When is a victory considered a loss?

Barcelona’s 4-0 demolition of Qatar’s Al-Sadd Sports Club advanced Barcelona to the Club World Cup Championship against Santos, but the victory came at one hell of a price.

While hustling to get onto the end of a loose ball in the 37th minute, David Villa lost his footing, fell to the ground and never got back up.

Team medics confirmed this afternoon that the star forward has suffered a fractured tibia and will be sidelined for the next 4-5 months, leaving Barcelona extremely thin upfront, with only Messi, Alexis, Pedro, and B-team winger Isaac Cuenca available for a grueling three competition campaign awaiting them back home.

Nobody ever said it would be easy.

The game itself, marred by the loss of Spain’s record goal scorer, was a blowout. From the opening whistle, Al-Sadd made their intentions clear and ceded all the initiative to Barcelona.

The AFC Champions League winners employed similar tactics to those that Getafe utilized in obtaining a 1-0 victory over the Catalans last month — erecting a nine-man bus in front of goal, defending deep, and hoping to counter through Niang and Kader Keita.

The 5-4-1 system, so often used against Barcelona this season, created two decent chances all game, while allowing Barcelona to dominate possession and play nearly the entire match in their opponent’s half.

It was a parked bus, a broken leg and a goal-fest.

Barca approached the match with a 3-4-3 shape that saw Adriano and Abidal, later substituted by Maxwell, push higher up the pitch, establishing width and offering an alternative point of attack, away from the congested box of white jerseys.

Up top, Guardiola appeared to deploy David Villa as a true number-nine. Hoping to recapture the striker’s steady form for Spain, it was an experiment that brought a different wrinkle to the attack.

His ability to hold up play, get on the end of passes and drag defenders out of position helped to open up the wall of defense, allowing Messi to roam freely and penetrate deeper with his trademark runs.

It was almost a true-nine/false-nine partnership, and looked effective at breaking down a deep, packed-in defense. His loss for the season will be significant, but look for Pep to deploy Alexis Sanchez in this new role when facing defensive-minded sides.

Barcelona dominated possession early on and would test the Qatari outfit in the 17th minute when David Villa collected a rebounded clearance inside the area and forced a sure-handed save from keeper Mohamed Saqr.

Minutes later it was 1-0, as Adriano capitalized on a horrendous mistake by Saqr in front of goal. Pedro’s cross from the left was tapped back to the keeper by Nadir Belhadj in defense, only for Saqr to hesitate on the clearance, allowing Adriano to rush onto the loose ball and claim a goal when the clearance took a deflection off his knee and rolled into the net.

David Villa had a goal chalked off at the half-hour mark after a tremendous piece of skill saw El Guaje run onto an overhead pass, control the ball inside the area and slide a pass between four converging defenders to Andres Iniesta at the edge of the box. The midfielder’s direct strike was initially stopped by Saqr before Villa pounced on the rebound from an offsides position to slot home from close range.

Three minutes later he would make his exit from the 2011-2012 season after collapsing to the ground while vying for a ball between two defenders.

Alexis came on in place of the Spaniard, but it was Adriano again who would make it a two-goal affair. A bad giveaway by Al-Sadd saw Thiago start the break, feeding in right-back-turned-center-forward Adriano, who beat the keeper with a left-footed shot from inside the area.

Since joining the club in July of 2010, Adriano had previously only scored twice: at Almeria in a 3-0 Copa del Rey win and in a 1-0 league win at Sporting Gijon. Not very often that you see a player double his career goal total for a club in a single game.

Messi nearly scored in the 63rd minute, sending a curling free kick over the wall with pace and spin, but Saqr did well to make the reaction save and parry away the strike for a corner.

One minute later, the Argentine would set up Keita for the third goal, playing Seydou through the defense with a surgical pass, allowing Keita to flick the ball past Saqr with a subtle touch for his first goal of the season. He celebrated by finding Leo and lifting him high into the air, acknowledging the brilliance of the pass.

Messi barely missed a highlight reel goal just moments later, weaving his way through the Qatari defense, using his magnetic feet to attract a series of rebounds and deflections off various players to plant himself in front of goal, rising high to attempt a bicycle kick over the keeper that was sent wide of the far-post. Had it gone in, David Villa’s injury may have taken a back seat to another story.

Alexis Sanchez requested the change at the 70-minute mark, aggravated by muscular problems that may see the Chilean sidelined for the final against Santos.

Maxwell would culminate the goleada in the 81st minute after being played into space by a clever pass from Thiago and sending an angled left-footed strike off Saqr’s leg and into the bottom right corner for his second career goal at Barcelona.

It was a distinctly Brazilian affair with Thiago recording two assists and Maxwell and Adriano recording three goals between them.

Irritated by the score-line and aware that they were architects of their own demise on the night, Al-Sadd began doling out bruises as a parting gesture to end the game.

Mascherano momentarily was stretchered off the field before Cuenca and Puyol hit the ground in pain and required medical assistance.

Mascherano and Alexis are officially listed as questionable for the final against Santos.

David Villa has already packed his bags and returned to Spain where he will go under the knife to reset the broken bone and begin the long road to recovery.

While his five league goals in 15 appearances were not lighting up the world, his status as a big game player and consummate professional will be sorely missed.

His goal against Madrid in the Supercopa changed the course of the tie and helped win the first title of the 2011-2012 season.

Whether Pep employs more of Cuenca in the rotation, throws Iniesta out wide on the left, or deploys Alves and Adriano in the forwarded winger roles of his 3-4-3 system, the absence of Villa will be noted.

The team still has enough playmakers to get through the injury, compete, and win championships. But this one hurts. It’s a tough break (no pun intended) and is compounded by the ACL tear that has also sidelined Ibrahim Afellay for the next several months.

As Pep declared in his post-game interview, “Missing him in the team is going to be a blow. We all love David. His personality is great and we wish him a speedy recovery…he still has goals to score for Barcelona.”

Barca’s next goal will be the Club World Cup Final against Brazil’s Santos, featuring the prolific striker, with the hairdo of a cockatoo, Neymar.

When asked about the final, Pedro responded, “We’re dedicating it to Tito (Vilanova) and David.”

Kickoff begins Saturday night/Sunday morning at 2:30 a.m. PST. Grab a coffee, sit back and enjoy the show.

 

Article written by Barcaloco contributor Anson Woodring.  Follow Anson on Twitter at @ansonwoodring.

Full match highlights:

Al-Sadd VS Barcelona 0-4 Highlights HD 15.12.2011 by iNfRaS0NiC