Thailand 1-7 Barca: "Trident" Neymar-Messi-Pedro shines
After thrashing Santos 8-0, Barca had another big win, and even though the opponent was only Thailand, a team with a huge gap in class, the rain of goals that Barca poured on Thai soil certainly still brought a certain excitement to the cules.
Barca won another big victory.
GOAL
Thailand:Dangda (43', pen)
Barcelona:Neymar (13'), Messi (15', pen, 25'), Pedro (19', 35', 48'), Sanchez (49')
The first days of Gerardo Martino's reign are still passing in extreme excitement thanks to the rain of goals that Barca poured into the opponents' net. After ending the Joan Gamper Trophy friendly with a devastating 8-0 victory over Santos, Barca set off on an Asian tour, to Thailand, where Man United had humiliatingly lost 0-1 on July 13.
Perhaps also aware of the potential danger from Thailand at Rajamangala, coach Martino decided to introduce the attack considered the best of Barca at the moment. Neymar had his first start alongside Messi and Pedro. In midfield, coach Martino was quite cautious when only using Fabregas in the role of creator.
Barca's seriousness soon gave them the advantage. Neymar opened the scoring, before Messi and Pedro took turns to deepen the gap. 25 minutes of play and all three killers on Barca's attack line scored. That was both a good signal and a declaration of war that Barca's attack wanted to send to the world. In the upcoming season, Neymar-Pedro-Messi will almost certainly be the three sharpest strikers in Barca's squad, and at least after this match, they also sent a message that this is a promising trident.
Barca were ahead, with over 80% possession, making it easy to score more goals against Thailand. However, the Catalan giants' resounding victory still left a mark.
In the 43rd minute, Alex Song pulled down Thaweekarn in the penalty area. Penalty for Thailand and Teerasil Dangda did not miss the historic opportunity to score against Valdes. In this situation, the loss was not too big of a problem. The main drawback was that Alex Song handled the situation too poorly compared to the level of a player who can play in the official Barca squad.
This will probably be the mistake that ends all the patience that Barca has been giving him. Alex Song cannot be the solution for Barca's midfield.
After the match with Thailand, Barca only has one more friendly match left (against the Malaysian Star on August 10) before their first La Liga match of the new season against Levante. That is when Martino's real journey begins.
LINEUP
Thailand:Hathairattanakool; Bunmathan, Daosawang, Wannasri, Kraisorn; Dangda, Songkrasin, Thaweekarn, Puangchan; Sokam, Chappuis.
Barcelona:Valdes (Pinto, 61'); Alves (Montoya, 47'), Pique (Bartra, 47'), Bagnack (Mascherano, 47'), Adriano (Alba, 47'); Roberto (Xavi, 47'), Alex Song (Busquets, 47'); Fabregas (Dongou, 69'); Pedro, Neymar (Iniesta, 47'), Messi (Sanchez, 47').
According to Bongdaplus - DT
