It’s official.
Barcelona are the finest team in the world and the most successful club.
Real Madrid 0 Barcelona 2.
Florentino Perez 0 Catalan Academy 2.
What an exciting telecast from the Berbabeu on Saturday night !
I REALLY ENJOYED IT.
Two clubs on 77 points, fierce rivals from cities 400 miles apart, battling for the title, with seven more games to play after this.
Pep Guardiola shuffled his pack with Dani Alves pushed up to right midfield, Puyol at left back behind him, Maxwell at left back. Real Madrid have won 12 league games in row at home and they’re playing a very high line and we know it’s going to be physical and straight away it’s kick, bollock and bite at a high tempo and we wonder if Messi can skip through into the inviting green acres behind that fierce white line.
First incident : Higuain’s sharp pass through for Cristiano Ronaldo is handled by Pique and the ref gives Pique a yellow card. But CR is offside so the booking is withdrawn.
Dani Alves is finding it hard to get into the game further up the field, as co-commenator Terry Gibson quickly points out.
I’m thinking : Cristiano is NOT a centre forward. He is more effective zooming in from the right side, and switching positions, as he did so well with Rooney and Tevez, generous players who played for him.
When Albiol hooks Messi’s foot on the bye-line, the impish genius falls but a penalty would be very harsh and it’s not given.
I love to see a home team playing a high line because it’s exciting.
But it’s risky and you can get killed on the break and that’s why Real Madrid are kicking, kicking, kicking. Their style is very physical and very direct and, undeniably, Cristiano Ronaldo is the ferociously fast kingpin of this ultra -expensive squad of battle-hardened pros.
While the game is at 0-0 the close-ups of Xavi’s face show intense stress.
Xavi’s face says : This is the biggest game of the season and it’s down to me to win it.
The pressure is intense and he feels it.
In 33, Xavi’s killer pass finds Messi’s run and Messi wrong-foots Albiol by chesting the ball past him and buries a sharply bouncing right foot shot inside the near post for 1-0.
That is his 40th goal of the season.
40 goals and 10 assists in 2009-2010 so far.
Not a bad tally with 9 or 10 games left.
There is phenomenal energy being expended by both teams and when Xabi Alonso heads just wide, he finds he was offside anyway. Alves gets a yellow card for a foul on Marcelo, Higuain blazes wide from a half-chance and it’s 0-1 at half-time.
Real Madrid have shown power, impatience, anger.
Barcelona have shown better habits, better teamwork
Start of the second half, a big tweak by Pep seals the victory.
He pulls Alves back to right back, switches Puyol to left back, and pushes Maxwell up the left flank.
Between 45 and 50 minutes, Barcelona are in total control of the game, looking relaxed and sharp.Yes, Marcelo has a decent shot saved, Cristiano has a tame left foot shot saved, and I’m wondering if Pedro’s pace will be decisive, if he can explode through Real’s high back line.
In 56, that happened.
Xavi’s pass released Pedro and he bolted through and sent a left foot shot spearing into the bottom corner. A fabulous, fabulous goal : an amazing run, a fantastic finish, a perfect modern use of pace, reminded me of Marc Overmars.
Pedro is fast and scores goals. He is direct. He does the business. Don’t worry about what Pedro can’t do. Look at a 22-year old who has scored 18 goals in his first season and produced in every competition. Pedro delivers when the heat is on. Not a young player. A big player. Pedro is a big player who will NOT be a one-season wonder.
Real Madrid now look hasty, scrappy and desperate.
Iniesta, Guti and Benzema all come on but the contest is over and it fizzles out.
Real’s superstars have been beaten by Barcelona’s superior teamwork.
No Barcelona coach had ever won four games in a row against Real Madrid.
Pep Guardiola had done that now.
Pep is a winner who would not persevere with Almunia, Eboue, Denilson, Diaby, Walcott, Eduardo or Vela.
Pep Guardiola is ruthless and demanding. He knows what it takes to win. He dropped Thierry Henry because Henry is finished. He didn’t play him against Arsenal and he didn’t play him at Real Madrid or bring him on. But Wenger still talks about him. Wenger backs losers, tells average players they are good, and rewards failure.
Pep is 39 and wants a new challenge.
He has said he will not be a manager when he is 60 or 50. And he wants to work in the Premier League.
Arsenal need a younger manager who is a winner.
There is only one candidate. This guy had 12 seasons in the Barcelona first team and won 16 trophies and was captain. He is a born winner and a born leader.
Memo to Ivan Gazidis : go and get Pep.
Tell Pep, “Arsenal has changed, it’s now an ambitious club that wants to fulfill its huge potential. We are going to stop behaving as if we are still at Highbury.”
Stan Kroenke, you’re a big wheel ! Show some ambition!
Do you care about winning?
Can you make Arsenal into a big club?
Do you give a damn whether Arsenal ever becomes a big club?
How does an owner make Arsenal into a big club?
By winning big trophies.
Who knows how to win big trophies?
Pep Guardiola.
Why ignore the obvious?
Stan, what are you waiting for ?
Do you plan to buy the biggest club in Europe’s biggest city and let them be also-rans?
Will your Arsenal be profitable nearly-men, just repeating 2005-2010, season by disappointing season?