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Barcelona: Perhaps the
Greatest Team in the World.
Anyone who has a pulse knows that Barcelona is the greatest team in the world right now.
What they possibly do not realise is that they are living in a time of giants.
What we are seeing every weekend coming out of Spain is pure,
oozing, unadulterated brilliance. In pubs all around the world,
people who know about football are desperately trying to think
of a team, present or past, that could beat Pep Guardiola’s gang.
Failing that, they are making up international dream teams in the
hope that they could find a combination to beat Barcelona.
Despite their best efforts, there remains a sense that Barcelona
would take all comers. They are just that good.
Last season underlined just how good we are talking here. First
there was the quadruple-header Classico. Barcelona vs. arch
nemesis Real Madrid. A couple of Champions League semi-
finals, one Copa del Rey final and a Spanish First Division match.
In those four games, they only lost once, failing to get their hands
on the King’s Cup. In the games that mattered, they found their
way to the Champions League final and finally dispatched Madrid
as serious title contenders.
But it wasn’t merely the results: it was that way they made them
happen.
Jose Mourinho, the Real manager and self-styled “Special One”
played each match with up to nine men behind the ball. He
employed a band of 3 holding midfielders and relied on break-
aways for their goals. These are
tactics more generally associated
with clubs from the lower half of the
leagues when they encounter one of
the big boys. Soak up pressure and
snatch a goal. You don’t expect such
negative tactics from The Greatest
Manager Alive at a club that can pay
over 100 million euros for Christiano
Ronaldo. And despite this humbling,
his side still lost.
Globally, though, the jewel in Barca’s
crown was the Champions League
Final itself.
Sir Alex Ferguson cannot stop
winning in England, in a league that
is arguably more competitive than
Spain. Twelve Premier League wins
in the course of his magisterial reign
not only highlight his incredible ability
as a coach but underline Manchester
United’s dominance as a football
force.
And aside from one moment of
brilliance from Wayne Rooney,
Manchester United was taken to
school. 3-1 was the score line on
paper, but the goals conceded do
not tell the true story. Barcelona
dominated United in a truly epic
sense. They made the Champions of
England look baffled, frustrated and
very, very ordinary.
The most telling picture from the match comes from Sir Alex.
When the game was into its final 15 minutes, he sat on the bench,
still and defeated. The greatest British manager ever had simply
not one idea of how to stop Barcelona.
How does one contain Barca? Arsenal had a pretty good go of it
in the knockout stages of the Champions League. Press them,
play high up the pitch, have a go. But, realistically, what can you
do against a team with Xavi, who passes the ball more often and
with far more accuracy than some entire teams can in the course
of a match? Or Dani Alves, the Brazilian speed merchant who
launches forward at every attack, virtually giving Barca three
world class wingers? Or David Villa, a man who has never failed
to score less than 13 goals in a season?
Then there is Leonel Messi. There have been many miscarriages
in anointing the next Maradona or the next Pele. There have been
great players, but Messi’s stunning goal against United took him
to a whisker away from that enduring, mythical greatness. Should
he just carry on, there will be a third Greatest Player.
Even if you are not a fan of football, watch a Barcelona
game this season. You will be in the company of greats.
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