Match report:
Full-time: Barcelona 7-1 Osasuna
It was all quite dreary until Osasuna had the cheek to score and make it 2-1 early in the second half. That provoked a furious reaction from Barcelona, who embarked on an entertaining spree, with the most entertaining bit being when Macherano thundered a penalty into the net to score his first ever goal for the club he has been representing for the last seven years! Barcelona are three points clear of Real Madrid at the top of La Liga, with Real having two games in hand.
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89 min: Rakitic has a bang from 25 yards. Sirigu goes down in slow motion but manages to tip it around the post.
GOAL! Barcelona 7-1 Osasuna (Alcacer 86)
Alcacer makes a clever run between the two centrebacks and is rewarded with a fine low pass from deeper. The striker then canters around the out-rushing goalkeeper and slots the ball into the net.
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84 min: After sloppy defending the ball bounces to Alena at the right-hand corner of the Osasuna box. Alena tries to arc a shot into the top corner of the net, but misses.
81 min: Mascherano loses the ball to Kodro in his own half ... but then sprints back to put in a sliding tackle and prevent Osasuna from claiming a sliver of consolation.
Osasuna substitution: Causic on, Merida off.
76 min: The match has sagged back into a stroll. On the plus side, that gives the TV company a chance to show several replays of the Barça bench’s reaction to Masherano becoming a goleador. Luis Suarez seemed to find it particularly hilarious, after first checking that what he had seen was in fact real. Scenes!
73 min: Rakitic totters over to deliver another corner. It’s headed away by Fuentes. A triumph of sorts for the visitors.
Osasuna substitutions, for what it’s worth: Kenan and Olayide on, Romero and Leon off.
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70 min: This is absolutely more like it! It took the brazenness of Osasuna scoring to inspire a dignified performance from Barcelona and now here they are, going all out to humiliate the visitors. That’s how it should be. We want 10! We want 10!
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GOAL! Barcelona 6-1 Osasuna (MASCHERANO 67)
Mascherano wallops the ball straight down the middle of the goal and into the net! It’s his first goal in seven years at Barcelona and the crowd go bonkers! There’s wholesale laughter in the Barça dugout!
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Penalty to Barcelona
Merida tripped Suarez as the forward was heading out of the area. Mascherano will take it!
GOAL! Barcelona 5-1 Osasuna (Alcacer 63)
Turan dinks a ball over the defence. Alcacer runs on to it, holds off a defender and stretches out his right leg to wedge the ball over the advancing keeper as he fell.
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Barcelona substitution: 19-year-old Alena on, Messi off, handing the armband to Busquets on his way.
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GOAL! Barcelona 4-1 Osasuna (Messi 61)
Mascherano feeds his compatriot, who glides towards the box and then curls a low left-footer just inside the post from 20 yards, like he’s done about 237 times before.
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61 min: Rakitic carries the ball forward from the centre circle and the essays a shot in the style of Lothar Matthaus v Yugoslavia in 1990. Poor imitation, though.
GOAL! Barcelona 3-1 Osasuna (Gomes 58)
Rakitic clips a corner towards the back post. Pique takes it down nicely on his chest and then lashes a shot off the post! It rebounds out to Gomes, who slots the ball into the net from 10 yards.
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57 min: Rakitic bangs over a corner. Pique uses his head to divert it towards goal. A defender sticks out a leg to steer it away.
55 min: After a long period of slow ball circulation by Barça, Rakitic makes a dart into the box and appears to be shunted to the ground by Steven. That looked like a penalty to me, but not to the ref, who’s much closer.
52 min: Suddenly Osasuna have the rage, and Barça fans are getting the jitters. Ter Stegen has to react smartly to bat away a ferocious shot by De la Cuevas.
50 min: A cross come in from the left wing and travels all the way over to Mascherano, who doesn’t even have to jump to meet it. He sends a downward header towards goal from six yards. Sirigu dives to his right and palms the ball on to the post and out!
GOAL! Barcelona 2-1 Osasuna (Torres 48)
No one saw that coming! Especially not Ter Stegen, who didn’t move as Torres curled a freekick over the wall and into the far corner! Osasuna couldn’t come back and derail Barça’s title push, could they?
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48 min: Barça are caught faffing about in midfield, inviting Osasuna to launch a rare counter-attack. Busquets scampers back to chop down an opponent and give away a freekick on the edge of the area.
46 min: The teams are back on the pitch, hopefully having had a cold shower to wake them up.
Luis Suarez has not netted for five matches. Surely he has to be introduced here? It’s a perfect chance to get back in the scoring groove and will certainly liven things up.
Half-time: Barcelona 2-0 Osasuna
Messi and Gomes took their goals nicely and Barcelona are ambling three points clear at the top of La Liga. But the key takeaway from this match so far is that the winner of La Liga should be decided by goal difference rather than the head-to-head record. That way Barça would have the motivation to properly crush their opponents here rather than inflict this snoozathon on us.
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41 min: This has become rather tortuous for Osasuna. They can’t get the ball and seem to be struggling to keep summoning the will to go through the motions. Which is pretty much all Barça are doing now. This is about as gripping as a post-season Masters exhibition match.
39 min: Sirigu falls to his left to save a header sent in by one of several Barça players who were unmarked in the box for a freekick.
33 min: An exceptional piece of control by Rakitic enables him to take down an approximate pass before skittering past the left-back. He sends a cross in an area that would have been considered dangerous if any Barça player had bothered venturing into the box. They’re chugging through this in fifth gear and it’s not making much of a spectacle, to be fair. It speaks ill of Barça’s character that they’re not doing their utmost to inflict a massacre here. There’s at least 36 goals here for them they want them. But Barça apparently don’t have that Arbroath attitude.
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GOAL! Barcelona 2-0 Osasuna (Gomes 30)
Rakitic dabs a cross from the right towards the penalty spot. Gomes strokes the bouncing ball first time into the net with suave precision. Nice finish. Game over.
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29 min: Messi plays a sloppy pass! The bloke who intercepts it is so surprised that he dawdles on the ball, allowing Messi to dart over and take it back. Messi then lets fly from the edge of the area. It’s deflected wide for a corner.
25 min: A well-flighted diagonal ball over the top of the Osasuna defence find Alcacer, who lays it back first time to Messi. One of the best Argentinian players of all time takes it on the half-volley, blasting over the bar from nine yards.
23 min: This match is becoming a so-so advertisement for walking football.
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20 min: Messi is continually probing and conniving but his supporting cast isn’t on the same wavelength at the moment. That’s the only reason Osasuna aren’t further behind yet.
18 min: Valiant defending by Osasuna. First Suarez tried to skip his way into a shooting space in the box but was ushered away, then Turan tried to pick out Messi with a dainty cross but that was headed away, too.
15 min: Gomes overhits another intended pass to Turan. There’s been plenty of sloppiness by Barça around the Osasuna box, which is where most of this match is being played.
GOAL! Barcelona 1-0 Osasuna (Messi 12)
Osasuna attempt to play the ball around on half-way. Messi intercepts a loose pass and scampers past the last man and into the box. The keeper comes out to meet him but must know it’s a token gesture: Messi simply flips the ball over him and into the net.
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9 min: It turns out Osasuna do not need to enter Barça’s half to have a shot. Tienza has a pop from five yards inside his own half. It bounces a couple of times before trickling into the arms of Ter Stegen, who would be within his rights to feel insulted by that attempt to beat him.
8 min: Solid defending by Steven to cut out a clipped pass towards Messi, who was coming in at the back post.
6 min: Osasuna enter Barça’s half. They squat there for up to 20 seconds before losing possession.
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3 min: Messi puts his party face on and attempts to dance past three defenders at the edge of the area. He beats one, but the next one puts an end to his fun with a well-timed tackle.
1 min: Osasuna survive the first minute, thanks partially to an overhit cross by Turan.
The teams are in the tunnel. Barça are wearing their usual clobber but Osasuna are giving a debut outing to an all-new orange number, which they were forced to design on the hoof after being told that both of their other kits clash with Barça’s outfit. Someone should probably have seen that coming pre-season.
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As you can see from the lineups below, Barça have decided to omit some regular starters, including Luis Suarez, Andres Iniesta and Jordi Alba. Understandable, really, after matches against Juventus and Real Madrid and before the weekend’s derby against Espanyol. Right now Petar Vasiljevic is pinning that team-sheet on the wall of Osasuna’s dressing room and saying something like: “Are you going to let them diss us like this? Eh? Eh? Oh.”
Teams:
Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Pique, Mascherano, Digne; Busquets, Denis Suarez, Rakitic, Gomes, Turan; Messi, Alcacer
Subs: Cillessen, Iniesta, L Suarez, Alba, Roberto, Umtiti, Alena
Osasuna: Sirigu; Buñuel, Oier, Steven, Fuentes; Roberto Torres, Tienza, Mérida, Romero, De las Cuevas; Sergio León
Subs: Mario, Causic, Kenan, Clerc, Baria, Marquez, Olavide
Referee: Jose Munuera
Preamble
There you are. Welcome to Osasuna’s nightmare. To avoid being relegated from the Spanish top-flight today, La Liga’s bottom club only must win at the Nou Camp against a Barcelona side that is suddenly back on the title trail thanks to Sunday’s victory over Real Madrid. A daunting task for anyone, but all the more so for a team that is total bobbins.
So far this season Osasuna have managed three wins from 33 leagues matches. They have a goal difference of minus 41. They were spanked 3-0 at home by Barcelona earlier in the campaign. They are depleted by injuries. Their plight is so grim that even drafting in Tony Adams, Kieran Richardson and Nigel Reo-Coker wouldn’t raise a laugh. If you’re thinking that Barcelona are going to run through the team from Pamplona like a herd of particularly nimble bulls, you’re absolutely right. Barcelona have scored 94 goals in the league so far this season and you’ll get short odds on them reaching their century today.
Not that goal difference matters in the title race. If Barça and Real finish level on points, the winner will be determined by the clubs’ head-to-head record, which is in Barça’s favour. In other words, if Real lose just one of their remaining league matches, Barça will be champions, provided they win all of theirs. Real play Deportivo later today, by which time they will be three points behind their Catalan rivals, unless Osasuna pull off the biggest miracle since, well, their promotion last season.
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