In the end, it was Lionel Messi who put the finishing touch on Barcelona’s incredible season by heading in Xavi’s pin point cross into the goal – a goal that would effectively finish off Manchester United’s own hopes of winning the Champions League. And as Barcelona passed the ball around in their usual unparalleled style leaving United players chasing shadows – it just seemed like the team from Catalunya was playing football from a different planet. The fact that Barcelona were missing their first choice wing backs, had two 35 year olds as their replacements and had a central defender who had played in midfield all season absolutely didn’t matter because quite simply their midfield didn’t give United the ball. And let’s not forget that the team they were outclassing had just won the league title and had the best defensive record in the Champions league.

 It had all started so differently for Manchester United – with a flurry of chances and almost 80% complete posession in the first ten minutes of the game. Things started to go awry when Samuel Etoo scored in what was Barcelona’s first shot on goal in the tenth minute. United almost certainly never recovered from that shock and if it wasn’t for Van der Saar’s heroics and the goal post, they could have very well ended up losing the match 4-0.

Following Etoo’s goal, Barcelona just seemed to find the same composure and rhythm that has seen them score over 150 goals this season and with every passing minute a United comeback seemed less likely. On a night when Barcelona had atleast six players stepping up to the big ocassion, it was a sad indictment of United’s performance that the images that will be most remembered were there of Ronaldo losing his composure repeatedly on the left flank towards the end of the game. United quite simply missed both Darren Fletcher and Owen Hargreaves – Anderson and Carrick simply not having enough quality to put brakes on Iniesta and Xavi’s relentless passing. 

  There is no doubt that Barcelona absolutely deserved this victory, their third in European history and their first since that famous victory in Paris in 2005. Pep Guardiola’s amazing transformation of this team which had previously gone three years without winning a title will become the stuff of legend.

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Barcelona may have made it through to the Champions League final on May 27 after a heart stopping victory over Chelsea thanks to Andres Iniesta’s late late goal but it came at a price. Many neutrals have been hoping for a Manchester United versus Barcelona final and the sheer number of attacking superstars on either side will hopefully make it an entertaining one. In the first leg of the semi-final the Catalans lost Rafael Marquez for the rest of the season to injury. The Mexican centre-half is one of their most experienced defenders and the loss of the 30-year-old will be a massive blow for the Spanish side as they look to keep tabs on Manchester United’s forwards.

Clipping of the wings:

The bad news doesn’t end there for the Spanish champions elect – French left-back Eric Abidal received what was perhaps a harsh red-card for a foul on fellow Frenchman Nicolas Anelka in the second leg and he too will miss the final. The loss of Abidal will be another bitter blow for Barca with the former Lyon man one of their most experienced defenders.  If losing Marquez and Abidal wasn’t enough Barca are also going to have to line-up without the influential and brilliant right-back Dani Alves. The Brazilian schemer is one of Barca’s best players causing all kinds of problems for defenders down the right-flank. Interestingly, losing the two wing backs will also mean that United manager Alex Ferguson will not have to deploy Rooney or Park down the wings in order to negate the full backs going forward.

A makeshift defence

So Barca’s defence is going to be somewhat of a makeshift one with  Puyol and Gerard Pique in the middle with maybe midfielders filling in the left and right-back positions.  Sylvinho might probably slot in for Abidal at left back- but he has hardly featured in a big game for a long time. For a Champions League final this is not an ideal situation by any stretch of the imagination and it will be a huge task for coach Josep Guardiola to form a decent defensive unit out of what he has available.  I’m still fairly confident of a Barca victory myself, though I wouldn’t use my Champions League bet to back them with mega-money given the defensive crisis. They will probably spend most of the game attacking but midfielders like Xavi and Iniesta will have to track back more than usual to help out the defence.

With a seven point lead at the top of the table Guardiola may risk putting out the defence that will line-up against Manchester United in one of their three La Liga fixtures before the final. If he does that it should give us some indication of how they’ll cope against United. Whatever the circumstances leading up to the game I can’t wait for the final. Both teams play exciting football – Barcelona love to hog all the possession and United are probably the best in Europe at counter- attacking and we should be in for a high-tempo game full of quality, let’s hope so anyway.

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Catalans Vs Blavers


First up, the grandslam began in La Liga with Barcelona playing Valencia at the Mestalla on saturday night. A great game it was and Barca took the lead with a brilliant one-two between Messi and Iniesta. The game was taut with Barca hogging posession and Valencia launching lightning counters with what Guardiola called the fantastic front four: Villa,Silva,Mata and Pablo Hernandez. Valencia equalised through Maduro’s header after a blunder by Valdes a trifle short of HT and went up 2-1 after a brilliant link up between Pablo and Mata just before HT. The 2nd half saw Valencia sitting pretty at the back with the lead and Barca attacking again and again.The equaliser finally came from the 2nd half substitute Theirry Henry in the 85th minute. It was 2 points dropped and one point won at the Mestalla after a difficult game for Barcelona but they would be happy with the point as the post match comments of Guardiola suggested.

Raul,Uno,Dos,Tres

Madrid took on the Andalusians Sevilla at the Sanchez Pizjuan looking to score a win and cut down Barca’s lead to 4 points. Sevilla started using their wings pretty well and with a packed up 4-5-1 with Kanoute leading the attack. Perotti constantly troubled Sergio Ramos and Sevilla took the lead in the 16th minute through a fine header by Renato. Real Madrid sat back allowing Sevilla to attack and looking for the elusive counter attack. They managed to equalise just before HT through Raul who latched onto a Metzelder pass into the box with a characteristic poacher’s finish. Raul continued to show his maturity and talent and scored twice and thrice in the 2nd half to give Real Madrid an unassailable 3-1 lead within 65 minutes. Sevilla kept attacking and managed to pull one goal back through 2nd half substitute Diego Capel but that wasn’t enough to win them any points as Marcelo scored a late 4th goal to seal a win for Madrid.

This makes next week’s El Clasico a great match up with Real Madrid looking to win to cut Barca’s lead down to one point. Barca on the other hand will have one eye on the midweek CL semis against Chelsea in what seems to be a heart attack week for the Catalans and a mouth watering one for the neutrals.

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First of, let us get to the game at the Santiago Bernabaeu, a heated encounter between the bourgeouis darling Real Madrid CF and the blue collar suburbs,Getafe. Getafe being almost a feeder club of Real as Valladolid used to be in the past played with all the valour and physical effort. Higuain opened the scoring for the Merengues just before half time. Getafe played with a lot of heart after the break and managed to put two goals and take the lead in the Tie. Then started the great show.

In the 84th minute Pepe the tall Madrid defender of Brazilian roots lashed out at Getafe Skipper Casquero after the latter won a penalty after a push by Pepe. Pepe lost his head big time and started a fight with the players which included kicking Casquero twice and punching Albin in the face and also swearing at the assistant referee while being sent off.Then amidst all the chaos Iker Casillas stopped the penalty which was a stupid lob and Real Madrid scored twice in 10 mins to take home a great win which put them -3 with the league leaders Barcelona. Pepe meanwhile lost his head again after being sent off by running back onto the pitch to celebrate Higuain’s winner.In one of the biggest abuse of professional standards, Pepe Le Phew landed himself in hot soup and got himself a 10 match ban,which i find to be very minimal considering the history of punishments accorded for such violent incidents in the past. Even that fight between Diogo and Fabiano got a 6 match ban. Real Madrid get to pull some strings as always and get away with it.

Barcelona hammer Sevilla

Then Barcelona took on Sevilla at the Nou Camp and what followed was a total demolishment of a very good Sevilla side missing Palop and left winger Adriano.INiesta was the star of the show as he opened the scoring for Barca with a neat long range shot and followed it up with assists for the other three goals.The little man from Albacete ran the show running circles around the Sevilla defence and Barca quelled the Sevilla challenge running winners with a 4-0. Etoo,Xavi and Henry being the other scorers.

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As I watched Manchester United’s match against Everton, followed by the el classico between Barcelona and Real Madrid, I could not help but marvel at Ronaldo’s magic at United and lament the fall of Ronaldinho at Barcelona. As a fan of both United and Barcelona, I want both my clubs to perform well. When Barcelona was winning trophies until just more than a year back, I was hoping United would follow suit.

When United was setting the Premiership on fire last season, I also had to witness the demise of the Catalan club. Will I ever see these two majestic clubs of Europe win their domestic titles in the same season? I guess not, considering the way the Catalan club is witnessing a downturn in its fortunes.

Ronaldo has already scored 17 times this season for United, while Ronnie has hardly made a significant contribution for Barca. I was aghast to say the least, seeing the latter’s abject performance in Barca’s home loss against Real Madrid.

Just more than 2 years back, Ronnie was given a standing ovation by Real fans for his virtuoso performance at the Santiago Bernabeau. Even last season, he scored about 21 goals for the club. But, what happened to that old Ronnie?

Did all that adulation get to his head? It is rumored that he missed more than 50 percent of the club’s training session last season and that he was given preferential treatment by everyone at the club. No doubt, Ronnie was instrumental for Barca’s revival but it is far more difficult to keep your act together at the highest level and in that aspect, he would do well to take cue from United legends such as Giggs and Scholes, who continue to perform at the highest level even after several Premiership titles.

On the other hand, Ronaldo is a star on the rise. However, he just has to take one look at the path taken by Ronnie and avoid that path at all costs. He is at a terrific club, surrounded by legends such as Giggs, Neville, and Scholes.

If Ronnie’s arrogance was his downfall, Ron’s might be his attraction to glamour and a constant craving for attention, reasons why he might quit United in a couple of seasons and head toward Real Madrid.

United would loathe to lose Ron when that time comes, but then no player is greater than the club, a fact being demonstrated by Ronnie at Barcelona.

Barcelona, EPL, Manchester United, Spanish Football | 1 Comment »