Well, that was an immensely entertaining first 60 minutes, followed by a rather pedestrian last 30. Lyon was the better team early, but Barca showed their quality throughout the entire match. A few random observations:
-Juninho is a less ugly Pau Gasol. And granted, basically every person is a less ugly Pau Gasol as he is perhaps the first example of reverse evolution. His first free kick was cheeky but Valdes really should have saved it. Otherwise, he's really not that useful outside of free kicks.
-Dani Alves is a great right-back, but based on what I've seen of him and what I've seen of Maicon, I'm really sick of hearing them compared as the two best right-backs. Maicon is the best right now, this isn't an argument. Maicon is constantly involved, spearheading Inter's attack and is seldom compromised defensively. Alves had some poor tackles, got beat a few times, wasn't as marauding as advertised and got a stupid yellow card in a match where the ref seemed to have stitched his pockets closed.
-Lyon has been harped for its defensive less-than-stalwart nature this season, but you have to give them immense credit in this match. While they were rather susceptible on set-pieces to a team that's not known for them, they were sterling at the back. The fact that you didn't know Henry wasn't playing for half the game and that Messi was seldom heard from, you have to give them credit. And while I do subscribe to the "Messi is the best player right now" fan club, I must say...
-Is Messi proving beatable? Or should I say, beat-upable? Just like Real Madrid, Lyon was able to put the clamps on Messi by just being overly physical with him at all times (Fabio Grosso mauled him all match). Granted, most clubs subscribe to this policy, but when you take top clubs, who have the talent and the stature, can you keep Messi out if you just keep on the ground all match? Something to look for in the second leg.
-Karim Benzema is a great target-man, but will never be a world-class striker. I know he's young, and immensely talented, but he lacked that otherworldly creative awareness that the greatest have. This was never more evident than when he kept his head down and tried to beat two defenders when he had a BEYOND wide-open Keita ready to make the match 2-0. Any top striker makes that pass, and until Benzema stops barreling towards goal on his own, he'll always have the goals but never the results.
-All in all, Barca showed why they are so terrifying tonight. They didn't play particularly well, their stars didn't shine and they still came left with a tie and an away goal, not to mention Eto'o early on came out of nowhere and hit the post on a fast break in a situation where it was unclear how he even got the ball (to be fair, Benzema repeated the same feat about 10 minutes later). Barca will cruise to a easy finish over Lyon in the Nou Camp, and Lyon will spend another simmering about how they don't do well in the Champions League.
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To comment on Giblinho's post (the subject of which I considered treating in a post as well) I would like to completely agree with the Messi comments. I saw this physicality overcoming his skills and wanted to second the notion. If I were the manager of any team coming face-to-face with either Barcelona or, for that matter, Argentina, I'd have my team rough him up constantly. Get a couple yellows, whatever. Most important, marginalize his talents and you have a good shot at winning. Well put, Giblinho.
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