Messi and nothing more

Barcelona defeated Atletico de Madrid 3-1 at the Vicente Calderon Stadium tonight in the round of 16 of La Copa Del Rey. With this result Barcelona is half way into quarter of finals.


Guardiola Gambles. When Pep Guardiola announced that neither Xavi, Victor Valdez, Eto’o and Puyol where going to Madrid to play Atletico all Barcelona fan were worried. Even one member of the media asked him “Do you consider La copa del Rey not important? Why are you gambling and leaving your best players in Barcelona or in the bench?” He answered “ I trust in my 20 players, and what are you going to say if we win?”. Now I’m waiting to see that that writer has to say. Guardiola is not a fool. He knew from the beginning that Messi was going to play and that this team has quality to the point that even when he plays the bench he only needs Messi and nothing more. If he had lost today even I would be blaming him for risking this game against Atletico. But once again Pep shows that even though nobody seems to notice he actually knows what he’s doing

Messi’s Cup. Today http://www.sport.es/ had “Messi’s Cup” as their headline. Claiming that he was the king and that he was Pep’s biggest weapon for tonight; and they were right. Messi is that kind of player that even on a “meh” night can decide the game with only one play. Today, there were three. He found himself playing how he wanted. Atletico had only Heitinga covering him. Amateur move by Aguirre to say the list. You know when a player is good because he’s cheer by rival’s fan across the country. Tonight he brought the magic, he brought the passion and he brought the goals. Messi, along with Alves (the best overall player) are Barcelona biggest weapon; add to that Xavi’s passes, Eto’o’s goals, Iniesta’s magic and Puyol’s courage and you have a winning formula.

Atletico: more of the same. Once again they had the chance to prove that they are a big team not only because of their name and history but also because of their game. And once again they disappoint. They had everything tonight to at least have high hopes of winning at Nou Camp; the stadium was full, Barcelona was playing the bench and yet, except for the first 3 minutes and another 4 minutes in the second half, they didn’t have the guts to play face to face against this “Barca B”. Yes they were missing Kun Aguero (and they REALLY missed him) but they didn’t brought anything to the table tonight. One announcer from Spanish Radio Cadena Ser said “you know this is more of the same, Atletico beats all the small and they know they are a big team but when it’s time to prove it they fail. It’s been the same thing since they came back to first division” Personally I couldn’t agree more. They remind me of Inter de Milan back in mid 90’s. Their only hope is that this round isn’t over and they still have 90 minutes to play in Barcelona next Wednesday. But if they bring more fo the same that hope will be more likely turning into a big upset.