Barcelona achieved a fantastic 5-0 win against Mallorca at the Camp Nou in Matchday 30 of La Liga. Cesc Fabregas (hat-trick) and Alexis Sanchez (brace) scored the goals for the Blaugrana, who enjoyed 72 percent of possession, created 22 goal-scoring chances and attempted 18 shots, nine of them on target.
Let's face it: This was a potentially dangerous match as, understandably, the prospect of maintaining the very comfortable lead at the top of La Liga for yet another week could simply not compare to the excitement of fighting for qualification for the Champions League semifinals in a few days' time.
- Fabregas hat trick leads Barca
- Abidal returns for Barcelona
In his return to the Camp Nou technical area, Tito Vilanova chose to reserve key men such as David Villa, Sergio Busquets and Xavi Hernandez for the decisive upcoming clash against Paris Saint-Germain and chose a starting eleven full of players who haven't managed to earn as much time on the field as they would have liked to so far this season.
The absence of quadruple Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi due to the hamstring injury he picked up at the Parc des Princes in midweek definitely left a potentially difficult gap to fill but, fortunately, the Cesc-Alexis duo stepped up with one of the best partnership performances that Cules have witnessed in recent times. The pair seemed to always find each other thanks to accurate returns, superb mutual services, fabulous individual touches and lethal finishing in front of goal.
While the fact that Mallorca is currently the team with the weakest defensive record in the entire Spanish league can't be overlooked, seeing how Barcelona could achieve such a placid victory without the club's best ever goal-scorer is reassuring and shows the remarkable depth of a squad full of World Cup winners and internationally recognised stars.
There were plenty of first-time passes, runs between the lines, combination play and, above all, it was clear that players were fully focused on finishing the job in hand without hesitation, evidenced by the Catalans' 4-0 at halftime.
Having said all of the above, my favourite moment of the night didn't actually have that much to do with the game itself. A massive 406 days after his last competitive appearance, the legendary Eric Abidal finally returned to professional football in front of the adoring Catalan crowd, who were delighted to gift their hero with an emotional standing ovation when he jumped on the pitch on the 69th minute.
Words simply can't explain my admiration for what the relentless Frenchman has achieved. Despite being faced with a daunting amount of terrible news in recent years, Abidal never stopped being optimistic and has, perhaps unwillingly, become a role model for his teammates during his absence. Overcoming a liver transplant surgery is a huge achievement in itself, but being able to do so and then come back to play football at professional level shows an unprecedented level of commitment that is truly unheard of -- Welcome back, Abi!
The inconvenient match against Mallorca is finally over and fans can now focus on the upcoming battle against PSG in midweek. The main talking point will obviously be whether Vilanova should force Messi back into the team if he doesn't reach an optimum level of fitness. But, judging by the tremendous job by the Cesc-Alexis tandem tonight and the favourable 2-2 draw collected in the away leg, I feel La Pulga should only be included if the risk of a long-term injury is non-existent.
Let's face it: This was a potentially dangerous match as, understandably, the prospect of maintaining the very comfortable lead at the top of La Liga for yet another week could simply not compare to the excitement of fighting for qualification for the Champions League semifinals in a few days' time.
- Fabregas hat trick leads Barca
- Abidal returns for Barcelona
In his return to the Camp Nou technical area, Tito Vilanova chose to reserve key men such as David Villa, Sergio Busquets and Xavi Hernandez for the decisive upcoming clash against Paris Saint-Germain and chose a starting eleven full of players who haven't managed to earn as much time on the field as they would have liked to so far this season.
The absence of quadruple Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi due to the hamstring injury he picked up at the Parc des Princes in midweek definitely left a potentially difficult gap to fill but, fortunately, the Cesc-Alexis duo stepped up with one of the best partnership performances that Cules have witnessed in recent times. The pair seemed to always find each other thanks to accurate returns, superb mutual services, fabulous individual touches and lethal finishing in front of goal.
While the fact that Mallorca is currently the team with the weakest defensive record in the entire Spanish league can't be overlooked, seeing how Barcelona could achieve such a placid victory without the club's best ever goal-scorer is reassuring and shows the remarkable depth of a squad full of World Cup winners and internationally recognised stars.
There were plenty of first-time passes, runs between the lines, combination play and, above all, it was clear that players were fully focused on finishing the job in hand without hesitation, evidenced by the Catalans' 4-0 at halftime.
Having said all of the above, my favourite moment of the night didn't actually have that much to do with the game itself. A massive 406 days after his last competitive appearance, the legendary Eric Abidal finally returned to professional football in front of the adoring Catalan crowd, who were delighted to gift their hero with an emotional standing ovation when he jumped on the pitch on the 69th minute.
Words simply can't explain my admiration for what the relentless Frenchman has achieved. Despite being faced with a daunting amount of terrible news in recent years, Abidal never stopped being optimistic and has, perhaps unwillingly, become a role model for his teammates during his absence. Overcoming a liver transplant surgery is a huge achievement in itself, but being able to do so and then come back to play football at professional level shows an unprecedented level of commitment that is truly unheard of -- Welcome back, Abi!
The inconvenient match against Mallorca is finally over and fans can now focus on the upcoming battle against PSG in midweek. The main talking point will obviously be whether Vilanova should force Messi back into the team if he doesn't reach an optimum level of fitness. But, judging by the tremendous job by the Cesc-Alexis tandem tonight and the favourable 2-2 draw collected in the away leg, I feel La Pulga should only be included if the risk of a long-term injury is non-existent.
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