06.09.2007, 11:33
Barcelona in the Champions League

The Catalonian side beate Portuguese Braga and reach Group Stage of the CL as fourth Spanish team.

Barcelona in the Champions League

The next important objective will be the first title of the season, the Spanish Super Cup. But that is another story…

Barcelona will be among the best teams of Europe and fight for the title that they have won seven times before. The Palau Blaugrana remains a court where it is very difficult to win. Ivry, Astrakan and Karvina will try it in the Group Phase.

Qualification at risk

Barcelona won against Braga and confirmed that they were the favourites of the Qualification Round. It was not easy, though. ABC Braga made it really difficult for the Cadenas team that suffered a lot in the first half and were out of the competition in some moments of the match. The Catalonians won in Braga by two goals, but they were even four goals down in this second leg in Barcelona. The Spanish team decided the matter only in the last 20 minutes of the match.

The Cadenas team will try to forget about the first half as soon as possible. Only a good defensive work by Garabaya, Nodesbo and Nagy could avoid a bigger Braga lead in the first 30 minutes (18-20). The Portuguese José Costa and Serbian Vladimir Zelenovic were the leaders of the Braga attacks. Barcelona were not able to break the offensive formations of the Portuguese team and the best players did not show a good performance in attack.

A suspension for Braga’s Edu Ferreira changed the game and Barcelona could equalise. Barrufet improved in the goal and his performance helped a lot. Braga lost the control and Barcelona started a brilliant last minutes.

Barca prevail at the end

The goals of Romero and Victor Tomas decided the game. At the end Eric Gull and a healthy Albert Rocas made the Barcelona victory look more comfortable. The final score was 37-28.

Barcelona will be in Group A of the Champions League. The opponents will be French Ivry, Ukrainian Astrakan and Czech Karvina. Although Barcelona are coming from the Qualification Round, the might be favourites in the group.

TEXT: Fernando Urra Goñi