“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 58th 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 10th 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?
No comments:
Post a Comment