Thursday, December 8, 2005

Barcelona 2 - Udinese 0

Even though they are already in the next stage, FC Barcelona beated Udinese 2-0. The Catalan team scored two goals in the last five minutes, and eliminated Udinese from the Champions League on Wednesday.

Santi Ezquerro made the first goal in the 85th minute and Andres Iniesta scored the 2-0 in the 90th on a quick counterattack, to help Barcelona finish on top of Group C.

The italian team was tied with Werder Bremen in second place on seven points but the German side advanced to the last 16 on the basis of their record of one win and a draw in head-to-head matches with them.

Ronaldinho's team, which was missing several key players like the brazilian star and Samuel Eto'o, overwhelmed the Italian side in the midfield and never allowed the Udinese forwards close to its net.

The blaugranas threatened on every attack, with Ludovic Giuly striking the crossbar with a powerful drive in the 11th minute.

Deco's heel attempt was just wide in the 38th and Giuly hit the post from a tight angle in the 41st.

Udinese tightened up on defence as the game drew to a close. However, Ezequerro scored from a few meters out after repeated saves by Udinese defenders close to the net.

A few minutes later, Iniesta, a second-half replacement for Gabri Garcia, kicked into the open strike from inside the area following a quick counterattack led by Giuly.

Henrik Larsson squandered a chance for a third goal in injury team as many of the 40,000 partisan fans were already leaving the stadium.