A team of Barcelona legends thrashed Mohun Bagan legends 6-0 at the Salt Lake stadium in Kolkata on Friday.
Bagan started well as the likes of Syed Rahim Nabi, Habibur Rahman and Ashim Malik prodded forward but failed to convert their chances until the European stalwarts took over. Former Barcelona and Real Madrid player Javier Saviola opened the scoring for his side, getting to the end of a beautifully carved pass from Jofre, before slotting the ball into an empty net.
Sandip Nandy featuring as Bagan’s goalkeeper had a tough time as Barcelona scored three across each half to bring up the win.
Roger Garcia scored the second in the 29th minute from a low left-footed shot after Saviola had found him with a cross. Then with two remaining for the first half, Bagan conceded a penalty which Pedro Landi calmly converted.
Goals, however, mattered a little as the 25000 odd crowds cheered “Bagan Bagan” all night even enjoying glimpses of the Tiki-Taka football that took over world football. The voices even got louder when Bagan’s substitute keeper Kalyan Choubey pulled off a brilliant acrobatic save in the 57th minute denying Saviola the second goal.
The save though did little help to decrease his trouble as Finnish legend and former Liverpool and Chelsea player Jari Litmanen added a fourth following some slick string of passes among the Barca players. He scored another in the 86th minute to pile the misery on the opponents.
But the game was still not over as the European heavyweights scored their sixth and final goal when Belletti set up Jofre Mateu in the final minute of play. Jofre, who played for Indian Super League sides ATK and FC Goa made no mistake to slot the ball home.
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Image Source: ProKerala.com