Barcelona 8-2 Huesca
There was a goal-fest at the Camp Nou this afternoon as La Liga champions Barcelona hit new boys Huesca for eight, but the visitors did manage to breach the Barca defence…twice.
Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez scored a couple each as Ernesto Valverde’s stars ran riot, but at 3-2 at halftime, Huesca was still in the game, and that feat was worthy of La Liga 2018 news in itself.
This was a thrashing indeed, little more than some Barca fans would have expected but probably worse than most Huesca supporters feared. But their coach, Leo Franco will dust his team off. This was a free hit and they’ve lost nothing in reality.
Look at the league table and you’ll see the minnows in the middle with four points from three games. Barcelona, of course, is top.
Highlights of the game
Valverde has a team ready to dominate La Liga again and this result will have sent a shiver down the spine of their rivals, but the first action of the game gave the Catalans a jolt. Three minutes had gone when Jorge Miramon crossed and Samuele Longo’s header was blocked. But when the ball worked its way to Juan Camilo Hernandez the loan striker shot home from close range.
It’s been a fairytale ride to the top for tiny Huesca and as the Camp Nou fell largely silent their following went crazy, and who can blame them. It didn’t affect the La Liga 2018 betting odds with 87 minutes on the clock, but this was their moment.
The effect, predictably, was to unleash hell!
Barca was level on 16 minutes when Ivan Rakitic found Messi on the edge of the box and the Argentine fired into the bottom left corner to level. Messi had two more efforts on goal, and Ousmane Dembele had a shot saved before the Huesca defence was breached again, this time by their own player as the unlucky Jorg Pulido put through his own net.
Barca piled on the pressure but Huesca held on until the 39th minute before Jordi Alba put one on a plate for Suarez and the Uruguay star gratefully accepted. But there was more joy in the away contingent when Alex Gallar poked home his third of the season from close range to make it 3-2.
I’m not sure what Franco’s half-time team talk would have been, apart from maybe to keep it tight and stay in the game as long as possible and who knows?
But this is Barcelona we’re talking about, and the second half was a brutal dismantling of their opponents as the Huesca defence endured a bombardment.
Just three minutes into the second half Dembele shot low into the net to make it 4-2, and it was five on 52 minutes when Messi put in Rakitic and the Croat’s shot nestled in the corner. Messi got on the end of a fast break to slot home his second and Jordi Alba got in on the act as Huesca began to pray for the final whistle.
Unfortunately for the visitors, it didn’t come until Suarez had grabbed his second and Barca’s eighth with an injury-time penalty.
Key statistics
Huesca is the smallest team in La Liga history and they’ve made a good start to life in the top flight. A dramatic late equaliser won Huesca a late point against Athletic Bilbao and they have scored two goals in each of their three games so far.
Sbobet odds of 1.078 on a Barca win were about right; this was a mauling. While the visitors enjoyed over 30 per cent possession they were at the end of 31 shots. One every three minutes!
15 of those were on target so it could have been worse but for some brave goalkeeping by Axel Werner.
And all credit to Franco’s team; they managed seven shots of their own and Gallar has scored three in three.
But Huesca has to take its medicine. This is the very best of Spanish football. It will hurt though that in their only other appearance at the Camp Nou they were hammered 8-1!
What’s next?
Barca is away to Real Sociedad after the international break and then at home to PSV in their Champions League opener in Group B, billed as this year’s Group of Death with Spurs and Inter Milan also in the pot.
Next for Franco, I suggest a lie down in a dimly lit room!hampions
And then get up and embrace the league you’re in. After three away games, while their ground has been undergoing refurbishment, Huesca will be delighted to return home and their 5,000 fans will welcome them as heroes. First, they play fellow new boys Rayo Vallecano and then Real Sociedad; after Barca has softened Asier Garitano’s team up.
Come on boys. It won’t be this bad again…
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