Mallorca 0 - 3 Barcelona

It is surprising how quickly things change in football, not too long ago Barca were reeling from the uncustomary loss to Arsenal in the first leg of their Champions League tie and closer to home the eternal rivals had closed the gap to 2 points.  But that was then, and now is now, with things looking a whole lot rosier.

The youth system at Barcelona is unquestionably the most sophisticated and successful in the world and has been the breeding ground for the majority of the thoroughbred professionals that now represent the first team. Please note at this point that the academy is called La Masia (The Farm). A glimpse into the Barca B squad gives an idea of the next generation of homegrown superstars shackled impatiently, waiting for that moment when they can grace the pitch of the Nou Camp and realize their dreams.

Before being appointed as Frank Rijkaard’s successor in a surprise move back in the 2008 Pep Guardiola was in charge of the Barca B team and his affinity with the young stars continues even as first team manager. In fact, one of the most successful policies of Guardiola’s tenure to date has been his willingness to integrate players from the 2 teams where possible by training together and giving opportunities to prove themselves. And as anticipated it has paid dividends, Pedro Rodriguez and Sergio Busquets both off the production line in recent years have gone on to not only cement themselves in the Barcelona first team but have also become indispensable for the Spanish national team. So staying true to his philosophy Guardiola maintained his policy and introduced another young starlet to the world last night in what turned out to be another 3 steps closer to league glory.

With Valdes,Puyol, Xavi, Alves and Jeffren out of the squad Guardiola was deprived of his starting 11 and had to make some changes, despite the remaining strength in depth of the squad Barca were not going to sit on their laurels. And there was this unnerving fact that Barca had never beaten a side coached by former dream team start and teammate of Guardiola, Michael Laudrup. So with the first choice out, in came Adriano, Abidal, Keita and Pinto following up from his brilliant performance against Athletic last week.

Mallorca opened the game in the ascendency with plenty of possession of the ball as Barca looked to gel and find some fluency, but were put under strong pressure and closed down well by their opponents. A swift move from Messi saw him go close on 30 mins only for his shoot to go wide. But it wasn’t long before Messi added daylight in the race for the pichichi. Seven minutes later a lobbed ball by Keita, who spotted Messi’s run, beat the off-side trap and left Messi only to beat Aouate which he did convincingly to take his league tally to 26 and 2 clear of Ronaldo.  1-0 up and it was the best start Guardiola could have hoped for as it clearly calmed the jitters of the Barca players. Barca came close to adding a second before the break but had to settle for 1-0 having suffered very little after the breakthrough.

Starting brightly and finding space the team was moving a lot more freely now and use the whole of the pitch to their advantage. A superb through ball from Busquets on the 57^th minute split the Mallorca defense and found Villa who dragged past the oncoming Aouate and cooly struck home to put the game to bed, the lack of attacking initiative from Mallorca suggested just that. Finally 11 minutes later Pedro cut in from the left and struck the ball from distance and rounded of an excellent evenings work with a wonderful strike. The result was a timely reminder of the quality in depth at Guardiola’s disposal all of which he will need as his team move toward the ‘business end’ of the season. The result also brought Barca in touching distance with yet another record as they look to surpass the 1979-80 Real Sociedad team by recording 20 games unbeaten on the road. They will have a chance to do just that against Valencia on Wednesday when they make the trip to the Mestalla.

So all in all it has been an encouraging week for the Blaugrana, just when many thought they would go through an inevitable bad patch they seem so far to have come out unscathed, of course the league is far from over but surely a wise man would put his money on the Barca, seeing as they are now 7 points clear again… Oh yes, of course I forgot to mention, Madrid dropped 2 more points yesterday.

Barcelona 2 - 1 Athletic Bilbao

“We need 12 points before Arsenal come” those were the words of Barcelona’s Brazilian wing back Maxwell in the post-match press conference before last night’s game against Athletic Bilbao. And what better occasion to do it, playing at home and on Pep Guardiola’s centenary game as Manager of the first team.

Barcelona have looked evidently shaken from the recent run of results the steam engine was slowing against Gijon and came to somewhat of an abrupt halt against Arsenal losing their first game in either the league or champions league since the start of September, and the recent run of results has led to a crisis of colossal proportion!

Looking back through history it is quite evident that on average each generation produces at least 1 individual or team that goes on to transcend its particular sport and places itself well and truly on the cusp of invincibility. Take Tiger Woods for example, every time he steps foot on a golf course he is expected to fire a round of 65, each time Ronnie O’Sullivan steps up to the snooker table with his usual swagger we are lost in a swirl of anticipation knowing full well that he is capable of scoring a 147 with one eye shut! And naturally, any future starlet is inevitably and perhaps unfairly compared with their illustrious predecessors. He’s the next Pele! He’s like a young Suger Ray! They say he could be as good as Lara if he remains focused. Could this Barca team be better than Cruyff’s dream team?

The problem with colossal expectation is that it leads inevitably to disappointment, so when Leo Messi the planets best footballer two years running fails to score in consecutive matches it is deemed well and truly red alert! This fact alone is testimony to the level of his ability which is undoubtedly way ahead of any other attacking minded player plying their trade in Europe’s top leagues just take a look at Wayne Rooney’s and Fernando Torres statistics this season for confirmation, both world class strikers.

So naturally, when the chips are down everyone looks toward the leading light for an answer and last night after some fumbling around in the dark, the Camp Nou faithful were able to return home with beaming smiles but a few sweaty brows mind you.

Guardiola and his team were clearly relieved to be playing at home having suffered on away trips over the last week, they were hoping for lady luck to shine down on them, and she did not disappoint. Barca started strongly maintaining possession albeit with an edginess in their fluidity, no doubt the loss in London still hovering over them. Their nerves were soon at some ease though, a diagonal ball from Xavi picked out the darting run of Dani Alves and the Brazilian laid the ball back for Villa to strike home his 16th league goal of the season. Replays however suggested that Alves may have been offside.

Guardiola wanted the two goal cushion and Barca continued to press forward in numbers and could have been pegged back. 10 minutes had not elapsed when Fernando Llorente beat Gerard Pique with a swift drag back before crossing for Markel Susaeta who headed just wide.

Barca continued to dominate possession but seemed wasteful at times. The passing success ratio looked as though it wasn’t going to be as impressive as normal. And with Madrid having cut the gap to two points with a 2-0 win over Levante, they would need to dig deep to restore the 5 point advantage. Despite some good opportunities to extend their lead including a delightful left foot strike from David Villa which struck the cross bar, Barca went into the break without the two goal cushion. Pinto it should be pointed out filling in for the injured Valdes was putting in a strong performance with some important saves including a shout for save of the season as he beat away Llorente’s close range header on 35 minutes.

  

Emerging for the second half unchanged things took a turn for the worse and must have had many fans thinking ‘oh, no’. A 50-50 challenge by the normally imperious Sergi Busquets inside the box lead to a penalty and Andoni Iraola stepped up to convert. With Madrid hot on their heels Barca could not afford to drop two points. So with time running out Guardiola committed more players up field still wary of Athletic on the counter. The Blaugrana were finding space time and time again but there seemed to be a lack of willingness to strike the ball from distance, or even close range at that. Dani Alves found himself in a good position on a number of occasions but decided to find a pass when a strike on goal looked the best option.

‘Brilliance’ is defined according to dictionary.com as ‘great brightness, excellence or distinction, conspicuous talent’. According to the FC Barcelona dictionary however, it is simply defined as ‘Messi’. And after the breathtaking individual run on the 58^th minute went unrewarded fate would soon balance things out. And so it unfolded, Xavi lifted the ball over the Athletic backline to find the run of Dani Alves who looked up and played the ball back across the area (for what seemed like the 10^th time of the night) and found Messi who had gotten goal side of his marker and gently sent the ball passed the helpless Iraizoz.

Crisis… what crisis?

Arsenal 2 - Barcelona 1

As a North Londoner I am smiling from ear to ear after the results from this week’s Champion league matches. As a Barca fan however I found myself waking up to the somewhat shock realization that we actually lost a game of football! Not the best start to a long weekend.

The last time these 2 teams met the result was devastating, Messi put in a performance of such authority and brilliance in the return leg at the Camp Nou that there was genuine talk of him being the best player to ever have walked onto a football pitch. Although Arsenal went on to lose the tie 3-6 on aggregate the result was by no means a ‘humiliation’ of the North Londoners but instead a ‘humbling’. Even Arsene Wenger as he watched the curtain come down on his European dream for another season couldn’t hold back the emotions of having watched a special display from a special player as he smiled and conceded that it had been a ‘memorable display’.

So one year on and much to Mr Wenger’s disappointment the Barcelona team who humbled his Arsenal outfit last season had not only gotten better but had ‘humiliated’ Jose Mourhinou in a 5-0 thrashing of Real Madrid and gone on to break a 50 year record which ironically had been set by Madrid so many years ago. So on paper it suffices to say that Arsenal had the football equivalent of Everest to conquer. Having said that, Barca had just witnessed the end to their winning run at the hands of Sporting a few days earlier dropping 2 points in the face of Madrid closing the gap to 5 points in la liga.

Prior to the game Guardiola decided to train in Barcelona ahead of the hotly anticipated clash and not take up the usual opportunity to train at the Emirates stadium as is customary in European competition, which raised a few eyebrows. But who are we to argue with Pep?

So the hour arrived and as the Arsenal faithful and the Catalans that made the journey over, hunkered down in their seats with excitement in the air and the teams emerged to commence proceedings. Both teams started strongly with Barcelona maintaining their trademark possession game and Arsenal working hard to break up the fluidity that was so crucial to their game. The first breakthrough came in the shape of a 26^th minute strike by David Villa who continues to prove a worthy replacement of former Barca star and natural born goal scorer Samuel Eto’o now at Inter Milan. Arsenal, were down but far from out as they continued to press and created some good chances through the half with Van Persie coming close on a number of occasions. Messi continued to cause a real problem for the Arsenal back line as he drove through and after a clever bit of play chipped the ball past Szczesny only for it to drift inches wide of the post. On the 37^th minute Messi went one better racing through and after a scuffle in the Arsenal area managed to get his head onto the ball to send it sailing into the net only for it to be signaled offside. Replays confirmed that he was in fact onside and with 2 away goals would have changed the face of the tie completely.

Arsenal came out in the second half with a renewed vigour knowing full well that they could well have been walking out to a score board reading 2 or 3 goals to Barcelona. The second half continued were the first had left off with a passing game from both sides so appealing on the eye and the best chance came along on the 68^th minute as Messi took advantage of some slack defensive play but fired into the side netting, most uncustomary of Maradonna’s heir. Arsenal driven on by their ever controversial Catalan captain continued to press forward true to their philosophy and clawed their way back into the game. Van Persie who was guilty of missing some good chances early on found himself on the end of a clever ball from Clichy and from a tight angle managed to fire past and beat Valdes at his near post. With 78 minutes gone on the clock we were in for an exciting finish. Wenger smelt blood and orchestrated the timely introduction of Arshavin the Arsenal players tails were up and Guardiola was looking unusually concerned no doubt Arsenal’s dramatic comeback last season still fresh in mind. Barca continued to press and Arsenal looked for the opportunities to counter with quick breaks. And with 7 minutes of normal time to play the Arsenal had done what so many had failed to do, Nasri rolled the ball across to Arshavin who struck the ball first time leaving Valdes to watch the ball fly passed him. Advantage Arsenal.

All in all it was an enthralling encounter which lived up to expectations and sets up the return leg perfectly. Celebrations in the Arsenal camp will be short lived in the knowledge that Barcelona in the Camp Nou is a completely different prospect as last season testifies. No doubt the conditions of the pitch will be prepared to suit the Barca game with plenty of water applied beforehand.

Finally, Arsenal should be saluted and tribute paid to them for their achievements, the team so regularly taunted by their domestic rivals with the title of Barca B can feel content that they no long have to live with that label. For now at least they can bask in the glory of being Barca B+ J

Sporting 1 - Barca 1

“We can lose or draw if that’s how it is. Insisting, insisting and insisting”. Those were the words of a somewhat disappointed Pep Guardiola after witnessing the conclusion of an extraordinary run of wins by his mesmerizing outfit.

It was never going to be an easy game for Barca after all there was a multitude of factors motivating Sporting. Primarily of course they are fighting in a relegation battle and the prospect of anything against arguably the best football team to have ever stepped onto a pitch (last week’s record breaking victory adds further weight to that statement) would be tantamount to giant killing and as well as the valuable points, provide a timely boost of confidence and injection of vigor to their campaign. Not to mention of course the fact that Sporting are a ‘Real’ club for those not overly familiar with this term it means just like Madrid they have a specific relationship with the ‘Royal’ family and with the humbling of Madrid at the hands of Barca still fresh in everyone’s mind there was the small matter of revenge and the restoration of regional and monarchial pride, not to mention of course they would have ‘one’ over their city rivals.

So everything was just right for the minnows to halt the steam train in its tracks. And with the mid-week internationals having affected virtually every single first team player shakeups to the starting lineup by Guardiola were inevitable and expected. Truth be told Barca never really found their normally unplayable rhythm throughout the game, the incredibly hostile atmosphere created by the Madrid based fans was clearly evident from the multitude of red and white scrunched up paper balls that littered the sideline and corner spots. “Give them a break!” I thought to myself, after all this group of players was largely responsible for ensuring that the achingly elusive Fifa World Cup Trophy finally found its way to sunny Spain.

With the absence of Sergi Busquets from the holding position which he has made his own over the last few seasons there was genuine concern considering the eerie statistic somewhere along the line of Barca never having lost a game in which he had started! So the sirens were well and truly on, and when Barral received a pass only 15 minutes in and found himself with a few yards on Pique, he skipped down the line and went on to score an excellent solo effort (although Pique should really have done better) it was clear that this was now going to be a case of ‘Parking the Bus’. After all, Sporting now found themselves in an enviable and quite rare position of leading against Barca which was clearly manifest across the face of their colorful manager Manuel ‘Manolo’ Preciado.

Nonetheless, the Blaugrana started to find some rhythm and began moving the ball around more smoothly, but it was clear that they were shaken and continued to be cautious of the counter attack. To Sporting’s credit it appeared that they were more successful than all other teams put together this season in forcing Barca to back track as Pique and Milito found themselves resorting to the relative safety of Valdes on a number of occasions.

There is one particular principle of the ‘Total Football’ philosophy which simply states the following, ‘as long as you have the ball your opponent cannot score’. This is a principle which has been honed by this Guardiola team and is reflected in the possession statistics which are regularly in the 70’s in % terms and the goals conceded stats which are equally impressive. So in the rare event that you do loose the ball, you do absolutely everything to win it back. Another area where the team has been very strong in recent seasons as 2 or 3 players swarm around the opposing player and win possession almost as soon as they’d lost it. This was the case in the 79^th minute as Messi wrestled with the Sporting back line and won possession before pushing through a perfectly timed through ball to Villa who left the stadium in sheer silence. Even old ‘Manolo’ had to come down to earth and pinch himself, I mean come on did he really expect three points from Barca?!

The front three continued to press with the arrival of both Pedro and Bojan bringing some fresh pace and Dani Alves continuing to cause a nuisance of himself down the right, there were a couple of late chances were the team could have grasped a late victory, but in all fairness taking into account the circumstances the result was a fair one and made for a thoroughly entertaining affair.

Ultimately, despite Guardiola’s disappointment at not taking three points, Barca remain 8 points clear at least until this evening, the potential banana skin post international break could have hurt a lot more and the pressure of maintaining the winning run has ended so all in all a good place to be heading into a Champions League clash mid week. And although they may have been rejoicing in El Molinon last night, the celebrations across town would have been a lot less muted after all Mr Mourinho will concede that this was not a case of Barca dropping two points but much more a case of Barca winning an important point as history shows time and time again that these results come May always make the difference.