The 2014/15 season for La Liga BBVA kicked off today, and what better way to wake up in the morning in the US than to watch your favorite Spanish team kick off the season with a win? That was the story for FC Barcelona as they began their Spanish league campaign at the Camp Nou. The Catalans looked great on the pitch today against Elche FC as they took the 3-0 win and the first 3 points of the league. They also had Ivan Rakitic, Jeremy Mathieu, and Claudio Bravo debut for their new club along with Munir El Haddadi and Rafinha come up from the B team of Barca and debut for the first team.
The first half kicked off in the Camp Nou but before it did, there was an interesting visitor on the field who stopped the game:
A black cat invaded the pitch and many people thought it was going to bring bad luck to the team, but we all know that the whole black cat as a sign of bad luck thing is just a myth. On the bright side, it brought some smiles on the pitch, especially from new coach Luis Enrique.
With the ball rolling in the first half, it was FC Barcelona who had control of the match and most of the possession. There were many opportunities from both sides, especially when El Haddadi had an open chance but the shot hit the crossbar and the game remained scoreless. With the black cat on the pitch, it seemed like there was some hocus-pocus going around. In the 32nd minute, Andres Iniesta had an open chance for a goal but the ball bounced off the post and it remained 0-0. It was not until the 42nd minute that the Catalans opened up the scoring thanks to none other than the legen – wait for it – dary Lionel Messi. Following a mistake from Damian Suarez, Sergio Busquets was able to find the ball and pass it to Messi. With five defenders around him, he was able to turn around, take on two of the five and score.
Seconds later, Elche’s Victor Rodriguez was one on one with the goalkeeper, and as Javier Mascherano tried to get around him, he clipped the heels of Rodriguez and Mascherano was shown the red card.
Barcelona finished the first half with a 1-0 lead and 10 men on the pitch, but they were ready to play some more ball in the second half.
The second half started and it was within seconds that we saw Barcelona put another one on the scoreboard thanks to El Haddadi. With a pass from Rakitiç, Munir stayed onside, let the ball bounce, and chipped the ball over Przemysław Tytoń to increase the lead.
In the 63rd minute it was Messi again who was able to get Barca’s third goal. Following a pass from Dani Alves, Messi’s first attempt was blocked but he recovered the rebound, danced around 3 defenders and was able to get the ball in the net.
With a minute left in the game, Messi tried to get Pedro on the scoreboard, but Tytoń was there to make the save.
As the game ended, we saw Barcelona leave the pitch content with a win to start the season to give their team 3 points in the table. Messi scored two goals to start the season and El Haddadi scored on his debut for the first team. The way we saw Barcelona play today, this left hope that it will be a good season and a great year under the management of coach Luis Enrique.
Photo by: Getty Images (Munir, Messi and Alba)