Starting XI; Smithies, Dixon, P Clarke, Lynch, Hunt, Southern, Norwood, Clayton, Scannell, Novak, Rhodes.
Bench; Bennett, Spencer, Atkinson, Ward, Gobern, Wallace, Woods.
It all started just as we thought it would. Barcelona B passed the ball around as blue & white stripes tried desperately to gain some sort of possession but to no avail. Surprisingly however it was indeed the home side which did create the first half chance of the game and it came from effectively attacking as soon as they received the ball. Norwood pushed forward before hitting a long ball up field which Rhodes brought down well. He slipped past his marker but could only fire wide of the mark after being pressed out to an acute angle.
It didn't take Barcelona B long before they started to create chances instead of just notching up the passes. Agostinho Ca fired in a shot which was deflected wide before Jean Marie Dongou sliced his effort away from goal from 18 yards out under tough pressure from Huddersfield skipper Peter Clarke. Barcelona continued to dominate possession but Scannell showed the first glimpses that the Spanish didn't like being run at. He burst down the wing passing one Barca player before winning the terriers a corner. Norwood swung in the corner and this was met by a stretching Peter Clarke who could only head over the bar for the terriers.
Scannell continued to cause problems for the visitors as he linked up well with Lee Novak minutes later. The winger got the ball played back to him from the new number 9 and immediately lashed a shot across the face of the Spanish goal but no-one could get onto the end of it to steer it goalwards, not even Jordan Rhodes was in the area. Rhodes was dropping deep to get himself into the game & hold up the ball but this left the terriers with very little, even none, attacking threat in the final third of the pitch where they needed the hitman to be.
Barcelona's sheer excellent passing, movement & control of the ball was taking its toll on the Town players but regardless of this, the terriers continued to chase & battle for the game especially in the middle of the park with Keith Southern. Just as the game was nearing half time, Scannell showed Barcelona his heels yet again as he skipped inside and past two players before hitting a pass to Novak who swung a cross into the box only for it to be a metre behind the goal machine Rhodes. The last action of the half provided a double chance for Huddersfield Town who could have easily taken the lead going into the dressing rooms. Dixon had been working the wing all half and his persistent paid off when he received a clever ball from Clayton. Dixon swung a deep cross towards the back post but Alejandro Grimaldo just managed to head away before Novak could get near it. Two minutes later Dixon tried the exact same thing but this time the cross was perfect for the oncoming Novak who met it with his head but it went straight at Jordi Masip in goal for Barcelona B.
Half time approached and the teams went in at 0-0. Huddersfield Town had created the more goal threatening chances but these were few & far between as Barcelona played keep ball for the whole of the first half.
The terriers re-emerged for the second half with an unnamed XI but the visitors made eight changes to their team including the introduction of Gerard Deulofeu who has been heavily linked with a move to Liverpool in the current transfer window. Cristian Lobato struck an early effort for Barcelona B that was deflected wide by skipper Peter Clarke. The chance was created by a neat flick on by Far Kiko & he was in the action again just moments later forcing Smithies to make a save and deny the visitors from taking the lead.
Luis Alberto linked up well with Kiko once again before striking from eight yards out and remarkably missing the target to the delight of the 8000 Huddersfield fans. Town were struggling to get hold of the ball and Grayson attempted to change matters as he switched his side to a regular 4-4-2 formation by pushing Scannell upfront & replacing Norwood with Danny Ward. The terriers continued to hold on but in the 63rd minute the visitors persistence paid off as Dixon was harshly penalised for bringing down Deulofeu in the penalty box. Deulofeu stepped up to take the penalty and calmly slotted past Smithies to give Barcelona B the lead.
Just 7 minutes later Barcelona B put the game beyond the terriers after doubling their lead through Sergio Araujo who only had to pass into an open net after finding the rebound of an Alberto shot that was well saved by Smithies. Huddersfield Town had to wait until the 75th minute to create their first goalscoring opportunity of the second half. Danny Ward closed the visitors down well before feeding the ball to Jordan Rhodes who crossed well for Atkinson but he failed to create any trouble for the goalkeeper. Scannell once again featured heavily in the next attack for Huddersfield as he pushed down the right wing linking up well with Jack Hunt who swung in a cross which was met by Jimmy Spencer but his glancing header went just wide of the far post.
The home side continued to give the Town fans something to shout about as Clayton drove directly through the middle of the park passing a number of Barca players before making the keeper dive down to his left to keep the terriers goalless. A few moments later Scannell was back to his old tricks as he skipped passed two Barca players before striking from the edge of the area which only just went over the bar. Huddersfield finished the second half very well but it was too late as the referee blew for full time in an exciting game which finishes off the pre-season friendlies for the terriers
Huddersfield Town 0-2 Barcelona B
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