La Liga. 4 Games. 4 Victories. 14 Goals. I think it says it all. Barcelona waltzed to another superb victory against Racing Santander at El Sardinero as Ibra, Messi(2) and Gerad Pique found the back of the net. Barcelona were comfortably up by 3 goals by the time half time, a half that saw total domination on our part. We had discussed the vulnerable Racing defense in our Match Review and all of their fears came true. This victory will surely put a lot of pressure on the chasing pack especially Madrid who have a tricky encounter against Villareal tonight where Manuel Pellegrini faces his old side for the first time. Full Match Report Follows:

First Half – Annihilation of Racing

Barcelona kicked off in front of a fervent home crowd on what appeared to be a perfect pitch and the visitors’ early touches were met by a hail of whistles. It took over 90 seconds for Racing to have their first touch and it came after Dani Alves had been caught by Oscar Serrano. Barcelona were putting tremendous pressure on the Racing defense as Messi, Henry Ibra and Xavi were combining together to open the defense up. Alexandre Geijo challenged Gerard Pique and after the Barça defender had prodded the ball out, the Racing player’s boot caught him on the back of the head and he had to be marched off by club doctor as he was left with a bleeding head. Racing were finally broken down in the 20th minute as Xavi played the ball out to Messi on the right and his deep cross saw Ibrahimovic rise above Henrique and head against the inside of the post and the ball ricocheted in off the keeper.

It only took 4 more minutes for Messi to get Barcelona their second goal with a  stunning move that saw him exchange passes with Xavi before he side-stepped Laszlo Sepsi before steering the ball into the far corner of the net. It was all Barca and Racing defense was suffering under our attackers wrath.

3 minutes later some superb work by Ibrahimovic was on display as he held the ball up in the area from a free-kick and as five defenders went to the Swede as he flicked it across to Pique and the defender slotted home from eight yards out. Effectively the points were wrapped up by then alone and the one way traffic was not going to change direction anytime soon. The first half saw more Barca domination and ended up Ibra going into the book for a challenge on Morris

Second Half

Zlatan got injured early in the half when he twisted his ankle after falling awkwardly while chasing Henrique. He was finally substituted by Pedro in the 54th minute as the game already looked over and Pep did not want to aggrevate the injury in any form. Barcelona make their second change in the 57 minute as Marquez continued his return to full fitness while Racing looked to try something different with a double substitution of their own.

Messi further advanced our lead in the 63rd minute who bagged a superb goal after receiving the ball on the wing, driving across the edge of penalty box, drove his shot in the top corner of the net. Messi was soon substitued by Iniesta after the goal as Pep looked to rest the superbly in-form Messiah.

Racing found a way through as Serrano eased past Marquez before producing a superb drive that flew into the near corner of the net with Valdes nowhere near it. But the game was truely over long before even the though Racing drew a lot of Confidence from this goal and started putting a few passes together.

All in all it was another very solid display by Barca that saw Ibra take his tally to 4 goals in as many games and Messiah looking in devastating form.

Concerns for Barcelona

1) The possession play of Barca took a slight dip in the second half and Pep would not be happy to see the performance drop after taking a commanding lead in the game.

2) Ibra’s injury – There are unconfirmed reports that he may be out of the weekend’s clash with Malaga because of his ankle injury.