Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Golden Ball, Messi and Maradona

Harvesting Success: six nominees for the prestigious golden ball award is recognition to the amazing season that Barça had last year. Even though only six players made the list this is the work of the whole team; names such as Busquets, Pique, or Alves were responsible for making their team mates better. The result is none other than five titles in the year 2009 which make it perhaps the best year in the club’s history. Of all the names there are two that will definitely make the top three; Leo Messi and Andres Iniesta. These two players were decisive all season long. Iniesta even played injured in the final against Manchester United and was the man who gave Eto’o the pass in the first goal in that final. Messi on the other hand had, up until now, his best year as a football player; everything that he did was spot on; and add to that the fact that he didn’t have any muscular injury and the results speak for themselves: goals, good games and titles. Off all the nominees Messi seems to be the obvious choice and he will get this and the FIFA world player as well. It would be very strange if it happens but the three finalists should be Messi; Iniesta and Xavi.


Messi's Debate: Barça’s version of Messi seems to be a lot different from Argentina’s version. In Barcelona, Messi is a player who can decide any game at any time like he did in the Champion’s League against Shaktar or like he did in La Liga against Numancia. In Argentina, however, the same player seems lost and every action in which he participates ends up with the rival team getting the ball back. Casual fans look at this and point directly at the player; saying that he either lacks of motivation or doesn’t understand the game of his national team; however, analysts of the game all agree that this situation is not as simple as it look. In Barcelona, there is a coach that has established a well defined style and philosophy from both a physical and mental point of view. In Argentina the situation is different. Diego Maradona is without a doubt in the top 3 best players of all time (to some even the first) but being a good player don’t always mean to be a good coach. Maradona has not established even an idea of what his team should play. He works a lot the psychological aspects of the game, which is very important, but he lacks of technical understanding which results in players being lost in the field like Messi. Another important aspect to have in mind is that it is not the same to get passes from Xavi and Iniesta than from Mascherano and Veron, this is not a knock on the talent of the two Argentineans because they are very good, but Iniesta and Xavi are simply among the best in the world, if not the best, at organizing the game.


Maradona Should be Fired: before explaining why he should be fired let’s look at his accomplishments as a coach which should also be taken into consideration. First of all, he got the team and led them to earn a spot in 2010’s world cup in South Africa; regardless of the poor image his team shows in every game he got the job done and result oriented critics will say that this is what matters. He also got the team united which is fundamental for any aspirations to do great things; a coach that doesn’t create a sentiment of unity in the team and doesn’t work the team’s psychology is missing on a crucial aspect of the game. However, we are talking about Argentina; an instant favourite in any tournament with players like Mascherano, Messi, Higuain; to expect “just to win” is an unacceptable mediocre mentality of a small team and not a former world champion. Argentina, just like Brazil, Spain, Italy is expected not only to win but to offer an display of good game as it happens to clubs like Real Madrid, Boca Juniors, Barcelona etc. But perhaps the worst of Maradona doesn’t come with anything related to the game or the team but to his shameful declarations after qualifying to the world cup in which he express vulgarities towards members of the media. From a man driven by passion rather than logic it is not a surprise but the fact that the AFA allows this to happen is something that damage the prestigious image of the “beautiful game”. Watching Diego behave and watching Guardiola act is like day and night; they are completely different.

Friday, October 16, 2009

First Impressions


Warming Up: six rounds of La Liga have been played and the sensations cannot be any better for Barça; the team is still a bit rusty from the summer but every game it is a steps in the right direction and the results are proof of that as the team have gotten all the points played. The summer question of Ibrahimovic adaptation to the team has disappeared thanks to the outstanding beginning of the season of the Swedish striker. Five goals in his first five games is a statistic that allows the fans to dream. Whether he can maintain that level or not is another story in which many variables has to be considered such as injuries; fatigue; pressure etc. but at this time nobody doubts of his quality. It is also good to see that Zlatan has not only scored goals but also given assistances as well as participate in the defensive game which is something that many of us could not see happening when he signed with Barça.
All Pieces Feat: Guardiola showed doubters that he had an eye to see talent and the guts to give those players an opportunity to shine. Busquets, Pique, Bojan are examples of this (although Bojan’s presence on the team was Frank Rijkaard’s call) and this season is no different. Even though the squad is short, something Guardiola himself mentioned, he decided that it was not going to be a problem; instead he has transformed this situation into an opportunity and once again has given the chance to future talents such as Jefren Suarez or Pedro Rodrigues; the latter has become officially a member of the first team and has responded with goals to the coach’s confidence. To this day, Pedro has been the only member of the team that has scored in all competitions with a goal in both supercups tournaments and a winning goal against Almeria. Guardiola doesn’t call somebody he has any doubts and that’s why Martin Caceres went to Juventus and why Henrique went to Racing instead of returning to Barça. The merit of this team is not on any single player but on the fact that every member is capable of making the starting eleven at any point.

Margin of Improvement: to say that the team has started very well is one thing but they are far from being perfect or at least as good as last year’s team. Pep knows this and has been working on the control of the game. For instance; against Atletico De Madrid the team won 5-2 but in reality the game was a poor display at many times; once they were winning they did not control the game and it could have cost Barça some more goals. Another area that needs improvement and perhaps a new name is the left wing. Henry is showing that age affects anybody and the 32 year old French man seems as though he will not be able to keep up with the team. At the moment he’s injured for at least ten more days and with a player like Pedro on fire it is not so difficult to think about Henry staying on the bench more frequently. Overall, the team needs a lot of improvement but it is working at a pace which seems to invite fans to another great season and rivals to fear the team. Time will tell.

Friday, July 31, 2009

And so Ibrahimovic is the chosen one

Curve Ball: when it looked like an Ibrahimovic – Eto’o trade was almost impossible, and that Villa was just a matter of hours before he could sign for Barça, and that Forlan was the “Plan B” Joan Laporta throws us a curve ball and ends up solving two of the biggest problems for Pep Guardiola. He got rid of Eto’o who, despite his incredible professionalism and amazing goal record in Barça, was not in the coach list for next season. On the other hand, Guardiola has the first striker he had in mind for Eto’o replacement. After all the spending and new faces that the rival [Real Madrid] had done over the past weeks the crowd was starting to get very nervous; but Laporta and Txiki Beriguistain made an impact with this signing; the Maxwell effect was present this time as well and Valencia let the opportunity of adding some needed money to their accounts with the sale of Villa go. Now, only time will tell if in the long term the trade was such a good idea but in the mean time the impact has been done. Ibrahimovic comes to Barça with a thirst for titles; he has won it all in Holland and Italy but now it’s time to aim not only for the local trophies but also the Champions League. This thirst is what the team needs to keep in a positive dynamic after winning all last season. Sandro Rossell, ex-vice-president of Barça, said that he would have sold Ronaldinho after the victory of the champions league in 2006 and everybody thought he was nuts but time proved him right. Guardiola thinks that the team needed some new faces and that some players [I.E Eto’o] have finished their cycle in Camp Nou.

Two Styles, One Goal: Ibrahimovic said in his first press conference as a Barcelona player that he didn’t come to replace Eto’o and that they were totally different players. The Swedish player is right, he’s not Eto’o and he can’t be compared to the Cameroonian but unfortunately that’s a shadow he will always have for bad or for good. Eto’o is a striker whose best quality is his ability to shot on goal; when he shot it was a goal; or at least a very serious chance of goal; whenever he opened the score Barça would be in the route of victory. However, the Cameroonian lacked of some skills that would have made him the best striker in the world; Eto’o is not a good header, he couldn’t play well unless he was facing the area; and he is not very secure when taking a penalty shot. However, he compensates for that by scoring the goals that matter the most and the ones that give your team title wins. Ibrahimovic on the other hand offers a lot of skills and good passing; he’s a good header and deadly when taking penalty shots. He’s missing big games’ goals but now it is time to prove it. In Barça he will benefit a lot from Xavi and Iniesta’s game and his team mates will benefit from his skills as well. Both Eto’o and Ibrahimovic are world apart but the goal is something they will always have in common.

Thank You Samuel: Samuel Eto’o will be always remembered in Camp Nou for his character, his passion for winning, his way of always saying what was on his mind which sometime gets him a bad reputation, but above all Samuel will always be remembered for his goals. Two hundred games he played for Barcelona and he scored 130 goals to become the third best striker in the club history. Of all goals there are two that will be the bests in for him, for the club and for our memories; the first one in Paris against Arsenal in the final of the champions league 2006. That goal opened the victory road for a more than deserving second title. Then he repeated the routine last May 27 against Manchester United to get us the third champion league title. I would have loved to see Samuel leave Barcelona with a press conference at Camp Nou before heading to Inter Milan; but perhaps this is the best way to say goodbye. I’m sure that Eto’o will come back to Camp Nou to face Barça in the coming years; when that happens he will receive a well deserve standing ovation.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Maxwell Effect


First transfer of the season: Barça made at last its first move in the summer transfer market signing Brazilian left back Maxwell from Inter Milan for 5 million euros. Maxwell was one of the choices of Guardiola to cover the hole left by Silvinho. This transfer will help Barça both technically and tactically from the very first day. Maxwell is a very offensive player that will create some competition with Abidal for a place in the main team. But the best aspect of this signing is the effect that it will cause on the market. First of all; it is a very strategic signing that didn’t cost Barça too much. In fact, 5 millions euros seems like nothing in today’s market. Second, this signing allows Barça to save money that they were willing to invest for Deportivo’s defender Filipe Luis. Barça put an offer of 9 million euros which Depor’s president considered to be too little. Now Depor ended up losing a good deal and keeping an unhappy player.
Villa will be next: He seems as though he really wants to leave Valencia and want to be in Barça. If he really wants it he will succeed; I’m of the opinion that Villa will break his silence soon and manifest to the media his interest in playing for Barça. Valencia’s president has to look at what happened with Filipe Luis. When a player wants to leave and he doesn’t then he ends up playing very bad; even if his level is equal or better, his mood affects the dynamic of the team. Barça has other options; one of them as attractive as Villa. If Valencia keeps pushing they will end up just like Depor; missing the opportunity of make a good deal and bring money to their account, and keeping an unhappy player. The funny side of this story is that Valencia was asking for 42 millions to Real Madrid for Villa and Barça is willing to leave them 42 millions for the same player and even two players on loan and Llorente [Valencia’s President] still don’t want to negotiate.
Forlan on deck: the second alternative that Barça is considering at this time is Diego Forlan. The two times and current golden boot of Europe has been linked to Barça for years now. Forlan wants to be back at the elite of the world after Manchester United let him go. He is a player that has a lot of resources to score and would adapt to Pep’s offensive style. His signing is probably easier than Villa since they don’t even have to negotiate with Atletico; all Txiki has to do is pay the termination clause of his contract which is 36 million euros. The only negative thing about Forlan is that he currently sits at 30; these things don’t really matter if at the end Barça wins big titles but 30 years still 30 years. Regardless of what happens, Maxwell effect will start to feel soon; hopefully Barça ends up signing players that will lead to the 4th Champion’s League

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Florentino Strikes Back



Florentino Skyrockets the Market: when Florentino Perez entered the race to become president of Real Madrid we all saw what was soon to come. Millions and Millions of dollars spent in world class players with the excuse of getting the money back solely on marketing. The man has done it again; 67 million euros in Kaka and 94 in Ronaldo. The truth is that Real Madrid obtained a 300 million euros loan from Banca Madrid of which now they only have 89 since they spent another 36 in Benzema and 15 in Albeol (the only Spanish player). Last year, Barça was able to arm a champion team with 94 million euros; although, the nucleus of the team was already in Barça and it was all made at home through their junior development system. This year however, 89 millions euros are so little that it will give Madrid the chance to buy maybe 2 more players. The effect Florentino is already present; last year, for example, to buy Villa any team would have to pay 30 million; now that quantity seems like a joke. Now for Madrid had to pay 36 millions plus incentives for the Benzema who had a mediocre season overall. Liverpool is asking for “just” 35 millions for midfielder Mascherano and the funny thing is that due to the effect of Florentino’s crazy acquisition it look as if 35 millions were just OK even though a player like that may be worth 25 Millions at maximum in a regular transfer season.

The Almost Perfect Picture: The story seems to have all the ingredients for another epic journey by Real Madrid in the Champions League and La Liga; but there is already a “mole” to the otherwise seemingly perfect body that is this team. One of the mistakes that Florentino had in his first era as president of Madrid was the absence of Spanish players. Saved for Raul, Casillas, Guti and Hierro the rest of the team was made of foreign players such as Zidane, FIgo, Ronaldo, Beckham, Makelele, Panucci, and others. There were Spanish players and they bought Ramos; but Perez always seemed to think that Spanish players were overpriced and foreign players not. His first promise this time was to make a more Spanish team and the man to cause that effect was no other than David Villa. The payment 94 Millions for Ronaldo and 67 for Kaka to make a huge impact; but these moves also backfired when they asked for Villa the response by Valencia was 45 millions which Perez considered to be “too much”. Once again Florentino makes the mistake of underestimating Spanish players once again. They ended up paying 36 millions for incentive for Benzema rather than 42 for Villa who is already adapted to La Liga and scores at least 22 goals per season. Villa is now on the verge of signing with Barça and that will be the first defeat of the “new” Real Madrid. It is subject of envy when you see Barça winning the first ever Spanish treble with not only Spanish players but players made in their youth development system. Real on the other hand is a team made in the banks and despite Florentino’s speech of having learned his lesson it all seems more of the same.
Villa Is “Just A Matter of Time”: that was the heading of Madrid’s newspapers during the confederation cup when their “secret sources” could confirm that Madrid was going to buy Villa. Even Florentino said it that they just needed time to negotiate the overpricing of the player which they were hoping to buy for 28 million euros. Now the situation happens to be true but with Barça’s name instead of Madrid. The player has negotiated his contract with Barça and has already talked with Guardiola of what his role will be in the team. The only problem right now is convincing the president of Valencia who was asking for 42 to Madrid and now he’s asking for 50 to Barça. The player has spoken with the president of Valencia and knows that the player wants to leave; he was put on the market before and now he demands to be transferred. Villa has been very passive but soon won’t be if he’s made to stay in Valencia. The worst part of the story is that this player should already be in Barça who is starting the pre-season in less than 10 days from now. It’s just a matter of time, but Guardiola doesn’t have that much of a time and plan B is there; 30 years old, two times golden boot and Atletico De Madrid’s own Forlan. This summer’s transfer is a long way from over but many feel that more movement should have happened already; Florentino has done it again.

Monday, June 1, 2009

Final Grades

With the football season officially over for Barça after the 1-1 tie against Deportivo it is time now to think about the players and all the effort that they made. This season was just a dream and something that perhaps none of us will ever live again. Pique was right when he said that perhaps in 15 years we will seat down and truly realize the value of this epic season. In the mean let’s look player to player and see how they did. They will be evaluate on a 10 point scale in which 10 will be the best and 0 the worst


- Victor Valdes: one of the most criticized player of this year; had a very good season. As always he had a number of consecutive games in which everything he did was a mistake but when it came down to the decisive moment such as both games against Real Madrid, Against Chelsea, and in the Champions’ League’s final he was spot on. Grade: 9.0


- Jorquera: unfortunately for the Catalan, he spent a lot of time injured and Pinto’s excellent shape and experience prevent him from playing. He will probably be transferred next season. Grade: N/A


- Jose Manuel Pinto: earned the spot of being the second goalkeeper of the team and shine in the key moments of the King’s Cup in which he was the main goalie. He doesn’t have the consistency of Victor but brings a lot of experience. Grade: 7.1


- Abidal: Eric Abidal came from Lyon with the reputation of being almost unstoppable; however, there was a sector of the French media that warned about his attention’s gap at some points of the season; every year one can see how he can be hit-or-miss. In speed he’s very fast but players such as Robben showed how easy can he be to beat at times. He might stay next year but he needs some serious competition for that left back position. Grade: 7.4


- Dani Alves: the best adquicition for this season. The Brazilian justified every single penny invested on him of the 30+ million euros payed to sevilla for the transfer. Defensively unbeatable; offensively, Messi’s best partner in the field. Alves is a machine that never showed up any sign of tiredness. He’s only bad aspect is that sometimes his temper cannot be controlled but after such a magnificent season everything can be forgettable from this player. Grade: 9.5


- Rafael Marquez: The Mexican player was thought to be in decay but Guardiola did his best to bring the best out of Marquez and the end result was a boss in defence. Rafa was not only a wall in the defence line but also the best player to start any play. His ability to start Barça’s game resulted in many of the goals that this team did this year. Welcome Back Rafa. Grade: 9.3


- Martin Caceres: one of the few disappointments of the season. The Uruguayan was never confident on the pitch. He played greatly last year in Huelva but failed to adapt to Barça’s rhythm. The fact that Barça paid 16 million Euros for his service makes you think that they had high expectation which were not met at all. Martin will probably be transferred on a loan next year. Grade: 3.0


- Gaby Milito: Milito was doing an outstading season last year until he got injured playing the Champions’ League semi-final against Manchester United. He was expected to return sometime in march this year but ended up not playing one single minute. Whether he stays next year or not depends on 2 things: 1- he’s ability to stay healthy, and 2- how fast can he get back on track. Grade: N/A


- Gerard Pique: the homecoming season for the young Catalan defender couldn’t have gone any better. After being let go by Alex Ferguson many thought he wasn’t ready to play in Nou Camp but despite the fact that the beginning of the season was not very good for Gerard he soon proved that he was by far the top rising defender in Europe. His ability to read the rival’s game is outstanding and his touch of the ball and accuracy in the pass make him the ideal Barça defender. Grade: 9.2


- Carles Puyol: what can you say about the captain? He’s the most consistent defender in Barcelona. Rarely did he have any bad game and his defensive skills allowed Guardiola to place him in any position of the defenders’ line. Another great season for the captain. Grade 9.0


- Silvinho: his role on the team is not that of the regular player of frequent substitute but more of the mentor and voice of experience in the team. Guardiola did not trust him very much but when he was called for action he responded such as in the final of the Champions’ League. Many consider him out but do not be surprise if his professionalism, experience, and dedication earn him another year in Nou Camp. Grade: 6.0


- Alexander Hleb: along with Caceres Hleb was the biggest disappointment of the season. It was known that he wasn’t very effective at scoring goals but he was very good in Arsenal when it came down to a one on one situation and dribbling. He never adapted and never understood how to work with Alves on the right wing. Next season, if he stays, he won’t have the adaptation excuse. One his defence, it can be said that he never played in the wings at Arsenal and maybe that’s where Guardiola has it wrong. Perhaps a move to the center field would benefit his game as it happened with Gudjohnssen. Grade: 3.5


- Iniesta: no compliment and positive adjective can describe Andres’ majestic football. He has the vision that makes Xavi the architect of the midfield combined with the one-on-one abilities and dribbling as Messi. Having Andres in your team means to have goal, accuracy, speed, surprise, emotion. Either on the left wing or in the middle Iniesta always delivers. He’s goal against Chelsea will be remember for many years to come. Next year’s golden ball award and FIFA world player has to give Andres some justice and if he doesn’t win it he has to be in the top three. Best of all, he’s made in Barça. Grade: 10


- Keita: “Keita has stolen my heart” with that expression Guardiola referred about the African player. Keita is the official player number 12 of the team; one of the most overlooked roles in a team is that of the player that assumes that he’s not a started but the first man to enter the pitch when the substitutions come. This role was previously held be Iniesta and now Keita has assumed it the perfection. He’s passes are a piece of art and the control he provides to the midfield is something that comes across very useful for the team. His surprise entrance in the area is a resource very useful as well as his long distance shot. Grade: 8.4


- Toure Yaya: when the season started Yaya was not having the role he thought he deserved. Pep gave him a chance and soon there was no turning back. Toure has become the perfect ally for Xavi and Iniesta in a role of body guard. He plays his role of defensive midfield to perfection and has even tone down his attitude a bit when it comes down to protesting a call by referees. In the end due to the absence in defence he had to play as a center back and with the more games he played he became more solid. Just as Keita, his long distance shot is a missile hard to stop and for a player that is almost 2 meters tall his dribbling is another piece of beauty; if you don’t believe this check his goal in the King’s Cup final. Grade: 9.2


- Xavi: the best player of the Eurocup, The best player of the Champions’ League Final and probably the best player of FC Barcelona. When he has the ball it’s like watching a Swiss clock work. His passes make him look as though he has a GPS on his legs; the teams that beat Barça this year did it by shooting down Xavi’s game. His consistency is something not very typical in this game. Grade: 10


- Sergio Busquets: the revelation of the season. Guardiola coach him in the junior division of Barça last year and did not hesitate to call him to the first team at the beginning of the year. He debuted as a started in Nou Camp and soon proved himself to be ready for the main team. He combines the passing skill traditional of any young player made in Barça with some defensive midfielder skills proper of Guardiola himself. He moves in the field like a kid that has been playing for many years in Nou Camp. His only weakness is experience but only time gives you that. in the final of the Champions’ League he went from less to more and soon made a big impact on the game. Grade: 8.9


- Bojan: for an 18 year old player the expectations at Nou Camp are extremely high. He did not have as much action as last year but perhaps that’s a good thing. Guardiola took off the pressure he had last year in order for him to grow up as a player with more confidence. In the King’s Cup he showed his potential scoring a lot of goals. Next season he either assumes a more mature role in the team or Guardiola would have to give him on a loan so he starts to play more. Just for the record, last time fans claimed that a player from the junior team deserved a more decisive role in the main team was with an unknown called Iniesta. Coaches took their time and we all know what happened. Grade: 7.5


- Samuel Eto’o: a year ago this very day Eto’o was on his way out; not because he wasn’t a good striker but his attitude was a big problem. Guardiola wanted to start fresh but due to his high price no team could afford to buy him. He did a wonderful pre season and behave well and the result was 30 goals in La Liga plus the decisive first goal in the Champions’ League Final. Samuel is a much more mature player; his temper has been controlled by Pep and he’s a leader in the locker room. Anxiety prevent him from scoring 40 goals this season but what matters is that the important and crucial ones went in. Grade: 10


- Gudjonhssen: the iceman did not have a very important role on the field as his game is not that of quick pass that characterize the team. He brings more of a physical presence in the middle. His goal against Betis gave Guardiola the first victory at home. This would more likely be the last season of Eidur at Nou Camp. Grade: 6.7


- Thierry Henry: if someone had the disappointment of the year award last season it was Henry. Many thought that he was on his way out but Guardiola made it his challenge to bring back Henry to the level he showed in Arsenal. Henry was much more comfortable this season; he scored 19 goals in La Liga including 2 at the Bernabeu in the 2-6 victory. His dribbling and shot on goal are just pure class. If he earned the disappointment of the year award last season, this season he earned the “Welcome Back to World Class Level” award. Grade: 9.7


- Messi: the next year Golden Ball award and FIFA world player have its name. Leo was without a shadow of a doubt the best player of the year. Every time he had the ball something good happened. He scored a total of 41 goals in all competition which includes the 9 goals he score in the Champions’ League – one in the final – he also scored many victory goals. His dribbling can only be stopped with a yellow card foul. And the best part of his season was that for the first time he did not suffer a single injury. Grade: 10.


- Guardiola: Inexperience, Youth, Controversial Decision. All of these were arguments against the man behind the success. A year ago there was a debate between bringing Mourinho or Guardiola. Laporta gambled and brought the Catalan to be the coach and results soon started to speak for themselves. His working philosophy has become the envy of Europe; he doesn’t give private interviews, he doesn’t allow the media in the training sessions but he makes up for that by giving a lot of press conference and having a very polite relation with media members. Nonetheless when he was angry with the media he let them know so, very respectfully, but with character; for example in the middle of the season the media was talking about who should be the next striker because according to them Eto’o was on his way out; soon enough Guardiola stated “my players deserve respect and support not only from the fans but also from the Catalan press…that’s were you guys fill this with crap; I’m not asking respect for me but for this players that are doing a good job and making this a dream season”. One of the most important aspects is that Pep never gave up his philosophy and from day one he was very clear “we are going to attack”. He prevented his players from assisting to publicity acts two days before any game and also created a working philosophy in the team that went from proper diets to eating together as a team. In his first year he did what no coach in Spain has done; he won the Triple Crown and he did so by trusting in home-made players such as Busquets, Iniesta, Xavi, Puyol, Messi, Valdes, and Pique. Grade: 10

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Barça Reaches Olympus


FC Barcelona has done the impossible; what no team in Spain, and only four teams in history, has ever done winning the “triple crown” or the treble which consists on La Liga, Kings Cup, and Champions’ League in the same season. Barça did such thing by beating the very bests and never renounce to their style and principles. Throughout the season the feeling that this team could do such a thing was always there and the players knew it but a clever Guardiola was there to remind us that the team had to go one game at the time and that expecting a triple crown was too much since it hadn’t been done in 109 years of the club’s existence.


La Liga: my personal favourite; La Liga rewards consistency throughout the year. Every team that wins this title deserves to be the champions as it has to be proven for 38 games. Ironically, it wasn’t until the third game when Barça could taste victory for the first time. With a coach debuting at such a young age all the looks were in Guardiola’s inexperience. Nonetheless once he did some adjustments this machine started to operate and game after game people would talk about the supremacy of the Catalans. Doubters always mentioned how they had to see Barça against the top teams to see if they were really that great. Fortunately enough this season’s schedule could not be any better to prove that this team was ready to beat anybody. Barça had to play against the first 4 teams one after the others; and soon doubters were silenced. Barça won the 4 games and ended up the first round with 12 points of difference. From that moment on the league was decided. Real tried to reach the first place and they were as close as 4 points but soon enough Barça showed their champion skin and won 2-6 at the Bernabeu to sentence the league title. Looking back it is easy to say that there was no rival this year for the champions.


King’s Cup: Barça, the all time winner of this cup, had the assignment of reclaiming this forgotten title which they hadn’t raised since 1998 oddly enough at the same stadium where they raised it this year. What’s a shame is that this prestigious cup has lost its magic due to poor management. Here is where the Spanish football federation has to look and learn from their English homologues if they don’t want this tournament to perish. There is no real price for whoever wins the title apart from greeting the king and becoming champions. The winner should be allowed entrance in the champions’ league pre-qualifying games. One way to do this could be to have a two game series with whomever finishes 4th in La Liga. Otherwise it will happen what’s happening now which is teams playing their second teams to win this cup. Barcelona did this and it worked; however, the likes of Leo Messi were present in a lot of games. What makes this title so meaningful this year is the rivals they faced to conquered it. Atletico, Espanyol, Athletic are all teams that a 1) are strong in the Kings’ Cup and 2) have some historic rivalry with Barça. Athletic and Barça is a dream final in this cup and Barcelona dominated it to show that they were the absolutely best.


Champions’ League: looking back in September when Barça was facing Wisla for a place in the tournament it was impossible to imagine that they would dominate this cup so clearly. At no point where they in danger of being out –expect at Stanford Bridge – every team that visited Nou Camp was terrified with the possible outcome; Lyon left with a 5-2; Bayern Munich with a 4-0 and Chelsea had no remedy but to play defence the whole game to dream about eliminating the Catalans. At Stanford Bridge they had the game in their hands but Drogba was not good enough to beat Victor and there’s the turning point in which Barça capitalized to score in the very last minute. It may have been luck or divine intervention but in this cup you cannot be champion without luck. In the final, Barcelona’s domination was insulting. Nobody had treated the former champions like that in Europe. Pep Guardiola showed that experience means nothing when you really know the game. He accomplished in his first years what no man had done which is to win it all. Is this the best Barça ever? History will judge. It’s too early and they need more years of winning titles. But as far as the best team of the moment goes it would be foolish to even argue.

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Champions To Become Champion

King of Kings: Barça became the champion of the king’s cup for the first time since 1998 last Wednesday in Mestalla; a stadium that oddly enough was the same where they conquered the same title 11 years ago. Barça entered the final with the handicap of having played three decisive games in a row against Madrid, Chelsea, and Villareal; each of those games meant a lot to the team and Pep did not hesitate to put his best men in every single of those games. Athletic, on the other hand, had been preparing the final with up to 2 month un advance; and since they had already saved a spot for the next year’s Liga they weren’t even playing their best men for a couple of weeks so they could be rested for the final. But this Barça is just too good and too tough to beat. Despite the fact that Athletic scored first, Barça was able to remain quite and soon take control of the game which led to a water clear victory over the “lions” of Bilbao. It is fair to say that Athletic put a lot of pressure on Guardiola’s men but Barça never gave up their style; something that caught up my attention was how Pinto never kicked the ball away but rather passed it to his defenders despite the fact that he had 2 rivals near him; even though this was a risky move by Pep it ended up paying as the first two goal started from the goalkeeper which is one of the elemental rules of this team.

La Liga Almost Ready: Even though winning La Liga should have happened last weekend at Nou Camp when Barça was playing Villareal, a tie played out to be the best to happen. It allowed the team not to distract from the King’s Cup final while celebrating La Liga. Sure, it would have been nice to win it at their home stadium accompanied by their people but realistically speaking after the victory against Madrid La Liga has already an owner; it’s just a matter of when they will officially proclaimed. This weekend they can start playing being champions already if Real Madrid do not comes from El Madrigal with three points; the best thing about winning la Liga before playing is that it would allow him to put a lot of bench players in the main team and give a well deserved rest to men like Messi, Eto’o, Xavi, or Pique. If Madrid wins, which is very unlikely seeing how well Villareal is playing, then Barça would only have to tie in their feud against Mallorca. Statistically speaking, they have added at least one point every time they have played in Las Palmas the last 7 years. Once this title of officially given to Barça they would be the first absolute champions of Spain (League & Cup winner) in 11 years.

Thinking in Rome: With the King’s Cup won and La Liga almost done, Pep has his eyes on only in the final of the champions’ League. Winning La Liga this weekend would give him a lot of time to think only in Rome, take the pressure of his men, and don’t let any euphoria enter the locker room. Just to show how serious Guardiola is about this tournament he fined six of his players for showing up one minute late for the training of today. Not even after playing such a beautiful final was Pep to go easy on his player. The message is perfectly clear: the job is not over. Barça is right now in a unique position of completing the hat-trick of titles; something that only four teams have been able to do and none of which are from Spain, Pep knows it and he wants his team to know it as well. Rome is in the horizon but for now let’s enjoy this weekend which will be when Barça claims the title for the 19th time.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Mission Accomplished


Yesterday Barcelona qualified for their sixth Champions’ League final after a 1-1 tie with Chelsea at Stanford Bridge. Unfortunately this game will be remembered mostly because of the horrendous refereeing rather than the amazing goal by Iniesta in the last second of the added time. To be frank, the referee made a lot of missed call specially the red card to Abidal. That decision cost Chelsea a lot of the match; the referee saw that he made a huge mistake and tried to made up for it by ignoring a very controversial hand ball by Pique with the argument that it wasn’t voluntary.

Essien Zidane & Super Iniesta: Michael Essien wore yesterday the suit of Zidane when he scored an amazing and gorgeous goal in the 9th minute that remembered Zidane’s best goal ever- in the Champions’ League final against Leverkusen- and from that point on Hiddink played the game he wanted: anti-football. Despite the fact that Barça was missing their 2 center backs-Puyol & Marquez- Chelsea did not make enough effort to create more danger around that area. Instead, they decided to defend for the rest of the game and wait for a counter attack that would reach Drogba. To make things even more shameful for Chelsea’s game, they allowed Barça to take control of the game –even when they were missing one player- Barcelona on the other hand played one of their worst games in the year. They didn’t make any shot on target for 92 minutes; something very uncharacteristic of this team. Alves played horribly and will be missing the final due to unnecessary fouls. Eto’o barely appeared throughout the game and Messi was being covered by 3 players every time he was ready to receive the ball. In the end the heroes of this team were Valdes and Iniesta; Andres for scoring that goal that represents the chance of winning the third European championship and Valdes for stopping a one on one against Drogba. In the end, if Chelsea is not in the final is not because the penalties that the referee missed but because they couldn’t finish the job.


The Best Philosophy Won: sadly, Hiddink did his job very well in the first game. He nullified Barcelona completely and with the 0-0 result at the end it seemed as though they had done the job properly even though that meant a disgraceful display of his men. Barcelona on the other hand always had the possession of the ball and had a philosophy that Guardiola has been applying since his first game: Attack, Attack, and Attack. The moment Essien scored Chelsea try to re-apply the dosage to their rivals but the difference is that now only one goal from Barça was enough to eliminate them as it did happen at the end. Barça played the same game over and over again and dominated one of the most difficult stadiums in the world. It’s true that yesterday the display wasn’t pretty at all but throughout the season it has been a different story and this spectacle football that Guardiola is showing every game deserved to be seen in the final. Chelsea lost the chance to repeat the final and it is due mostly because they gambled with the result; unfortunately, when you gamble you can win…or lose. Now against Manchester United Barcelona is going to be playing without Alves and Abidal but Pep will know that to do best as he as shown every time he has to improvise something.

Now, To Finish the Job: Barça is in the final of the two cups it fights for and one step away from winning La Liga- if Madrid loses this weekend or tie and Barça wins they’ll be champions- so it means that the objectives are almost done. Johan Cruyff has said something that is very true and it is that the objective in the Champions League and in the King’s Cup has to be being in the final. Once you are there the objectives has been achieved and you just need to give 110% to try to win it but at the end of the day the final is just one game and a lot can happen in just one game. In La Liga is a different story as it represents an award to the most constant team; Barça has to make sure to win that tournament as soon as possible so they can concentrate in the other 2. All year long Barça has shown that they are displaying the best football in Europe and it would be nice for a change to see football being a bit fare and do some justice. This team is at the entrance of the house of glory; now it’s time to give a few steps forward and finish the job.

Monday, May 4, 2009

Game, Set, & Match: Barça!



Unforgettable: what happened this past Saturday in the Santiago Bernabeu will not be forgotten ever by football fans around the world. Saying that Barça had been superior to Madrid in terms of their game was a statement that needed to be confirmed and Guardiola and his players were responsible to show the world that without any shadow of doubt they were the best team. In the 50s there was the Barça of the 5 cups -the best Barça to date in the writer’s opinion- then the Barça of Cruyff (player) is remembered for the 0-5 in the Bernabeu; then there was the Dream Team of Cruyff, now the coach, who’s remembered for many things such as the first champions league title and the 5-0 against Madrid at home; lastly we had the Barça of Frank Rijkaard which was a team called to make history but died sooner than they expected; they will always be remembered as the team that brought the second champions league title and the one that beat Madrid 0-3 at the Bernabeu the day that the Madrid’s fan cheered for Ronaldinho. Now Guardiola’s team has entered history; they will always be remembered for the 2-6 victory at the Bernabeu. The display of football as an art is appreciated even by the most ultra fans of Real Madrid.


Only 2 New Faces: Comparing this game to what happened a year ago when the Catalans lost 4-1 to Madrid one may think that Guardiola did an intensive renovation of the team bringing new faces and getting rid of many but the truth is that Pep used only two new players yesterday: Alves and Pique. Henry, Eto’o, Messi, Xavi, Abidal, Toure, Iniesta, Puyol, & Valdes were playing for this team last year. This goes to show that what Barcelona needed was not a new philosophy of playing or new players but a strict working ethic. Pep is a coach who was being blamed of lack of experience; however, he acts as a veteran coach guarding every single small detail. Against Madrid, he cracked down were the weak points were and placed Messi in that spot- in between the defensive mid-fielder and the center back- and to do this he had to “sacrificed” Eto’o in the right wing. The strategy worked to perfection and shows that Guardiola spent hours figuring out how to beat Madrid. His next job is not to see how Chelsea plays because he has done that already; instead, he has to fix the problems that his defence is having with corners and free kicks.


Next Objective = Rome: with La Liga almost won and the objective in the king’s cup already achieved- being in the final- the next objective is to eliminate Chelsea at Stanford Bridge in two days. This team deserves to be in the final of the champions’ league but deserving it is not enough and just like they did against Real they have to prove it against Chelsea. Whether the final is won or not is not something they have to think about; the objective has to be a place in the final as it shows that you were a direct championship contender. The biggest concern that Guardiola has is that Marquez is out for the rest of the season and Puyol is serving a suspension so he will only have Pique. Some suggest that Toure will be used as center back and other suggest that Caceres will have the opportunity of a lifetime to shine. Whatever happen I’m confident that this team has the tools to make it to Rome… a 1-1 will do.

Friday, April 24, 2009

Mestalla WIll Judge

Mestalla To Be Remembered: This coming Saturday Barça will visit a stadium that can bring the best memories to fans to this club or the worst. Pep Guardiola’s team will play in Mestalla two games that will determine the successfulness of this campaign. Tomorrow against Valencia half tournament is on the line; if Barça is able to leave with three points they will only have to win tow more games to be champions; even less if Real Madrid loses at Sevilla’s Sanchez Pizjuan. The next time they are back at Mestalla will be may 13 against Atletic de Bilbao in the final of the King’s Cup but now is not the time to talk about that game.
Pep Does not Speculate: Guardiola knows the importance of the coming games. In less than 15 days he will have to face Valencia, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Villareal & Atletic de Bilbao which means that the season will be judged in the next 6 games (7 if they go to the Champions League final in Rome). From now on he won’t give rest to the essential players and the ones like Hleb or Caceres will not be playing so much unless the games are very well finished before the ending time. To prove this Guardiola called the 18 available players to go to Mestallla tomorrow night. He wants to create a good environment by bringing everybody and thus transmitting the importance of the coming games. Against Valencia Henry Eto’o & Messi will be playing from the beginning and will try to win the game as clear as possible to send a direct message to their main rival.
Crucial Victory: With the luck and effectiveness that Real Madrid is having it is crucial that Barça get the three points this weekend; every effort that Madrid has done so far is being nullified by Barça and if they keep this way a bit longer soon Real Madrid will fail. What is happening with this rivalry this year is a metaphor of Barça’s game. Kanoute from Sevilla stated how desperate it is to play against Barcelona in the way that they don’t give you the ball and you spend 90 minute trying to chase the ball which results in them getting exhausted and soon admitting defeat; this has been the Barça VS Madrid race so far. Barça has the points and Madrid is trying to chase them. All logic points that Madrid will sooner rather than later fail but football is an ingrate and sometimes even defies all logic. The only hope that Madrid has is for Barça to get tired from their encounters with Chelsea. However, that is next week. In the mean time La Liga enters in the best part where for Barça a win this Saturday is Crucial.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Real Madrid VS Barcelona: Worlds Apart

Worlds Apart: after watching the round 32 of La Liga it is impossible not to see the immense difference between the two championship contenders Real Madrid and Barcelona. Despite the fact that both of them got the three points from their respective encounters their games are world apart; Real Madrid wins suffering and in the last minute, they allow their rivals to dominate them in their own stadium; if they’re still fighting for the championship it is based only on the never-ending hope that this team has. Barça, on the other hand, is able to liquidate their rivals in just 45 minutes and we are talking of the likes of Bayern Munich, Lyon, Atletico de Madrid and others; at home they dominate completely and mesmerize viewers all around the world with their continues passes and never ending pressure. Playing like that, Barcelona should claim their well deserved title; however, football is an ingrate sport so it is not over until it is over.

Iniesta is Just Too Much: a lot of the time when we refer to Barcelona we talk about the main players such as Eto’o and his goals (27 so far), about Henry and how he’s now a more mature player, about Messi and how he’s the team’s main star. However, right now there is only one player that is making the difference in this team and deserves to have a bit more of recognition; Andres Iniesta. This player right now is one step ahead of everybody, he has the same touch of gods as Xavi, the one-on-one skills that Messi has and now he’s even scoring a lot of goals. Last night, Pep played without Messi and the team played like they always do: dominating and crushing their rivals in less than 60 minutes. Andres brings so much to the game that it is not even funny; just as Eto’o said in the after-game interview “Andres deserves a Golden Ball award along with Messi”. The best thing about Andres is that despite the fact that he plays like only few in the world and that the Nou Camp chants his name on a daily basis he still very humble and his professionalism is enviable.

Pepe’s Madness: while Andres Iniesta mesmerize football fan with his beautiful skills Real Madrid defender Pepe shocks the world with his unforgivable action against Casquero. The defender made a fool of himself losing control and tackling the Getafe striker after he was already in the floor; and not happy with himself, he threw a punch at another Getafe players; and to make things even worst he exists the field insulting the referees. The Spanish Football Federation has to take serious actions against this kind of despicable behaviours; so far it is known that he can miss four games at the very least even though it should be around the 10 games mark. This should be a lesson to anybody playing for a professional club. Pepe not only created a bad image for himself but for the shirt and the colors he represents. Diario Marca from Madrid says today that we shouldn’t make a devil out of Pepe and to some extent it is true; but no explanation can justify what he did. He shouldn’t be playing the rest of the season (7 games) so that the message is clear and a situation like this never happens again.

Friday, April 3, 2009

The Was, Is, and Will be Stars

Futbol is one of the most unpredictable sports. It only takes one game to go from the best to the worst; from a winning streak and calculations of when to celebrate the title to a losing streak in which every hope is lost. This is the nature of this sport and what makes it so beautiful. Barcelona is no different than any other club in this aspect; in fact, the so-demanding crowd is always on top of everything and can go from love to hate in a matter or weeks. If you don’t believe this look at Samuel Eto’o who was booed at home in the last gamer of last year’s season, and now is acclaimed in every game. Every few years Barca crowns a new star and forgets about the previous one; the bests, most of the time, wear the Catalan jersey; for example, Kubala, Cruyff, Romario, Maradona, Ronaldo, Rivaldo among others.

The Was. Ronaldinho Gaucho was less than 14 month ago still the king of Barca. He was a player that with his smile and skills brought faith back to the a team that hadn’t won a title for over five years. In his first year he would do a new trick every week and would make a mediocre team look like a million bucks. In his second year, Rijkaard designed a team around the Brazilian. Eto’o would be the man that would transform every pass from Ronaldinho into a goal; Deco was the man that covered his back; and the scheme was changed to a 4-3-3 where the left wing would be the main weapon of the team with Ronaldinho being unstoppable on the 1 on 1. However, if the rise of Ronaldinho was fast so was his fall. After a dream season in which he conquered the league title and champions league and even getting applauded in the Santiago Bernabeu stadium (something that had never happened) Ronaldinho experienced that the challenge is not getting to the top but staying. Now in Milan he is still a mere shadow of what he was. He no longer creates danger and is very easy to stop in the one on one. Nearly 8 month after his departure it is easy to see that both Txiki and Guardiola were right in excluding the Brazilian from the team.

The Is. When one is gone another comes; with that mentality Barcelona found his new king and they didn’t have to expend millions in this one. Lionel Messi was brought from the junior team at the end of 2004 and as soon as he had his first change he showed Barcelona what he was capable of; the next year he even took the place of veteran Giuly who had to sit down and watch how a 19 year old boy outplayed him. Now, with Ronaldinho gone Messi has become the new king; and not because Barca needed to fill that position but because he has earned it. Right now Messi is the best player in the world. He is like a formula one car that goes directly to the end line to win. It only takes him seconds to plan a play that will end at least on a change of scoring. His weak point has been the constant muscular injuries but Guardiola, up until now, has managed him well to avoid this injuries. Messi needs to learn from Ronalinho and realize that the challenge was not getting there but staying. Only time will tell how long will this king last.

The Will Be. It is impossible to predict the future and what will happen. It is impossible to know what will happen with Messi. However, Barcelona has learnt the lesson with Ronaldinho and will probably manage better the Argentinean. Regardless, there is somebody that will headline the news in the very near future along or without Messi. That is, Bojan. Krkic. The young half Spanish and half Serbian striker breaths goal; he’s the kind of striker that doesn’t need to shine too much to show his talent and can appear in a game in just seconds. He has something different from Eto’o ; Bojan is an area predator he knows where he has to be. Last year he was given a responsibility bigger than his chances when he had to carry a team that was in the process of decomposition. This year he’s been managed more accordingly with his age and experience. Barcelona has found out their future number 9. Give him 2 years.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Rumour-mania 2009 III

In a long 15 days period where there is only going to be international matches there is not much to talk about La Liga. As expected, the different sports newspapers have taken the chance to talk about the “future teams” and the new “top secret” plans about how a team is going to acquire some player. First it was C. Ronaldo then it was Benzema, Ribery, and now back again to the headline please welcome back Cesc Fabregas. Sport sites from Barcelona (www.sport.es, or www.elmundodeportivo.com) are claiming that Cesc will be the future midfielder in Barcelona while Madrid sites (www.marca.com or www.as.com) are claiming that the Catalan will finally go to real Madrid. My bet? He’ll stay in Arsenal next year.

Real Madrid Episode II…Calderon Strikes Back. Just when you’d think that the picture of the Real Madrid situation could not get any crazier we get the former president, Ramon Calderon, saying that he will present his candidature for the coming elections in the summer. What makes this whole situation so surreal is that less than 2 months ago he was forced to resign after a fraud scandal; on top of that, Calderon was known for his false promises such as bringing Kaka, CR7, and Cesc Fabregas to the club and there was nothing but joy by the shareholders of the club when he resign. Now, Mr. Calderon appears on the media challenging the expected-to-be new president Florentino Perez to debate in public; and in the mean time, the current transition president goes very arrogantly saying that Madrid would win against Liverpool (which didn’t happen) and that they will also conquer the league title (they are 6 points from the first place). If you love nonsense humour watch what happens during the summer elections.

“Future” Barcelona’s Player. Every year there has to be a new player in every team. It’s not only a tradition but a measure to create competition within the team so everybody brings their top game. Prove of that is what Real Madrid did (or didn’t do) during the summer when they only acquired 1 player. The final result was a team that lack of competition in itself and that was going from winning the league in may to being 5th in November, and if it wasn’t for the winter transfer window they’d be right know struggling to get a place to the UEFA’s Cup. With that being said, it is not a secret that Barcelona will have to get some new players for the next season. A left back is needed as Abidal can be a hit-or-miss player and Silvinho is in the twilight of his career. Another position that needs some reinforcement will be the left wing. Hleb has been more than disappointing and the chances of him staying in Barça are less to none; so, the parade of names to fill these positions is huge. However, the positions that do not need any changes are also being talked about. For instance, there are a lot of rumours that Cesc will be signing for Barça but to be honest he’s not needed at the moment. Xavi and Iniesta are directing the midfield like Beethoven on his 5th symphony; playing Cesc Iniesta and Xavi would be a huge mistake since the 4-3-3 schema needs a defensive midfielder like Toure who can destroy the offensive game of the rival team. Another position that is being talked a lot is the striker. Eto’o is currently sitting at 25 goals in 28 games; he even said that he wants to stay in Barcelona for the coming years. Adding another striker would be a huge mistake. Specially having Bojan on the bench.

The Striker Dilemma. If Eto’o leaves then Barcelona must acquire a striker of the likes of Villa for the next season. However, with the high chances of Eto’o staying there must be no changes at all in this denomination. A column by Spanish writer Fabian Ortiz of sport diary “As” said something very true. Lately Karim Benzema is being said to cost above 40 million euros; but then you think about it the young French striker currently sits on 17 goals on the French league (a very mediocre league) while Bojan who is 3 years younger has scored 9 goals in all competitions without being regular in the team whatsoever. If Eto’o leaves Bojan has to be the second striker o the team; it is time to put some money on the line for the youngster; and if Eto’o decides to stay he must be included more frequently on the team. He has the striker instinct but lacks of experience and exposing him at this time can be very risky. However, the time will soon come when Bojan needs a more decisive role in the team. Let’s hope that a)Pep gives him the chance and b) that he responds… up until now he has.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Barça Double Up the Bet

Round 28 of Liga was played this weekend with a curious reflection of what the whole tournament has been. Real Madrid won their game at home against Almeria which will be remembered more for the tribute to Hugo Sanchez’s coming back to Madrid than for the game itself. Real didn’t play good at all but they were highly effective when it came down to what really matters…scoring. Huntelaar is right now the striker they missed after the injury of Van Nistelroy, Lass has become the chief of the midfield and Juande Ramos has figured out a way to make this broken machine work.

Barça Doubles Up. Before the initial whistle at Nou Camp Guardiola’s men knew that Real Madrid had won against a non-threatening Almeria 3 goals to 0; once again Real Madrid was at 3 points watching their TVs in the locker room waiting to see if the pressure would manifest in Barcelona. Instead, they had to see how Barça massacred Malaga in less than 30 minutes. What had been catalogued as an “interesting” match up between Malaga (the revelation team of this season) and Barça (the most dominating team) ended up being a dominance display by the Catalans. Xavi and Iniesta commanded the midfield as they wanted to; and together make this team play at the rhythm they wanted. Henry is at his best once again and is the King Midas of the team as everything he touches becomes gold; and Eto’o is back on the hunt for the pichichi trophy (Spain’s top scorer). With this result Barcelona not only matched the 3 goals scored by Madrid but also doubled them up to show how superior they are.

Injuries Ruin The Show. Unfortunately for Barça this show did not have the perfect happy ending that it deserved. Their three main pillars in the midfield ended the game injured. Toure Yaya couldn’t last more than 25 minutes and abandoned the field with a torn muscle that will have him apart from the fields for at least 15 days. Iniesta had the exact same injury and will miss about the same time; lastly, Xavi ended up with a sore heel but in his case it shouldn’t prevent him to play in the next round of la Liga. The only “good” thing about these injuries is the timing; next weekend there are international world cup qualifying matches so this players would have to miss only one round as they are all expected to be recovered to face Bayern Munich on the 8th of April.

Numbers of Champions. Something has been said quite a lot in Spanish sport articles this past week about how people should give Madrid more credit for still being competing. With Barcelona’s same numbers Deportivo La Coruna conquered the title in the season 99/00. Real Madrid has not given up and they see the 6 points difference somewhat possible; especially considering the fact that they have to play Barcelona at their home stadium in round 34. However, if we look at the stats Barcelona deserves to win this title; their three main strikers accumulate a total of 57 goals and the team in general add up to 84; if they keep going this way they’d be braking all time record of la Liga held by Real Madrid with 107 goals in one season. The turning point of this tournament is going to be in two weeks when they have to “plug” themselves in very fast and keep adding and when Barça starts playing champions league. If they keep adding 3 points every week then this league will be over soon.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Barça to visit two of seven infernos

In less than 24 hours the UEFA committee will hold the final draw of the champions league determining who plays against whom and where the second game of each round is going to be played. It is believed that whoever plays the second game at home has an advantage but each team knows that to be in the final they need to do well in both game. Tomorrow at this time the speculation will be at its best as everybody will try to predict the outcome, pick the bests for their fantasy leagues and so on.

There Are No Easy Team. From this moment on, there are absolutely no small team. One of the magical aspects of this tournament is that a single play can be a make or break for any team. Many fans of teams such as Manchester, Barça, or Bayern Munich want to face Villareal or Oporto but the fact of the matter is that it doesn’t really make a difference. To win against any team there need to be three main factors present 1) good team 2) you need to have a good day and 3) perhaps the most important yet overlooked fact you need to have luck. Just remember how Monaco faced Oporto in the final just five years ago while big names such as Manchester, Liverpool, or Real Madrid had to just watch it from home.

Barcelona will have to play in 2 of the seven “infernos” if they want to make it to Roma this year and try to add their third cup here is a look at the possible contenders:

Manchester United: perfectly balanced team; with a perfect preparation. This team is a very serious contender to go back to back in this tournament. Their home pitch, Old Trafford, doesn’t bring many good memories to the Barcelona fans as we still have the image of that amazing goal from Paul Scholes last year in the semi-finals. The best quality about this team is the organization with which they play; they practice a solid defence that doesn’t let you move comfortably and just when you lose the ball they can create an attacking play in seconds with which they destroy you.

Liverpool: motivated as hell after two consecutives win scoring four goals against non other than Real Madrid and Manchester United (the last one in Old Trafford). This team is made for the champions’ league. Benitez knows how to prepare these games better than anybody. Their strongest point is the fact that their two pillars so-to-speak respond at big games; Torres and Gerrard almost never disappoint whenever they play a big game. Even in their worst day they’d make you suffer a lot. Anfield is a strong factor as they have by far the best crowd in the world.

Bayern Munich: this is a favourite of mine. The Germans play really solid and have a combination in their front line which is devastating. Tony is a striker that, while not being praised by many, scores a lot and goes very well in the air. Klose feats the same description but has better footwork than his Italian team member and last but not least Ribery; this guy can make it happen…just like that. The only “doubt” that I can find in this team is the fact that they have yet to prove themselves against a big club. I just hope they go against one of the four members of the “British Empire”

Villareal: one Cinderella team some may say; villareal has shown that they are ready to face the challenge. When they play good they are extremely hard to beat. Men like Senna, Cazorla or the veteran Pirlo can come back at any time and make the team win. Their problem is that at the moment they are not doing as well as they wish in Spain. After they lost to Madrid and Barça in December they have been very “hit-&-miss”

Chelsea: second place is not enough for this team and they want to achieve what they failed last year. Anelka and Drogba bring so much experience to their offensive line that it is hard to not consider them for the semi-finals. However, they will need more than Anelka and Drogba to advance and if men like Lampard or Essien do not appear during the game and be decisive they won’t have too much of a chance. Also, with Deco out due to a knee injury it remains to be seen how they manage their midfield. Stanford Bridge is a solid stadium where is really hard to win but since Barça cracked them three years ago it hasn’t been the same. I believe this tournament will make this team stronger or will completely accelerate the renovation in the locker room.

Oporto: the second least attractive team in the tournament along with Villareal; however a team that doesn’t need to do much to make an impact. Whenever Lissandro scores this team create a lot of troubles to their rivals and if they are lucky, and they are very lucky, they can make an upset and advance. Their weakest point is the goalie that can miss a lot of obvious plays.

Arsenal: this team can be very solid but can also be really bad. They are, at least on paper, the weakest member of the so-called “British Empire”. However they faced big teams in the past under similar circumstances and advanced to the next round. Men like Cesc or Van Persie are always the one that you need to be very careful; but also there are men like Adebayor who can miss tons of goals which in these tournament means good bye.

Monday, March 16, 2009

One Game Less...3 Points More


Eleven More Finals.
Barcelona defeated Almeria 2-0 in what looked more of a training session than an actual game. Guardiola’s men dominated the entire game and if it wasn’t for the Almeria’s goalie, Diego Alves, we would be talking about a 5-0 result. Barcelona seems to have learnt the lesson at last and now plays more loyal to their game style: pressure, possession, and quick passes. However, in the first half of the game Barça made the mistake of just having the ball but not doing much with it. The game was predictable which resulted in few goal shots. Nonetheless, the few shots that Barcelona made were on target but the inspiration of Almeria’s goalie was out of this world. In the second half Barca realized its mistake and started moving the ball quicker than before and scoring two goals in less than 10 minutes. At the end of the night the objective was accomplished. Barcelona is once again 6 points away from Real Madrid. There are only 11 more games until the end of the season; each of those will be a final.

Bojan’s Time. Last season former Barcelona’s coach Frank Rijkaard decided to give the young 17 year old Bojan a chance to play with the first team; the situation was really bad with a team that had given up La Liga the previous year to arch nemesis Madrid. Samuel Eto’o had a severe injury once again and would be out most of the season; Thierry Henry was not adapting to Spanish futbol at all and his number were not justifying the 24 millions Barcelona had invested in him; and to make things worst the main event and star of the team, Ronaldinho, was in the beginning of his humungous free-fall. Bojan became an instant idol in Barcelona for his youth, passion, background history with the club and on top of that his romance with the goal. This year his presence has not been greater or equal than last year when he became a regular striker. In fact, he’s been playing way less and only in the King’s Cup he is member of the main team. However, people seem to overlook his age, 18, and the fact that what happened to him last year was unusual. Bojan had a golden chance yesterday and he did not disappoint. He’s a player that is not involved in the game a lot; his skills are not of the striker that runs with the ball, enter the area and score; instead, he’s a predator of the area waiting for the right moment to strike. Yesterday he only had 2 chances and both of them entered; goals that come in the crucial moment of the season when Barça is fighting for 3 championships and need to know that all players are there to respond when needed.

Waiting For a Rival. This Friday is the final draw in the Champions League in which the best 8 clubs in Europe will be paired so that all possible matches are known. There are no small teams at this stage. Nonetheless, many would prefer Porto or Villareal than any of the British teams. Johan Cruyff mentioned on his column this week that at this point any rival is going to be tough. If Barça gets paired with Liverpool or Manchester (both serious title contenders) they would then have a golden opportunity to eliminate one of the bests. The trick will be for Guardiola to figure a way of keeping his men fresh both mentally and physically to face this challenge. Madrid on the other hand has the “advantage” of playing only once a week which means that they can afford this coming 11 finals in La Liga in a better way than Barcelona who could feel the intensity of all competitions affect their game. However, I bet that many in Madrid would love to have the “problem” of playing all tournaments.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Champions League Hangover (Part II)


The round of 16 is over with very little surprise. Most of the outcomes were very visible after the first games so let’s look at them one by one:

Barcelona VS Lyon: for the first time in Barça’s history they eliminate a French team in a K.O round of a European tournament. Barcelona was very loyal to their principles and their game playing with the lines very close to one another and pressuring the rival and playing very fast. The first 45 minutes were the complete opposite from the first 45 minutes at Lyon. Pure perfection by the Catalans that scored 4 goals; however, it is quite intriguing how this team can be so good and so mediocre in just one game. The first 25 minutes of the second half were quite bad and if Benzema had scored at least one goal then I’m not so sure what would have happened. In the end, Barça was clearly superior but there is still tons of work to do.

Manchester VS Inter: I predicted that Inter was going to eliminate the current and very possible next champions but only with a tie and with horrible game. I wasn’t that far off as Inter sent to balls to the post. In the end the best team advanced and there is no surprise whatsoever. Manchester may be in its way to become the first team to win back to back.

Roma VS Arsenal: Roma is a rollercoaster; some days it can be the best team playing at home and other the worst. Today, they battled until the very last second but in the penalty kicks it is always a lottery. With this win the premier showed once again to be the best league in Europe…unfortunately.

Oporto VS Atletico: if today Oporto didn’t win is not because they didn’t have the chance but because the gods from above were rutting for Atletico; they had so many chances that for whatever reason didn’t become goals. The biggest mistake by Abel was leaving Forlan in the bench. Honestly, in a KO round you have to go for the game from the very first moment. Shameful.

Chelsea VS Juve: Juventus is a team that is very hard to beat at home and Chelsea can give testimony of that. Unfortunately they also need new players, a fresh air so to speak. Juventus is at the moment a team that needs a re-building summer. I don’t expect to see Chelsea going to semi-finals if they have to face a big team.

Panathinaikos VS Villareal: The only surprise of the round was to see the yellow submarine advance to the next round. Definitely the Cinderella team of the tournament; it is nice to see them among the 8 best of Europe.

Liverpool VS Madrid: yes, the first goal was a foul on pepe, the second one wasn’t a penalty but you just cannot justify a 4-0. Benitez gave a lesson of how to win a game from minute one. Real Madrid was never a threat in this game and only Casillas is saved of the media backlash.

Bayern VS Sporting: not much to say here expect that Bayern showed no mercy and gained a lot of respect for the next round.

Championship Contenders:
- Liverpool: strong contender after their dominance display against Madrid. Definitely a semi-finalist

- Bayern: This team needs to face a big team to prove how good there are; in my mind a final contender.

- Manchester: one of my best friend described them the best; he said “they are team with most discipline in the world” I couldn’t agree more. Serious contender for the first ever back to back.

- Barça: when they are good they are the best. But the have gaps that in this tournament can represent the end.

Matches that I want to see:

Manchester VS Bayern
Barça VS Arsenal
Oporto VS Villareal
Liverpool VS Chelsea

Thursday, March 5, 2009

...and to Mestalla We Go!

Barça is not having a sweet moment right now. The team dynamic is gone, the futbol quality is not present and on top of that they have not won in the last 5 games. Right now the question is: what has happened to this team that in less than 35 days ago was the envy of Europe? To make things worse, Real Madrid went from being 12 points away to being only 4 is less than a month!

The two Ps of Barça. I have come to an explanation for Barcelona’s successful game in the past months which consists on the application of these 2 Ps known as Pressure & Presence. Pressure refers to the defensive scheme that Guardiola had in which as soon as the rival team got the ball at least 2 Barça players would surround him thus making pressure on the pitch and make him lose the ball. This principle has been lost in the past month. For example, against Atletico Maxi Rodriguez would have the ball for 10 seconds and nobody would cover him. The end result was a dream coming back and a heartbreaking lost or Barça. The Second P refers to “presence” and it is about the presence of the so called “cracks” like Messi, Eto’o, Xavi, Puyol etc. these men have been away in the last couple of games and Barcelona suffer as a team. Messi seems to be getting back but sometimes even Messi is not enough.

The Path to Mestalla. Barça qualified for a place in the final of the King’s Cup for the first time in 11 years. However, to say that it was easy is to fool yourself. Atletico didn’t bring the best and neither did Espanyol; but tonight at the ONO Stadium Mallorca almost brought back the memories from Getafe 2 years go when they eliminate Barça while coming back from a 5-1. Pep Guardiola abandoned his principles yet again and the game displayed by Barca can be considered quite embarrassing. If the team is in Mestalla for the next final on May 13 is thanks to two men: Messi and Pinto. The Argentinean did what he does best; he came in the second half and scored the gol that tied the game 1-1 and sentenced the match. But the real hero was second goalkeeper Jose Manuel Pinto. The ex player from Celta stopped a penalty shot that would have been the 2-0 for Mallorca. Barca can be happy for being in the final but the way they are playing is way below expectations.

Morbid Weekend. This coming weekend the two final teams in the King’s Cup will meet in Nou Camp in the round 26 of La Liga. This will be a preview of what’s to come in May 13 at Mestalla. To make things more interesting Barcelona must get a victory to finally re-engaged in the positive dynamic they were in. The team cannot afford to give Real Madrid more chances to win La Liga. The memories of la liga 2006-07 are still fresh in the minds of the fans. However, it is not time to doubt but time to support the team. The qualifying for the final of the King’s Cup may be the beginning of the end of negative results.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Champion's League Hangover

After 3 long months the most prestigious tournament in Europe is finally back. The KO round of 16 was very interesting to say the least and most of the games are way open to put money on the line. Let’s look game by game what happened and the consequences.

Lyon VS Barça: Horrible first half by the Catalans; it was probably the worst display of the season and it comes at the worst time. Pep’s team has not won in three games. Valdes is right now in clumsy mode. Let’s be honest, Juninho’s goal was a piece or art worthy of the mighty ones but Valdes could and should have done something more. It’s not too much that he failed but the fact that it’s his second game in which a mistake of the keeper cost the teams the game. Fortunately Henry appeared (at least once) to save the day and score another goal worthy of the chosen ones. The good news is that 1) the team didn’t lose and 2) a goal away is always a good news; this means that a 0-0 tie will still take Barcelona to quarters of final. The bad news: Barcelona has never passed to the next round after tying 1-1 on the first game. Prediction: Barcelona wins at home next game and advances to the quarters of Final.

Inter VS Manchester: the big daddy of this round was very disappointing; especially for mourinho’s men. Manchester seemed as though they were playing home. They moved very comfortably throughout the game and had many chances of scoring. Mourinho must be extremely grateful to Julio Cesar who was without any doubt the MVP of the night. Ibrahimovic barely appeared during the game and neither did Adriano. However, in this type of tournaments not letting the visitor score in the first game is a success. Prediction: This is a very bold prediction but I ‘m sure Inter will tie at old Trafford and advance. But don’t fool yourself they won’t display any type of futbol; it will be 90 minutes of constant offensive game by Manud.

Arsenal VS Roma: Once again the premier showed to be a better league than Calcio. I’m not a fan of the kick and run show that is seen every weekend on England but even I have to admit that they are miles away at the moment. Arsenal showed extremely superiority at emirate stadium and just as Manchester is a shame that the superiority was not reflected on the final score. A penalty goal by Van Persie was enough for the moment but Roma is a very tricky team at home. It’s hard to know how good they will be the next game or how incredible bad. Prediction: Arsenal is going to advance to the next round without too much problem. A 0-0 at the Olympic Stadium will be more than enough to kick out the hosts of this year’s final.

Atletico VS Oporto: I’m glad these two had to see each other in this round. They are so similar in so many ways that it is nice to the spectacle. Atletico’s men were convinced that in champions league they will be different from the rollercoaster display of La Liga but unfortunately it wasn’t the case. Every time the seemed to figure how to win Lisandro would strike back and get Oporto in the picture once again. The final result is a shame if you are an Atletico De Madrid fan; a 2-2 is not the best score to have with the next game being away. Prediction: Oporto won’t have too many troubles to eliminate Aguero and company. 1-0

Chelsea VS Juventus: the biggest upset of this round for me. I was going to be very surprise if Barça had won at Lyon but Juventus losing and not scoring is an humongous surprise. Let’s be clear, Chelsea is a solid club as they showed last game and nobody forget they are the runner-up of last tournament. Not even almighty Manchester United could win clearly against them in the final; but also let’s not forget who Juventus really is. Juve is like this bee that it doesn’t matter how many times you try to get rid off it always comes back. That’s Juventus in champions league; rarely any other team feel this tournament as Juve does and to see them losing and not scoring is an outrage. Prediction: I think Juve will win 2-1 at home which will leave them out due to away goal advantage…something they lack.

Villareal vs Panathinaikos: as is the case with Atletico and Oporto I’m glad for these two as well. They are such underdogs in this tournament that it’s nice to see them battle each other. I can’t say too much about this game; Villareal never fully recovered after losing to Madrid and Barça in December and this have shown in the qualifying where they are currently at 4th place with 11 point difference from the second. I think they still have a shot but Panathinaikos seems to have this one. Prediction: Panathinaikos advances winning 2-0.

Real Madrid VS Liverpool: this was probably the second big daddy of this round. So much history between these two only made the scenario more intense. Real Madrid is right now the re-emerging phoenix in Spain who is starting to worry their arch nemesis Barça. And Liverpool, while not as solid in the premier as they would want to be still the “never say never” team of Europe. The encounter was hard to describe. Both coaches decided to show their amazing defensive organization but forget to display how well the attack. And to make everything weirder Liverpool ended up getting a victory. In Spain they say Liverpool brought Petroleum back from Madrid and I couldn’t agree more. 0-1 doesn’t seem that bad but at the same time is too much. Madrid will have to suffer a LOT if they want to keep the 10th championship dream. Prediction: Liverpool will take this one 1-0 and go to the next round.

Sporting Lisbon VS Bayern Munich: This was probably the most predictable encounter. The difference between these 2 teams is colossal. I predicted a 0-3 with goals of Ribery, Toni, and Klose but to be honest now that I see it a 0-5 was more than obvious. Prediction: Bayern doesn’t even have to show up to win. 2-0 at home for the Germans

Sunday, February 22, 2009

The Craziness Begins

Round 24 of La Liga was played this weekend and it seems as though we have entered bizarro world. The environment right now reminds me of the days after Barça defeated Madrid at Nou Camp 2-0 where somebody that didn’t have idea about the classification would have thought that Madrid had already won the title. Right now that is the atmosphere in Spain; but the only difference is that right now Madrid has arguments valid for being that way because they have been adding 3 points every weekend whereas Barça have given away a couple of them. This is the situation: 3 weeks ago Barça was 12 points away from Madrid; today they are only 7.

The Crap-o-meter is activated: this imaginary device symbolizes what Barcelona fans are about. If after losing against Numancia on the first round somebody would have said to us that today, February 22nd, we would be with an advantage of seven points we would have been more than happy. However, now everybody doubts of this team, of the coach and everything. This team has shown that in attitude alone it can win matches that are key for winning any championship. So what would put an end to all these fears and worries? Winning in France against Lyon and in Madrid against Atletico next weekend; right now starts the key part of the season. It is believed that La Liga is won in the last 10 rounds and that is, to certain extends, true. But Pep doesn’t want to wait until the last 10 rounds. The idea is to enter them with the at least 10 points of difference.

Injuries and Ref doesn’t help. Yesterday we lost Abidal for at least 2 months due to an injury. During the week we also lost Iniesta but in his case is nothing that bad and he will be out for only 15 days. In fact, I’m almost sure that he will be ready before and will play against Atletico the next weekend. Right now all we can do is pray that Injuries finally respect us a little bit. Until now there hasn’t been many but one can only hope that we don’t see them again. Since 2005 we have seen Edmilson, Messi, Xavi, Motta, Larsson, Eto’o, and Iniesta missing big chunks of the seasons. Let’s hope Abidal is the last one to suffer one of these big curses. Add to that the fact that we have incompetent referees nowadays that try to be the highlight of the game. One referee was even suspended for 3 rounds after he clearly benefited Madrid against Osasuna. Yesterday, the referee did something that you never do as a ref; he listened to the petitions of one team and shows a straight red card that was worth of only a yellow. He conditioned the game and in the end he made everything easy for Espanyol to win at Nou Camp after 27 years.

Eto’o has matured. We all remember that shameful episode at Villafranca in 2007 when he publicly criticized Rijkaard and Ronaldinho after a misunderstanding. That time everybody questioned his professionalism after he drop such a bomb to the media who just couldn’t be happier after getting that many controversies in such a short period of time. We all doubted that he would change or he would stay. However, Eto’o has finally grown up as a person and thinks before he talks. This year he’s been very prudent with the media and what he says. In the last couple of weeks there was a lot of talk about his future and many in the media believed that he would be leaving the team after this season. To add more wood to the fire he said in an interview that he knew his future already but would not say anything to anybody. The media, hungry for controversy, dedicated the whole week to comment on this and making up all these theories about where he was leaving etc. But yesterday Samu was very mature and revealed his plans so the speculations would stop. He also asked the media to please comment on things about the game and leave the rest (rumours) to the end of the season. A tip of my hat to you Samu

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Rumour-mania 2009 II

Last month we started to get the first round of rumours which included the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Benzema. Now it is a little bit deeper and new names have shown up. Some rumours start to have some logic background while others are just pure speculations. So let’s look at the new media stories

Eto’o…only he knows. Samuel Eto’o will have to decide this coming summer whether he wants to stay in Nou Camp or not. His contract will expire in 2010 and Barcelona cannot afford to have the best striker in the world leave and not make a reasonable 30 million or more profit. There are those who think that Eto’o will likely score more than 30 goals this year just to leave to another team. Others think that he wants to stay in Barça. But only he knows; Barcelona has already tried to establish some contacts with his manager to set a contract extension deal but Samuel has strongly denied such possibility now due to the fact that he wants to be focused on the team only. This can only mean that he will negotiate a new contract but under his terms. His business card: 118 goals in 5 seasons so far. This season alone he’s scored 21 goals in 21 games.

Cristiano Again. Real Madrid is at the moment like that annoying kid who won’t stop crying until he gets what he wants. Every day there is a new “secret”, yet known, plan to finally bring the so called first, second and third best player of the world Cristiano Ronaldo. The last plan seems to be the one that finally will work. According to Spanish sports newspaper AS Real Madrid got a loan of 50 million euros approved by Santander Bank that will help them pay the high cost of Ronaldo which is expected to be around the 100 millions. Meanwhile, recently signed player Huntelaar is barely playing and hasn’t even scored. Not a good situation for a 20 million euro player. To add just a little more to the rumour party that is currently Real Madrid they just announce that if Florentino Perez is running for presidency again he will more likely bring Ancellotti as his coach for the team. This is not the best scenario for a team that needs to win La Liga and the UEFA Champions League…or are they passively surrendering?

The New Addition to Team Rumour. Recently a new name has been the talk of the month. This time is not Ronaldo or Benzema. Instead this is a new face which can engage Barça and Madrid in a never-ending battle once again. The man is a fantastic player worth 28 million euros and a place in any team in world. I’m talking of course about Frank Ribery. The Frenchman is said to be a bit unhappy at Munich and willing to change air in the near future. Barcelona and Madrid have expressed their desire to add this fantastic player to their line-up. For Barcelona, it would mean to add the final piece of the puzzle to their already fantastic attacking line. Ribery is a wing by nature that does wonders in both of them; at Nou Camp his place will be at the left wing. Madrid on the other hand wants to make an impact and forget about the present season. Recently on loan player Foubert seems to be more of the same low quality players that they have bought so it’s time to open the wallets again and bring some names and pretty game along.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

One More Step


It wasn’t until Barcelona played against Sporting at “El Molinon” stadium when we saw what Pep’s team could do. Before that game Barcelona was being hammered by the media after losing their first game against Numancia and then tying 1-1 against Racing at their debut at home. Four months later Barça received the first victim of their assault to La lIga.

Sporting dictates the pace. It wasn’t because they dominated the game nor because they showed a menacing attitude; instead, Sporting showed very little in the first minutes of the game and Barça knew how they had to play. Barça won despite the fact that they didn’t bring the A-game throughout the game; instead, they understood what Sporting came to do and showed that they were not going to need to bring the A-game. When a team is as effective as Barcelona is at this moment even a somehow good performance can be devastating. It is a shame that small teams such as Sporting don’t go to Nou Camp wanting to play but instead trying not to lose by too many goals. If the end result is going to be a lost game anyways they should instead create more danger play face to face to Barcelona. Getafe did it and got a point. Hey that’s something.
Eto’o…21 goals and counting. When the Cameroonian scores the team wins; as simple as that; today he scored at minute 21 after a textbook counter attack lead by Iniesta. Then in minute 40 he scored again. And in the second half he almost scored twice. It’s been 2 seasons since we got somebody in Barcelona scoring 20+ goals. Coincidentally, the last 2 seasons were damned by injuries that did not help at all. Barcelona is walking straight to the title and Messi, Eto’o and Henry are leading the way. In all competitions they’ve scored 102 goals of which more than 60 have been by these 3 players. If injuries give Barcelona a break these team is going to break many more records including the most goals in la Liga in one season which currently stand at 107 goals by Real Madrid.
Top 10 Barça:
1- Messi (last week 1): today he didn’t score but created a lot of dangerous situation and combined well with Alves in the third goal.

2- Alves (last week 3): Amazing performance by Alves tonight. A beautiful goal that not many players can do. He still is my MVP of the year.

3- Eto’o (last week 5): he’s in love with the goal. When he scores Barça is heading to a victory. Don’t be surprise if he reaches the 30+ goal mark

4- Xavi (last week 2): a couple of places behind with respect to last week ranking not because he played bad or something like that but because the top 3 are just too good.

5- Iniesta (last week 4): Iniesta is just the kind of players that do their job and more. He created game and on top of that he’s very good on every one on one play.

6- Henry (last week 6): Can’t complain about anything he’s doing this season. He scores goals, he make passes on goals and is the reference of the team in the left wing.

7- Busquets (last week 10): today he did everything good. He creates game with very precise passes and he also recovers many balls during the game. He was called by the national team. Watch him become a key element of Barça in the future

8- Valdes (last week 8): Victor can be easily a top 5 player but he just doesn’t have too much work to do when the whole team plays good defence. Couldn’t do much in the goal today.

9- Puyol (last week NR): the captain debuts in this top 10 after coming from a minor injury. Didn’t have too much work today.
10- Bojan (last week NR): Bojan didn’t play tonight but he did play against Mallorca last Thursday. He’ll be a reference of this team in the future.