Mexicans in Europe: Champs League

Rafael Marquez- The good news: he didn’t give away the penalty. The bad news: he won’t be playing at Old Trafford for the second leg of the Champions League Semi Finals.

Marquez hasn’t played for Barcelona in a while and last night he was called upon to take Puyol’s place(the captain had been out because of suspension). I’ve got to admit that I was a little nervous with Marquez at back because this hasn’t been his best season. Shortly after the start however, my nerves were eased when it was Milito who gave away the penalty that Ronaldo missed and not Marquez. Later, Marquez also took the free kick but shot it low into the wall wasting a good chance for Barcelona to score early on. Marquez was however a thorn in Ronaldo’s side not letting him enjoy much free space and constantly being bugged by him. Marquez did however come close the conceding a penalty as he pushed Ronaldo slightly while heading into the penalty area which resulted in the Portuguese coming down and appealing for the call.
It may have worked on another referee but Massimo Busacca did not give Man U another spot kick. In the 44th min however, Marquez was cautioned for kicking out and taking down Ronaldo and will unfortunately miss the 2nd leg of the semis at Old Trafford.

Overall Marquez did a good job. He went forward a lot and was continually up the field and in close positions of scoring during corners. Marquez also seemed to control Ronaldo’s usual antics and was a good inclusion to the team. It’s a shame that he’s out due to the silly mistake of kicking out at Ronaldo and he’ll now miss the 2nd leg on 4/29/08/. Mark that date so you won’t miss it too.

Giovanni Dos Santos did not play but he was on the bench.