The special status of Ronaldinho in Barcelona is noticeable even from the highest tier of the stands of the stadium Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, which has a press in Seville. When the guests went to the pre-match warm-up for the 45,000th “buuu”, the best football player of the world in 2006 stretched out for a look with partners for thirty seconds, and then took the ball from the second coach and began to juggle it (sometimes, just for fun, about the stretched back near Lionel Messi).
In order to remain the leader of the Barcelona attack, Ronaldinho, however, doesn’t particularly need to warm up. Already in the 14th minute, he scored his 17th goal in the current championship of Spain, quite plausibly playing the role of the center forward, prescribed to the Brazilian in Saturday's match by coach Rikard and this endless blues Eto'O. Zambrotta, like water, seeped along the right flank, using David's uncovered millimeters, and cut a pass into the center of the penalty area exactly on Ronaldinho's head.
Sevilla started to take off and began to take the initiative, choosing the right flank as a springboard for attacking actions, where the best, perhaps right-handed defender of the world Daniel Alves is currently operating. However, already in the 28th minute, no one seemed to put the broken peseta on the hosts in this confrontation with Barcelona, both in the Saturday match and in the championship in general. Ronaldinho with his not too fast, but sharp and very unpredictable gait left Aytor Osio, forcing him to go on an extremely risky tackle in his own penalty box. Not every English referee in this episode would have recorded a foul, but impressionable Spanish judges usually evaluate such tackles not only with an eleven-meter, but also with a red card. Ronaldinho undertook to execute the penalty kick on his own and, with a simple blow, struck Palopa at the feet, “forgotten” almost directly in the center of the goal. I wonder how Ronaldinho would have struck if he had still stretched his arms?
Juande Ramos did not make a gap in the defense of Sevilla, made by the removal of Aytor Osio, and bravely continued the match with two and a half defenders (Dragutinovic, David and half of Daniel Alves - because Daniel Alves is half and forward). This was fraught with new problems in the defense: Ronaldinho's next defile to Palopa's penalty kick in the 31st minute almost ended with a second goal. But it worked. Once along the flank in the 39th minute, Daniel Alves made a discount in the center of the penalty area on Kerzhakov. Alexander took the ball with his back to the goal of Victor Valdes, and the goalkeeper of Barcelona, together with the guardian of the Russian striker Rafael Marquez definitely did not consider this maneuver as dangerous. They are clearly not yet aware that Kerzhakov beat, beats and will beat. With his punch from the U-turn, the Sevilla rookie amazed both - 1: 1.
Leaving for a break, Kerzhakov considered it necessary to exchange t-shirts with Messi, justifiably believing that he would not finish the game until the end of the match. But his mission on the field has not yet been exhausted. In this crazy, crazy, crazy second half of the Seville match (two red cards and almost two dozen dangerous moments), Alexander did not play for long, met the ball infrequently and did not hit at all. But it was with him that the second goal began. Grabbing the ball near the penalty area, Kerzhakov of all the options for continuing the attack again chose the most independent one and was laid on the lawn 18 meters from the goal, just to the left of the center. This, incidentally, is Daniel Alves’s favorite point: a Brazilian hit drove the ball into the far corner of the goal of Victor Valdes and raised the stands to their feet at once.
“Barcelona”, still playing in the majority, started up in earnest, but in the conditions of its current playing sloppiness, it was more of an upset than an angry sport. The stands of Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan have not finished celebrating the goal (I wonder how much to score in order to exhaust the supply of fan tapes launched in moments of delight from the upper tiers of the Seville arena?), When they had one more reason for joy - the removal Julie. Ricard threw a fresh pair of forwards - Eto'O and Saviola, into the battle, but Barca did not become more solid. Puyol still acted behind; Ronaldinho sporadically performed his fraudulent tricks (the further, the truth, the less often); the indefatigable Xavi struggled to glue the fragments of a smashed team game into something solid. But this telepathic understanding that made Barcelona the best club in Europe last season, this musical completeness of the Catalan football, was still not there. Because of what, “Barcelona” is inflated even more. In the 76th minute, Zambrotta received a yellow card and immediately told the referee something that caused González Vázquez to pull the red one out of his pocket - now the majority was already Sevilla.
In the remaining minutes, crazy, spontaneous, almost uncontrollable football reigned on the field, entirely woven from losses, inimitable grimaces, appeals to the referee and a very, very large number of dangerous moments. Sevilla, of course, had more of them: Kanute could have made a hat-trick in this crazy endgame, and Daniel Alves - a double. But Barcelona, which decided to go all-in, could easily equalize. It would be especially real if the real, “last year's” Eto'o were playing on the field, and not his shadow. At the 89th minute, the Cameroonian was taken to the shooting position in the center of the box - but the shadow of Eto'O did not even manage to get on the ball properly.
After the match, Kerzhakov, under the pretext of what he does not understand in Spanish, technically skipped a mixed zone with journalists, but in this euphoric chaos of the Seville stadium he could not get far. He instantly found himself in a ring of fans, among whom there were even several police officers - although they actually should give this chaos at least the appearance of order. Having escaped with a couple of dozens of autographs and a “photo as a keepsake,” Kerzhakov and I got out of the crowd after about 15 minutes and headed to the parking lot across the road to get to an interview in a quieter place. But these 300 meters of the journey covered another 15 minutes. Alexander was identified on the road and, jumping out of the car directly onto the carriageway, again began to clap their cameras, pat on the shoulder, as well as demand autographs and promises to win the Spanish Championships, under the joyful screams of “Kerzakov”. Alexander did not promise them anything, but, carefully selecting Spanish words, he said he would try. “I have long understood that there are crazy fans,” Kerzhakov will tell me discouragedly when we finally get out of the arena. “But there has never been such a thing as it is today.”
Get used to it, Sasha. Now, perhaps it will always be so.
Dmitry NAVOSHA, Seville
SEVILLA - BARCELONA - 2: 1 (1: 1)
Goals: 0: 1 - Ronaldinho (14), 1: 1 - Kerzhakov (39), 2: 1 - Daniel Alves (60).
Unrealized penalty: Ronaldinho (29).
SEVILLA: Palop, David Castedo, Daniel Alves, Dragutinovic, Aitor Osio, Adriano Correa (Puerta, 64), Renato (Jose Marti, 37), Poulsen, Kerzhakov (Alfaro, 75), Canute, Jesús Navas.
BARCELONA: Valdes, Marquez (Eto'o, 68), Puyol, van Bronkhorst, Oleger, Xavi, Ronaldinho (Edmilson, 79), Zambrotta, Messi (Saviola, 68), Iniesta, Julie.
Warnings: Marquez (43), Daniel Alves (63), Zambrotta (76), Eto'O (77), Alfaro (79).
Deletions: Aitor Osio (28), Julie (62), Zambrotta (77, second warning).
March 3rd . Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, 0.00.
Judge : Gonzalez Vazquez.