Barcelona 2 - 1 Getafe

The startling discovery of Eric Abidal’s liver tumour and the scandalous doping allegations targeted at the Barcelona team were the focus of attention in a week were football took a backseat, while the sincerity of human affection shone on one hand, and mucky, unsporting, unfounded rumours fanned the flames of disrepute on the other.

Yes indeed, just as any good democratic election campaign enters its last leg and the respective parties work tirelessly to dig up dirt on their opponents in a final ditch attempt to engineer any valuable public discontent, and help them gain an upper hand.  Such has been the rumour mill which went into over-drive last week and in all fairness how much blame can be levelled at the accusers, in fact I would even go so far as to say I sympathies with them. Please allow me to explain... The insinuation that Barca and some other teams including Madrid have been taking performance enhancing drugs statistically has a leg to stand on. Just take a look at the performances of the other European teams leading in their respective leagues. Manchester UTD has 63 points from 30 games played, AC Milan has 62 from 30 games played, Lille has 55 from 28 played. So, it doesn't take a degree in applied mathematics to see that there is a clear correlation in respect to games played and points scored by these 3 league leaders. And then you have the anomaly the irregularity the discrepancy the divergence from this neat and tidy correlation.

First things first, it has to be recognised, (if only to make Barca’s achievements even more astonishing) that Real Madrid have been playing sensational football from the start of the 2009-2010 season right up till now and their points tally last season would have seen them finish some way ahead had they been in any of the above mentioned leagues. The only problem they have is that they play in the same league as Barcelona.

After finishing second on 96 points last season, an incredible 25 points ahead of third place Valencia Madrid coach Manuel Pellegrini sighed, “people don’t realise how good a season we had. But to win this league you have to beat this Barcelona team at least once and drop virtually no points”. Which brings us back to the anomalous fact, even this season Madrid and Barca are setting themselves apart from the rest of Europe on 73 and 78 points from 29 games apiece. And the reason behind this stems from the football culture in Spain where characteristics like skill, technique, endurance is preferred over physical size, ruggedness and the long ball which ultimately gives rise to players who are able to defy the status quo and perform at a different level inevitably making them the target of malicious rumours.

After all the English game sold its soul to anyone who came along with a briefcase full of cash and the Italians have had their own internal problems which continue to cast a shadow over what was once the most exciting league in Europe. In conclusion, the sneaky hate mongers would be better advised to refrain from such talk which brings our beautiful game into disrepute, if they have evidence so present it and give credence to their allegation if not. Then please shut up!

Fortunately, there was a brighter side to the revelations from last week and that was the way in which people came together in support of Abidal. Madrid in particular should be commended for their show of solidarity as the squad paraded the pitch with t-shirts reading ‘Amino Abidal’ (courage Abidal). I shall refrain from wasting any time on expressing my opinions about the so called authorities which tried to ‘forbid’ the gesture. Let’s face it most of them have probably never kicked a ball in their lives.

This evening’s match was inevitably going to be dedicated to Abidal and it was evident by the numerous flags and banners covering the stadium in solidarity with the likeable Frenchman. Barca also had the consul general of Japan in attendance and his presence was marked by an impeccably observed minute of silence in respect of the victims of last week’s natural disaster. Most clubs are welcomed to observe such solemn occasions in the case of Barca however the world expects it.

5 points clear of Madrid, Barca were in a position to go 8 points clear before Atletico entertained their neighbors in the late kick off. And they started as well as they normally do at home despite the absence of Puyol, Maxwell and of course Abidal from the squad the back-line consisted of Pique and Milito in the middle with Adriano and Alves flying down the wings. And it wasn’t long before Alves sent the ball flying into the back of the net in typically Brazilian fashion to make up for his earlier yellow card. Messi had a chance with a smart overhead kick, only for Cordina to block with his body. But when the ball fell to Alves on the edge of the box a stunning half volley sent the ball screaming into the net with the keeper left bewildered after 16 minutes.

After the break through Barca began to take even more control of the game with Valdes merely a spectator, but for David Villa it wasn’t to be his night after some good chances went begging. Messi managed to skip past the Getafe defence and shoot across goal in what was another good chance. Getafe for their part tried to counter and Casquero brought a great save out of the ever alert Valdes, and as the 22^nd minute of the game drew in, a roar of cheers and applause echoed out of the Camp Nou for their number 22 – Abi.

The second half started well with no changes at half-time, Pep preferring to stick with his starting 11 and it wasn't long into the second half that Barca doubled their lead as Bojan marked his 100^th league appearance with a goal deflecting in off Cata Diaz, shortly after Guardiola opted to reinforce with midfield by bringing on Keita for Bojan.

With the 2 goal cushion Barca looked to be cruising but to Getafe’s credit they continued to push and finally pulled a goal back on the 87^thminute as Manu struck the ball in. Getafe then almost drew level in the final seconds but some good defending by the Barca back line brought an end to what was the last real attack of the game.

Finally, with Barca getting a favourable draw in the quarter-finals of the Champions League and 9 time European cup winning Madrid up against a Tottenham side on a maiden journey into Europe’s premier competition one would seriously consider putting the house on a Barca vs Madrid semi-final, that would mean 4 classico’s in just over a month.

Imagine that it would be like Christmas, Eid, New Years Eve and your birthday all rolled into one!

Barcelona 3 - 1 Arsenal

Ohhhh the sounds of silence...

“This is the best team of our generation”. These were the words of a dear friend this afternoon as the two of us engaged in a critique of yesterday’s game at the Camp Nou, who I hasten to add is an Arsenal fan. The fact is that the world is fast running out of superlatives to describe this particular collection of Barcelona players, and I emphasise the term ‘players’ because for all their achievements over the last two seasons and there have been an awful lot of them. The greatest and most commendable without a shadow of a doubt is not displayed in the illustrious trophy room in the Camp Nou, which for those who are unaware runs the entire length of the main stand. But more fittingly is displayed in the conduct and humility of each and every player who dons the claret and blue jersey. These are individuals who despite the media circus that follows the modern footballer, seem not consider themselves superstars let alone stars for that matter, but pure and simple 'jugadores' bound by their pledge to their faithful supporters, which according to facebook estimate over 10,000,000.

Rumour has it that in the youth teams at Barcelona, parents of young aspiring players are discouraged from criticising their performances and instead are encouraged to simply ask them “did you have fun”. And it is this very same mentality that has been drilled into each player, “go out enjoy yourselves, play the way you know and the result will take care of itself”, which results in the philosophy that is cemented in the Barcelona school of thought. A philosophy which is unmatched by any other top European team and which has shown time and time again to be the crucial difference on the pitch, no matter what the situation is never, never, never abandon your philosophy even it is in the 93^rd minute of a Champions League semi-final. Arsenal for their sins seemed to have abandoned it the moment Arshavin made the net ripple in North London.

The game started rather cagily and as per Guardiola’s pre match forecast it was to be concentrated in the midfield. Soon enough though, Barcelona was conducting the pace as Xavi and Iniesta enforced themselves on proceedings and had Arsenal on the back foot immediately. Busquets and Mascherano were also linking up well and finding plenty of space to make themselves available as the game moved from midfield and into the Arsenal half. The first real test for Szczesny came in the 18^th minute, from a Dani Alves freekick and despite a strong save, resulted in a finger injury forcing Wenger to make an early substitution as he brought on Almunia. The pace settled down somewhat and it looked as though Arsenal had weathered the early storm. And just as they felt they were finding some rhythm Barcelona’s little genius burst into life on the edge of the Arsenal area and was brought tumbling down by Djorou for what looked like a certain penalty only for the referee to waive play on.

Barcelona’s possession of the ball was as standard, giving nothing away and quickly winning the ball back when they did not have it. But despite their staggering dominance, they were lacking a spark in front of goal. Adriano came closest on 36 minutes after a good run, latching onto the ball and blasting it against Almunia’s near post with a thunderous left foot drive. It looked at this stage that we could go into half time goalless, but as half time crept in a clever ball from Iniesta found Messi who beat the offside and in a twinkle of an eye casually chipped the ball over the oncoming Almunia before blasting it into the net, 1-0 Barcelona game on. 

Emerging from halftime the equation now changed Arsenal had no choice but to take the game to Barcelona. The game opened up as Arsenal tried to push forward and regain the advantage and when a 53^rd minute corner from Nasri was misjudged by Busquets resulting in an own goal Arsenal had found an unlikely lifeline.

Up until this point the Gunners had not threatened Valdes all night but now found themselves with one foot back in the quarterfinals. But there was to be more drama, Van Persie continued to play on despite the referee blowing for offside and the no nonsense refree brandished a second yellow card to the Dutchman and gave him his marching orders but not without much protest from the player and the Arsenal dugout. It is quite usual for teams to play better when they are down to 10 men and the controversial nature of the dismissal should have warranted a rejuvenated Arsenal effort, but that was not to be the case and instead Arsenal simply capitulated.

Barcelona’s midfield had enjoyed astonishing possession of the ball up until this point in the game to the tune of 75%, so you can imagine what ensued now that they had the extra man. Arsenal had their Spanish substitute goalkeeper to thank for keeping them in the game for as long as he did.

Eventually, however Barcelona’s persistence converted itself into a goal. Iniesta, Villa and Xavi passed the ball exquisitely at close range and completed the move with a delightful finish as Xavi found the back of the net on the 69^th minute. The goal had been coming for some time.

As the score line stood we were going into extra time, but the Catalans wanted to send a message to Europe, and so they did when Pedro was brought down in the penalty area shortly after, up stepped Messi to score his eighth goal of the campaign and take his total in the champions league competition to an incredible 33 goals at the ripe old age of 23. Cue the celebrations? Not quite yet, Arsenal looked tired and drained but as the score line stood they only needed to score one more goal to go through on the away goal rule, and when substitute Bendtner found himself with only Valdes to beat on the 87^th minute the Camp Nou felt silent. But the Barcelona faithful were soon at ease as a perfectly timed tackle from Mascherano brought an end to venture. Cue celebrations? Oh yes!

Barcelona winger Dani Alves summed up the performance and the tie in his post match comments, “I didn’t think qualification was in danger. Before the break, we had the game under control. They wanted to defend the result. We have our philosophy and we’ll die with it”.

Long live the philosophy! And long live Barca!