Barcelona 3-1 Alaves
Simple sketch of two player extremes on our pitch last night; Jona and Villa. Jonathan has always been one of my favorite B-teamers and it's a bit heartbreaking that he gets next to no playing time at all, not this season with Tito nor with Pep before, and yet refuses to leave, even on a loan, and remains hopeful of nailing his place at Barcelona. Tonight was only his second or third appearance this season, I think it was also his first start? In what is almost the least crucial match we may play this season and still he was the first one to get subbed off. It's quite a sad situation he's in.
On the other end of the scope is David Goalpatch Villa (now more than before as his soulpatch/goalpatch is back in prominence since he lost the beard - but I loved the beard - *sniff* ) who, when fit (go away niggling ankle injuries you're not welcome here) is an absolute goalscoring machine lately (averaging a goal every 77 minutes this seasons so far) and stole the show last night, especially in Messi's absence. You could tell how hungry he was for it from the get-go, and he followed Adriano's equalizer with a stunner of a freekick to put Barca ahead. I'm always saying Villa should take freekicks more often; you know Messi or Xavi would probably have taken it had they been playing and it's a bit of a shame that Villa doesn't get more chances at it, because on the rare occasion that he does step up to a freekick he pretty much always nails it. Can I get a "I don't always take freekicks, but when I do I score them" meme? IT'S NEEDED. The freekick goal was Villa's 300th of his career and he soon followed it up with the 301st to cement Barca's lead at 3-1 (6-1 aggregate) and lead the team into Copa Del Rey 1/8 finals.
3-1 is a lovely scoreline, but Barca spent a bit of the match trailing at 0-1 thanks to a very, very sloppily conceded goal, complete with Montoya Miscommunication and some Pintocalypse, the works. The Clumsy Goal Concession Fund is really growing (it goes towards Barca's color copying expenses you know; the club employees are very happy about it).