Apr
9
Barcelona Pulls Through
Filed Under Champions League | Leave a Comment
Barcelona was able to secure its bid to progress to the semifinals of the Champions League tournament today by winning a crucial game against Schalke. After its recent struggles, many doubted Barcelona’s capabilities, but this game has proved that they are still good. More importantly, it has provided a huge momentum boost as they advance to the semifinals to play Manchester United. Yaya Toure scored the only goal of the game off of a beautiful setup by 17-year-old striker Bojan Krkic. His goal gave the team a 2-0 aggregate victory. After last week’s loss against the same team, Barcelona showed much improvement in today’s performance. They played solid soccer throughout to assure the win. Schalke may have lost, but this year was certainly historic for them as it was the first time they have made it this far in the Champions League tournament. Despite the loss, they also played very well today and they weren’t distracted by the rambunctious fans who tried to throw them into disarray.
Both defenses were extraordinary today, stopping close calls several times. Schalke’s D finally stumbled after 43 minutes of play. Barcelona’s scored as Krkic tried to make a cross, which was intercepted by a defender who headed it. As it returned to the ground another Schalke defender (Mladen Krstajic) tried heading it, but it fell to Toure. He shot underneath goalkeeper Manual Neuer, and got the score from six yards out. In a way Barcelona really lucked out by getting the ball like that, but if it weren’t for Krkic the team wouldn’t have had the ball that far down the field. It was a great effort and the team and fans celebrated ardently afterwards, in a celebration that is sure to continue late into the night. All in all it was a great game and both teams should be proud of their performances.