have finished it properly. I don't think i've ever seen him this unfocused.
41' Busquets diving in the box as the corner is taken.
44' Messi takes a relatively shit shot and it's blocked by the keeper again. He literally jumps onto the barrier of the pitch. In anger or frustration... or just had too much momentum. am not sure.

45+1' HALF TIME.
Lionel Messi needs to focus. and do what he's best at. being amazing. but everything else was outstanding.

45' the commentator just called Messi, Villa and Pedro the "holy trinity"
48' Guardiola shouting frantically in Catalan. What if Ibrahim Afellay was on the pitch? Would he be shouting in english? some players don't understand English.
48' Messi's run is cleared by the Malaga defence. this must be SO frustrating for him.
50' I just wanted to demonstrate how defensively Malaga are playing. They have 9 players in defence. 9! and 7 in the 18 yard box!
50' "Xavi gives the ball away, you only get to say that about five times in the whole season" - I think the commentator for the world cup said pretty much the same thing.
50' Barca win the ball back and Villa fires a shot wide.
53' Haha, Messi is contesting for a header. That never ends well...
54' Pedro is taken down and wins a free kick about 10 yards out and wide, it's cleared for a corner.
55' I hate it when the score sheet pops out at the bottom of the screen and blocks the visual of the game.
56' PIQUE IS DOWN! :'( His ankle is caught but he seems okay and gets up. phew! ...oh dear he's wincing...
61' Adriano tries a cross in for Messi but it's too high for the number 10 to get it (unsurprisingly)
62' Commentator is already assuming that Barca have won this, he just said that the first half of the season ended with 52 points for Barca.
65' Malaga player somewhat diving, as Busquets runs pass him he wriths on the floor. No foul.
66' Batista from Malaga dives. Busquets touches him round the waist and he's down. Puyol complains about the free kick given to Malaga.
67' DUDA (Malaga) SCORES! Free kick from 22 yards out goes straight to the back of Victor Valdes' net. He's furious. 3 -1.
69' Messi tries to make a break by Barca but is disposessed, the fans are complaining even though he's fairly tackled and he himself isn't making a fuss about it. Oh in the replay it shows a bit of shoving, Messi gets pushed a bit in the head.
71' ER. WHAT!? THE COMMENTATOR JUST CALLED VICTOR VALDES "IKER CASILLAS" IDIOT. HE DOESN'T EVEN REALISE IT. WHAT. A. FAIL.
72' Pedro being too selfless and gives the ball away in the box in search of a pass, when he could've finished it himself.
73' DAVID VILLA GOAL No 2! Xavi with an excellent cross. It initially looked like it was offside but the replay shows it's not.
75' Pedro puts a ball through to Messi but he is unable to finish it.
75' OUTRAGE! Malaga player goes down shouting in "pain" when Abidal barely touches him, and the French left back is carded. injustice.
78' Messi and Iniesta attempt to excecute a one-two but is blocked off by welington.
78' Villa is offside again. again.
80' Bojan and Afellay about to come on.
81' Pedro is off for Bojan, and Iniesta recieves yet another standing ovation as he comes off for Afellay.
83' Bojan VERY close to getting a cross in for David Villa but is blocked off.
84' Messi tries to put one through for Bojan but there's a scramble in the area and free kick is given to Malaga.
85' After a pass from Afellay, Bojan tries to wriggle through the defense, mate, you can't do that. You're not Leo Messi.
86' Adriano's shot is wide... it looked a bit ambitions to start with anyway.
87' Busquets is actually taken down and not diving for once. Free kick to Barca.
89' Malaga stop diving! it's getting old!
89' FUCK! BOJAN COMES IN, PASSES TO AFELLAY, WHO CROSSES TO MESSI, WHOSE SHOT IS SAVED. SO MERELY. AND REBOUNDS TO PEDRO. WHO FAILS TO SCORE.
90 +1' Victor Valdes is some 40 yards away from his goal, taking a kick.
90 +2' Leo Messi Fail! After making a Jedi run he fails to get the cross in.
And that's the last play of the match!
Bojan looks completely shattered after playing for 10 minutes. he's 20. uh...

So as a whole it was a good game, but Messi really, really needed to focus a bit more... Honestly this was his chance on catching up to Ronaldo in the Pichichi, and yet he failed to score on about 6 different occasions.
I have now, great respect for Almeria, who drew with Real Madrid, and really pulled their socks up despite loosing 8 - 0 to Barca earlier this season. So right now the scores stand at 52 Barcelona, 48 Real Madrid! YES!
(Left: Messi frustrated by missing yet another goal oppertunity)

Monday, January 10, 2011

FIFA Ballon D'or



Last night was spectacular.
Barca had:
1 Ballon D'or
1 Coach nomination
3 finalists for Ballon D'or
6 Players in the World XI

Lionel Messi wins the first ever Fifa Ballon D'or, having won both last year. Congrats to Messi! It would've been great if either three of them had won it, mostly because none of them would be as great as they are without each other.
It was strange; In the video for the nominees, Messi was in Xavi's video, Xavi was in Iniesta's video, and Xavi was in Messi's video. But a part of me wanted Xavi to win it, because he's 30 and he did play very well this year, being crucial to both Spain and Barcelona.

And then there was the World XI. All the players who were shortlisted from Barca: Pique, Puyol, Messi, Iniesta, Xavi, Villa, managed to take a spot in the top XI. which is more than half of the spots available. Of course Cristiano Ronaldo was also in it. As a matter of fact i reckon in the real world it wouldn't work out. Ronaldo's huge ego will stir up Villa's temper and it would probably end with Villa strangling Ronaldo who will complain about a tiny scratch on his face that he got from it.

And Pep Guardiola lost out to Mourinho. I must admit that although Mourinho was too much of a diva to show up to the press conference, I am not angry nor surprised about this. He's managed to take up teams that aren't winning trophies at all, and turned them into world champions. Pep takes a team with the best players in the world, and even if they had won the club world cup, it isn't really an indication of being a good coach. Not enough at least.

To sum it up, at this moment I am incredibly proud to be a supporter of FC Barcelona, and am very glad that the magical football they play every week was recognised by such prestigious awards last night.

And finally, i think it's worth saying that Lionel Messi makes me proud to simply exist in the same time frame as him, and in many years forward i hope that i will be telling others that I'd witnessed his incredible football, as well as his incredible humbleness. It's very rare that someone with such recognition is able to stay as modest as he has.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Deportivo Barcelona



Delayed match, i couldn't get up, apparently I had shut off my alarm in my sleep.
SO now im watching my recording on my DVR. and i realised after that i hadn't actually selected my recording, and that THE TV WAS BROADCASTING THE REPLAY AT THE SAME TIME. EXACTLY. so that was freaky.

1. kick off! awesome, adriano is starting. he hasn't really had that much match time, especially in the league. he's mostly been playing in the copa del rey, as well as some of the champions league.

2. i am disliking how bald guardiola is. enjoyed the buzzcut...

3. the good thing about this game, in fact, the great thing about this game is that barcelona may have to play deportivo in the copa del rey, and it would certainly be good for them to know their opponants from this. but the problem is that it goes both ways, which means deportivo will also know how to destroy barca.

4. xavi is on the bench today after making 550 caps in the bilbao game. as is, to my dismay, bojan and afellay.

5. messi is taking a coner as pedro's shot is good but punched out of danger for deportivo. puyol fails to bring it under control. goal kick.

6. the colour of messi's undershirt is annoying me. and for some reason the red on their kit today looks more purple than ever.

7. messi is making a run for a shot but he's taken down by two of deportivo's defenders. he doesn't even ask for a foul and doesn't complain when none is given. this is why he's such a great player.

8. Adriano with some great passes and skill here... he should get more match time. Obviously he's normally losing out to dani alves for that postion. Guardiola has rested a lot of their players because of the mid week fixture.

9. Deportivo handball. free kick from about 25 yards out. fussy referee is making them re-take the kick because it was apparently supposed to be a bit futher wide... messi takes it and pedro fails to control.

10. messi is chased after by 3 deportivo players, he's gotten through but his wrist seems hurt or something. he shakes it off.

11. iniesta's drifted to more of a central role because xavi is on the bench. mascherano and keita try to fill in that role as well.

12. inieta with a run but can't bring it under control. looked impressive though.

13. pedro seems to be a bit less accurate now than he was with his streak in the last few games.

14. Adriano's shot goes way above the bar. perhaps he shouldn't have gone for it at all. the deportivo forward's name is also adriano. it's really confusing.

JUST TO BE ANNOYING I'LL BE TYPING WITH THE TIMECODE IN FRONT NOW, INSTEAD OF A NUMBER LIST.

25' GOAL GOAL DAVID VILLA! GOAL! MESSI ASSIST! VILLA GOAL! great timed assist by leo messi! ahh... that's the stuff. barcelona 1 - 0 deportivo. it's apparently villa's 150th goal in la liga.

27' something up with messi. im not sure. commentator says it's his wrist from earlier, i thought it was his nose. he's been taken down, rolled over, coughs, spits, and coughs again... i'm rather worried now...

30' it seems like keita doesn't even want the ball, he moves away from the direction they're moving it. maybe he's just trying to get out a second option for a team.

32' apparently this is the least messi has scored in 8 months, having not scored in 3 out of 5 in his last la liga games.

33' david fucking villa you frustrate me sometimes. abidal with an amazing run and cross, and then villa takes a shot right at a defender... WHY, messi was free and clear...

34' again, villa misses a shot. again.

35' leo messi is stopped, deportivo player is down, messi is angry and kicks the ball out of the game. player is taken onto the sidelines for medical, play is restarted.

37' SHIT GOAL IS FUCKING OFFSIDE. IT WAS AMAZING. SHIT IT"S NOT EVEN ACTUALLY OFFSIDE FUCKING LA LIGA REFEREES. ABIDAL. what a same. messi with a great assist. abidal was almost so close to getting his second goal for barca EVER, last one being 4 days ago.

40' deportivo take a shot from distance and it is wide...

41' apparently these are the two least aggresive sides in la liga, in terms of least cards. technically it should make a dull match, but it's barca so it's not dull. mostly becuase we play fair and well. HA.

43' damn it... iniesta with a great pass to messi who makes a great run, but there was no goal as the defenders take the ball off him...

44' iniesta is down, the ball smacked him in the face. he looks okay. his face and nose are red though.

45' HALF TIME before the game re-starts the camera comes back to the game, and in the stadium there's just a guy talking into the microphone in a creepy voice... im not sure what's going on here... oh good, he's stopped talking and waving flag comes on. spanish version. david bisbal. good, the game is on again.

46' Villa's taken a shot, which was blocked and he looked a bit knocked on... he's limping a bit.

i hope to god that we get to see some of afellay today. not just 2 seconds of him like we did in the cup game.

49' Leo messi is taken down, he's so annoyed. i am too. he was pulling his shirt for about 5 seconds. what... it's not even legal in rugby. messi takes the shot quick but the ref calls for it to be pulled back and taken again. he does.

50' Villa taking the free kick, no, messi takes it. it's some 27 meters out. HE GOES FOR GOAL! AND IT"S IN! just brillant. amazing. stunning goal.

54' Messi gives the ball away. rare incident.

56' deportivo free kick. it looks like a dangerous spot to take it. it's far far off. good.

59' ...someone is down. it's... david villa. it's his leg. caught on the ankle. pedro is looking smug...

60' Bojan Krkic is warming up. please come on...

61' Adriano's cross is deflected out and we have a corner for barca. messi takes it short and sends it back.

65' david villa is offside. what a shocker. if i had a nickle...

69' David Villa comes off. Bojan is on! where is afellay.... i have a feeling he's being held back becaus he won't be able to communicate with the team..

71' Pedro's run out of space and fails to control it for a cross or shot.

71' Afellay is warming up!

72' Bojan wobbles over and wins a free kick. sometimes i just want to tell him to man up a bit..

apparently messi was bidded for by espanyol, and almost got bought, but then after the gamper trophy he played well and barca decided to keep him for another season in 2005 and the discision did not disappoint.

75' Bojans shot is wide.

i am now desperately trying to silence my friend over skype who is watching this a few minutes ahead and telling me everything that goes on before i get to watch it.

78' attack went wrong. bad accuracy and teamwork from barca, but we win a corner. messi looks like he's feeling uncomfortable. hoping tog od it's not an injury.

79' INIESTA GOAL! WHAT! it was CRAZY! from about 20 yards out, much like the leo messi free kick it just had so much power and accuracy. there was nothing the keeper could do.

80' PEDRO GOAL! (i know right? it was one minute after) messi with INSANE footwork and pedro scores it. wish messi had scored it himself. he's still behind cristano for the pichichi trophy.

81' YES! Afellay is on! for pedro, and iniesta is on for thiago! i like this...
i mean don't get me wrong, i love iniesta but i do enjoy it when Barca B players play up.

83' Deportivo crowd is insane, chanting with great intensity and togetherness as a coner is taken.... i wish i could understand them.

they're showing a clip now of guardiola talking to afellay, i've rewinded to look at it after i realised he was speaking english.

86' Puyol comes in with an important interception but walks away from it with a painful look on his face..

87' Afellay and messi passing around and bojan steps in for a cross to messi who goes for it and it's then saved so merely by the keeper. i am SO annoyed. and so is he. nice to see afellay in action though.

88' Ariano is hurt... not sure why... need to see the replay... i think it was a shoulder that got caught.

90' AHHH Afellay is running after an overshot pass and it's no use.

91' Deportivo player are diving. uncool. Adrian. damn it.

92' FULL TIME! 4 - 0 BARCA! that was good. well. yeah it was good.

by the way, thought it was worth pointing out that messi had a ginger beard throughout this game.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Levante - Barcelona.

Messi is in the stands. oh i am angry now. why was he given special permission to stay on holiday! GAH!
dani alves has shaved his head.
Milito isn't playing even though he is fit.
Bojan is starting for the first time in the league for months.
and this game will be posted in 2 parts because i need to get up early tomorrow and shouldn't be watching his at all.

this first part is live.
5 minutes in: 0 - 0.

1.Bojan's size plays him down a bit as he's pushed around a little bit. For the first few minutes he still hasn't completely gotten control over the ball yet.
2. Villa takes the stranges pass which went about 15 metres up and only 2 metres across.
3. Iniesta takes a short and it is saved by the levante goal keeper.
4. Xavi takes a shot from distance and it is again saved.
5. now I am annoyed because the commentator is listing the absensces of Barcelona and didn't mention Leo Messi. GRAH.
6. Iniesta's cross to Bojan is overshot and is taken by the keeper.
7. David Villa's shot is wide after a great run.
8. Just wanted to point out that Levante's home kit is actually the same colours as the Barca home kit. how annoying. but obviously they're in their away kit at the moment.
9. what a horrible moment. on the counter attack levante forwards are tearing after the ball, but only to be beaten by abidal who passes it to goal keeper Valdes. Valdes passes it back but it was taken by Levante and they almost take a shot. Valdes redeems himself by making a save.
10. Pique, Puyol and Afellay are in the stands. Ibi is looking bored as fuck. I assume that until Afellay learns spanish or catalan he'll be pretty stuck to pique.
11. Commentator says that Lavente is on the tall side. no, Barcelona are on the short side.
12. Barca are asleep and Levante take advantage of the situation and are looking threatening. Abidal does well to clear. Levante are appealing for a penalty. None given. We literally have no central defense today anyway. With Pique on suspension, Puyol injured and Milito still not match fit.
13. Villa's free kick is sent over the crossbar.
14. Pique is on his blackberry in the stands. The commentator is wondering whether he's posting on twitter, saying that he is a pretty regular poster on social networking sites. I am now going to find out.
15. Bojan clashes with two Levante players in a
16. Iniesta is in the sidelines just having a bit of attention from the physios. Dear god i hope he isn't injured.
17. Shit, Bojan misses two chances when Iniesta's ball goes to him, onces when it rebounds off the keeper's save, and one off the defender. They do have a corner though.
18. After a series of fumbles iniesta's goes to ball to bojan and the shot is missed, dropping to Alves, who is literally about a quarter of a foot from the goal and shoots it WIDE. what a waste.
19. shit, everyone is failing. Valdes is forced to make a save because of the slack defense. We're missing the wall in defense that is Carles Puyol.
20. Alves is diving. he isn't even touched.
21. This is incredibly frustrating. at 32 minutes no one has scored.
22. In a replay it shows Bojan was fouled and completely ignored by the referee.
23. Again, missed chances again and again from Bojan and Pedro. In the replay it shows Bojan mouthing something that looked like "I AM SHORT" and looking very, very annoyed. Obviously it was in Catalan and i am a terrible lip reader and even if i wasn't I can't understand catalan.
24. Our attack is simply being completely SLACK. every pass and every cross is just completely off.

5 minutes left in this half.

25. Bojan's shot is deflected off Robuste, captain of Levante tonight, and he seems to have a concussion. He's up and okay now.
26. Why are Barca forcing all these corners? the ONLY tall player to take headers is pique and he's off. What needs to happen now is for Xavi and Mascherano to stop fucking around in the midfield and actually get some balls into the penalty area without Bojan and Villa fucking up.
27. I swear to God the commentator just said "best chance of the game, almost put pique off his penis" Oh, a replay shows he was referring to Pique dropping his peanut and picking it back up to eat it off the floor. nice. nice.
DAVID VILLA IS OFFSIDE.
28. some stuff is going on here. Bojan looks fouled or something. Not sure. Either he's booked for complaining to the ref, or the Levante player is booked for fouling him.

HALF TIME.
Commentator said Barcelona were suffering from a holiday hangover... HA.
Apparently it was Nano who got carded, not Bojan, before the half time.

PEDRO! SCORE! Alves was waiting... and waiting.... and waiting....and threaded the ball through 4 defenders, Pedro obviously thinking on his feet scored it. shit, i forgot i was writing in lists.

29. Thiago is on for Mascherano. cool. hope the Barca B player does well today.
30. Shit, Bojan went down and got kicked in the chest. He seems fine though, no foul given either.
31. Thiago instantly with a shot from distance. It's of course saved by the brilliant keeper Reina from Levante.
32. Pedro got whacked in the gut. Looks painful. Free kick is given. Xavi better not fuck this up. Shot taken and saved.
33. Close save by Victor Valdes. thank god they didn't equalise.
34. PEDRO GOAL! superb. That was from outside the box as well. Dani alves assist. Impressive to the maximum. I must say he's one of the most underated players in La Liga.
35. Levante are a loud side. Their shouts can be picked up beyond the crowd and commentator.
36. Bojan goes down. No foul.
37. AHH BOJAN IS OFF! no goal for krkic... what a shame. Keita is on for him. it was not a good game for Bojan today. Sorry.
38. Thiago with great control and speed there. It's a shame Pedro's shot hits the bar.
39. Milito is warming up! yes! the commentator lied to me, saying he wasn't match fit.
okay. first part out. sign off time 67.47.
first part will be posted first, and then later edited to finish the game off.

EDIT: sorry, i realise that i was meant to get back to this. but either way everyone knows it ended 2 - 1, Levante having scored in the last 5 minutes or so. I would say this victory is a bit of a stretch, too close for comefort, as well as Barca's cup quater final 0 - 0, 1 - 1, just barely pushing through with away goals. not sure what's going on lately...