MX23RW : Thursday, November 7 22:50:04| >> :120:17364:17364:

Match Analysis: Real Zaragoza 0-3 Barcelona

Match Analysis: Real Zaragoza 0-3 Barcelona
© PA Photos
Sports Mole looks back over Barcelona's comfortable victory away at Real Zaragoza.

Barcelona moved a step closer to regaining the La Liga title by recording a 3-0 victory from their trip to Real Zaragoza this evening.

Midfielder Thiago Alcantara opened the scoring during the first half, before a brace of strikes from 21-year-old Cristian Tello sealed the outcome for the champions elect.

Sports Mole has looked back over the encounter to determine if the scoreline flattered the Catalan side in any way.

Match statistics:

Zaragoza:
Shots 11
On target 2
Possession 33%
Corners 2
Fouls 15

Barcelona:
Shots 10
On target 6
Possession 67%
Corners 7
Fouls 15

Was the result fair?

It's very rare that when the winning margin is this big, the losing team can feel hard done by and today is no different. Barcelona may have been missing a few players, but they were too sharp for their hosts throughout the entire 90 minutes.

Zaragoza's performance

Granted they were playing against a very good side, but Zaragoza will be disappointed with their display. To get anything out of Barca you need to work hard and close them down, but there was very little of that from the home players. Consequently, they were dragged around the pitch and were even made to look a little silly at times.

Barcelona's performance

When the starting lineups showed that the likes of Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Jordi Alba were absent, you could have been forgiven for thinking that Barcelona may have struggled today. Quite simply, though, that wasn't the case. It took them 10 minutes or so to settle, but once they did, some of the football that they played was a delight to watch. Perhaps they could have scored more, but Tito Vilanova will not be too concerned by that.

Sports Mole's man of the match

Crisitan Tello: With a number of key players absent, a few squad players were given the chance to shine for Barcelona today. Tello took on the challenge and shone from the first whistle until the last. He scored two goals and was a constant menace to the Zaragoza defence.

Biggest gaffe

When facing a player with pace such as Tello, the last thing you want to do is to try and defend him square-on. That is exactly what Glenn Loovens did inside his own area, which resulted in the 21-year-old skipping by him like he wasn't even there, before rolling the ball into the net.

Referee performance

Whenever Barcelona play, you know that the opposition are going to commit a number of fouls. Where David Fernandez did very well was unlike some of his compatriots, he didn't book every Zaragoza play that was late in the challenge. He took on board that some were genuine attempts to play the ball, which was pleasing to see.

What next?

Zaragoza: A week on Monday Zaragoza will continue their quest for La Liga survival away at Celta Vigo.

Barcelona: The Catalans return to home comforts next Saturday when Levante make the trip to Camp Nou.

ID:79549: cacheID:79549:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:5269:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Barcelona's Lionel Messi is congratulated by team mate Thiago after scoring against Getafe on February 10, 2013
Read Next:
Barcelona hit Getafe for six
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Barcelona12110140112933
2Real Madrid1173121111024
3Atletico MadridAtletico126511871123
4Villarreal116322019121
5Osasuna126331716121
6Athletic Bilbao125431812619
7Real BetisBetis125431210219
8Mallorca12534109118
9Rayo Vallecano114431210216
10Celta Vigo125161820-216
11Real Sociedad124351010015
12GironaGirona124351517-215
13Sevilla124351217-515
14AlavesAlaves124171419-513
15Leganes122551216-411
16Getafe12174810-210
17Espanyol123181122-1110
18Las PalmasLas Palmas122371321-89
19Real ValladolidValladolid12228924-158
20Valencia11146817-97


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!