To be more accurate, it scores goals for all my friends who play football with me The new FC Barcelona uniforms have been out for a little bit now and you would have noticed the new blue/aqua uniform that the Barca player wore on their trip to Scotland. That is obviously the new Away jersey and the Home jersey has stayed the same. Overall, I can speak for many people in saying that the new away jersey looks really nice and the designers did a great job. Here is what my a team mate told me at weekly training the other night:

Dude, I wanna get that new Barcelona jersey, you know the blue one? I love the style of the numbering on the back, it looks really good

50 Years And Going Strong

Personally I really like the new colour scheme of the away shirt and the 50 year commemoration around the FC Barcelona badge is really nice. What do you think of the new away shirt? Leave your comment below and we can discuss the pros and cons.

With the win over Dundee United, Barcelona headed into this match with optimism and a positive outlook on the game. Manager Frank Rijkaard used the same formation as previously used against Dundee with the attacking trident of Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto’o and Santi Ezquerro (Note Lionel Messi is resting due to the recent Copa America). He then went on to replace the three attackers with Thierry Henry, Dos Santos and Bojan Krkic. The best part about the win is the fact that Ronaldinho scored twice and that made me pretty happy. He scored with his head for his second, which I’m sure he was very happy about because I know for a fact that he believes that his heading game is one of the weaker aspects of his game, so this could only boost his confidence. Here are the goals with the accompanying video clips so enjoy.

Ronaldinho Penalty Kick (21st min)

Great run by Zambrotta which really helped his side take the lead. Cool and well placed finish by Ronaldinho.

Ronaldinho Goal (40th min)

Great one-two touch and pass by Eto’o and great cross by Sylvinho to find Ronaldinho who smartly heads the ball in the other side of the net.

Dos Santos Goal (51st min)

Once again, great build up with a exceptional run by Bojan who cuts the defence in half with a great ball to Henry who whips the ball back in for Dos Santos to calmy place into the net. (Keep your eye on Dos Santos for the future, he’s going to be a great player)

Okay I want to acknowledge a couple of things first. It’s been a while since I spoke about a game that Barca has had so I am happy to be posting a topic about a match. Secondly, I know this blog is all about Ronaldinho and how to play like him, but I think Henry deserves a little credit for the great start he’s had with his new club and team mates. This breaks some what of a curse that Barca has had to contend with, as the club has lost to the Scottish side on four previous encounters. Manager Frank Rijkaard noted the great performances of his debutants. Here’s what he had to say about them:

Touré Yaya had a great match especially considering how little we’ve trained, and he adapted very well to our playing system. Abidal did a good job on the flank. It’s promising because he’s very strong, fast and can only improve. Henry moved well, intelligently, and gave extra depth to our game. He hadn’t played for some time. At the beginning he had doubts but he was convinced that he wanted to take part with the team.

Now Onto The Actual Match

Henry was the hero for the day with the only goal, Yaya provided a solid wall of defence and Abidal proved to be the owner of the left flank. The actual goal itself came in the 90 th minute thanks to Giovani dos Santos being fouled inside the left-hand side of the penalty box. As a result, Henry stepped up to take the spot kick and delivered the ball down the centre to rebound off the keeper and then calmly put the ball away.
Before this event however, Barca came close with missed opportunities from Ronaldinho, who hit the cross bar off a free kick outside the area and both Ezquerro and Eto’o had their respective chances before the half-time whistle blew. It’s a great result for Barcelona who will take this win in their stride and prepare for their next match against Hearts tomorrow which should be even more exciting and I will cover that one as well.