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Leo Messi masterclass leads Barça to Gamper win
FC Barcelona took on Sampdoria in the 51st annual Joan Gamper trophy match at the Camp Nou on Wednesday night.
The clash against the Italian side from Genoa was a repeat of the 1992 European Cup Final, which saw the Catalan club lifting their first title in the continental competition.
Luis Enrique decided to use Arda Turan in the wide left role, which had been filled by Munir in previous friendly games, and had announced his intention to use each of the squad's three goalkeepers for half an hour each.
Barça made a bright start, with new French left-back Lucas Digne involved early.
First he hit a shot wide of the far post, then he delivered an inviting deep cross for Arda Turan to head towards goal, but Emiliano Viviano was able to parry away.
Luis Suarez was soon marauding down the right in acres of space, but the Uruguayan's ball was fired too strongly across the face of goal, giving the onrushing Leo Messi no chance of connecting.
Andres Iniesta was next to threaten as he picked the ball up just outside the area, jinked past one challenge and fired wide of the near post.
Then there was a period of three goals in less than 10 minutes as the match sparked into life.
Iniesta chipped a ball into the area for Messi, the Argentine controlled it on his chest, before delivering an overhead kick across goal which Luis Suarez was able to comfortably head home to break the deadlock.
A piece of play which delighted the crowd, and immediately created a discussion over whether the Messi assist was intentional or not.
There was no doubt about his intentions for the second goal.
A darting run behind the Italian defence was found by Ivan Rakitic, and Messi dummied past Viviano before tapping in.
The delirium of the Camp Nou was soon dampened however, as Sampdoria halved the deficit.
A rare loose pass from Iniesta was picked up on quickly by Sampdoria's Mirko Eramo, and some smooth first-touch interplay left Colombian Luis Muriel through one-on-one with Claudio Bravo.
A confident finish past the Chilean gave some life to Marco Giampaolo's men.
Messi and Luis Suarez combined again soon after, with Suarez firing into the side netting after the Argentine's beautifully weighted pass.
Then Suarez was brought down some 30 yards from goal.
Those at the Camp Nou eagerly sought their camera phones in anticipation of another magical Messi moment.
They were not to be disappointed.
A curling left-footed effort, which is quickly becoming a trademark, accurately found the corner of the Italian net, just out of the reach of the desperate dive of Viviano.
Messi has an affectionate relationship with the Joan Gamper trophy game, ever since he burst onto the scene against Juventus in the 2005 edition.
So it was 3-1 at the break, with Aleix Vidal replacing Sergi Roberto at right-back the only Barça change during the interval.
The second half, however, did not live up to the promise of the opening 45 minutes.
The pace dropped, and the passes in the final third were not as incisive. Luis Suarez was sometimes caught offside, at other times chasing balls which were slightly overhit or cut out by the Italian defence.
After a host of changes around the hour mark, including the debuts of Samuel Umtiti and Andre Gomes for the Blaugrana, the woodwork became the protagonist.
Messi found Arda Turan on the left wing, the Turkish international came inside onto his right foot and sent a curling effort towards the far corner.
He beat the goalkeeper, but not the crossbar.
Denis Suarez had similar luck, after being fed by Luis Suarez. A placed right footed finish coming back off the near post, to the dismay of the new recruit.
Sampdoria made things a little more uneasy for Barcelona, when Ante Budimir was able to benefit from Javier Mascherano's misjudgement of the flight of a high ball.
The Croatian striker chested down before firing past the helpless Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
Barça could have regained their two-goal margin, but Luis Suarez saw his late free-kick denied by a combination of a wonderful fingertip save by substitute goalkeeper Christian Puggioni, and the crossbar.
The final score of 3-2 perhaps fairly reflected both Barcelona's superiority, and the areas that still need to be improved, specifically defensively and in allowing a sterile control of the game to seep into their play.
Their next test, against Sevilla in the Spanish Super Cup, means something.
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