In what was perhaps a game for the ages, Barcelona managed to comeback in the last minutes a 2-0 defeat to a 2-2 tie and then a 5-3 victory in extra-time. Kenedy and Soldado would shatter Barcelona's dreams, but the Messi Effect would come in full swing 88 minutes in, near the end of the game, when he assisted a goal to Griezmann. He then was influential in the equalizer from Alba with almost no time left. In extra-time, Griezmann gave Barcelona the lead, though the joy didn't last long as Vico equalized via penalty. Fortunately, and with some influence from Messi, De Jong and Alba finished the game to get us qualified to the semi-finals. Messi's stats were: 1 assist, 1 yellow card, 7 SOT, 1 shot to the woodwork (11 shots in total), 9 dribbles, 10 key passes, 12 ground duels won, 3 fouls received, 3 long balls, 3 crosses, 91 passes, and 162 touches. A 10/10 monsterclass that earned him a MoTM according to SofaScore. Here was his performance put on a video:
Barcelona had the luxury to hit 3 woodworks and miss 3 big chances and still win, which we know can't happen often. We dominated almost the entire game, but as always, the one time we give them a chance is the one time they score, which is always frustrating.
Now being between the best 4 teams of the competition Koeman will probably give the Copa del Rey some importance now, but we'll see. So as always, see you in the next blog!
No comments:
Post a Comment