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Little Hercules stuns mighty Barca
September 13, 2010, Monday
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CHAMPION Barcelona suffered a humiliating 0-2 home defeat to Hercules on Saturday when Nelson Valdez struck twice to give the tiny promoted club a shock La Liga victory at a stunned Nou Camp.
Barcelona had not lost at home in the league since May 2009 when it went down 0-1 to Osasuna having already secured the title but Paraguay striker Valdez scored either side of halftime to help Alicante-based Hercules pull off one of the biggest giantkilling acts of recent seasons.
Pep Guardiola's side, whose sole defeat last term came at Atletico Madrid, looked surprisingly toothless even with Argentina forward Lionel Messi and World Cup-winners David Villa and Andres Iniesta in the starting lineup.
The reverse leaves the Catalans on three points from their opening two matches, one behind arch rival Real Madrid.
Cristiano Ronaldo set up Ricardo Carvalho to score the only goal in Real's 1-0 win over Osasuna and hand their Portuguese compatriot and coach Jose Mourinho a winning home debut.
Elsewhere, Valencia made it two wins out of two with a 1-0 home victory over Racing Santander while Atletico Madrid, which thumped Sporting Gijon 4-0 on the opening day of the season, also has two wins after a hard-fought 2-1 victory at Athletic Bilbao.
Hercules has an annual budget of around a tenth of the roughly 400 million euros (US$508 million) Barcelona commands but Guardiola's decision to take on the minnow without players including Xavi, Pedro, Sergio Busquets and Carles Puyol backfired badly.
The home side seized early control and striker Bojan Krkic fluffed a chance in the 10th minute.
The festival atmosphere for the National Day of Catalunya was spoiled when Valdez scrambled the ball over the head of goalkeeper Victor Valdes in the 27th.
Guardiola threw Xavi and Pedro into the fray after the break but Hercules doubled its lead just before the hour when Valdez swept a Tiago Gomes cross into the net.
Messi, Villa, Pedro and Gerard Pique, who had six stitches in a head wound after the match, all went close for Barcelona but the Hercules defense held firm.
It was a day to forget for Javier Mascherano, bought from Liverpool last month and making his first start for Barcelona. The Argentina midfielder was cautioned for the foul that led to Hercules's opening goal and was hauled off at the break.
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