I can't lie, I was a little more than excited to watch the season opener for my favorite team. The people at ESPN and GolTV finally threw me a bone and now broadcast Liga games on ESPN2 as well as ESPN360.com, which is where I stream the games from since I can not for the life of me fine the cable box in my dorm to hook up my television. But I digress.
I watched the entire game one and a half times. The first half I streamed on ESPN360.com during my chem class to help pass the time. I streamed the entire game around 10 PM after my last class let out, but I would watch the entire thing again. It was definitely one of the better games I've seen Barca play since preseason, especially given the several second-stringers, new players, and absence of almost half of the starting lineup. Bojan (Jeffren 81'), Ibrahimovic, and Pedro commanded the striking positions, ahead of Xavi, Busquets, and Keita across the middle. Dani Alves, Puyol, Pique (Fontas 85'), and Maxwell (Abidal 35') formed the defense above Valdes in goal.
Technically, it wasn't a game that would win them another European Championship. Their passing was clean, shots generally on target, occasional fancy footwork by Bojan and Xavi, but a spark was missing. I'm thinking it was the absence of Iniesta, Marquez, recovering from respective injuries, Henry and Toure, benched after their starts in Monaco on Friday, and of course, Messi, taking an out-of-character leave of absence from Barcelona to prepare for a World Cup-qualifier with Argentina against Brazil. Those five compose almost half of the starting XI, and although against a team like Sporting their absence, clearly, was not necessary, it would have made the game a bit more interesting and energetic.
Don't get me wrong, however, because I am in no way complaining that los canteranos got their time to shine. I've been following Barcelona since 2007 and have been waiting for Bojan to get his big break for just as long. Rijkaard saw the potential he had during Messi's traumatic injury in the 07-08 season against Celtic. But after Eto'o grew up and Henry stopped complaining about playing on the left, my man was benched for almost the entirety of Guardiola's debut season, save for the Copa Del Rey tournament and the games at the end of the '08-09 season that didn't matter to the team mathematically.
Today, though, was my boy's night to shine. He opened the scoring for Barca with a beautiful back post diving header off of a corner kick from Xavi, and he had been banging down Sporting's doors before that as well. He looked so comfortable in his striking position, easily connecting with the midfielders, as well as Ibra and Pedro. He continued his reign of terror until the 81st minute when a collision with Sporting defender led to a muscular problem in his leg, putting him out of business for 15-20 DAYS! I am not going to be a happy person for the next 2-3 weeks, I can assure you of that.
The thing that really frustrated me about the game today was Ibrahimovic. He did not seem motivated at all to be out on the field during the whole of the game. His shots, when they came, were half-hearted and usually directed at the goalie. He was not involved in many plays, and his expression was generally one of disinterest or frustration. But I guess I have to give him credit for the crazy header he scored off of Dani's cross. He, like Keita, who scored the 2-0 by heading in a cross from Dani Alves, also scored off of a cross, allowing Barcelona a comfortable 3-0 lead. Hopefully that goal, his first with Barcelona, will kick-start his playing this season. I can't wait to see what he becomes at Barcelona/
All in all it was a very good season start for Barcelona. I can not wait to see how this season pans out for Guardiola and my boys.
