One Title Lost But Two More Left.

Barça’s loss over the weekend to Osasuna probably all but ended their hopes of winning their fourth consecutive league title. We can blame it on many things and complain as much as we want but, barring some unexpected collapse from Real Madrid, it’s time for the club and fans to focus on the two other cups and expect a cup double. However, there still some blame to pass around about how the league seemed lost in February and that’s aimed at Guardiola and all the way up to club President Sandro Rosell.

A 10 point gap is a lot to overcome although Real Madrid did squander a big lead back during Laporta’s first year as club president that saw Valencia win the league title. However, many, including myself cannot see Mourinho squandering that lead unless he rests his starters for the Champions League and as a result, somehow drop points. I suggested in my last blog that Pep had to rest his players by rotating them with the backups and Barça B players after Barça fell 7 points behind Real Madrid. Well, neither I nor others expected him to rest Xavi, Iniesta and Cesc from the starting lineup. Nevertheless, he did and on that cold freezing night, Barça tried hard but not overcome consecutive two goal leads.

Now many were upset by that decision but I thought it was a safe bet with Iniesta back from injury and Xavi and Cesc exhausted from playing in so many games. FourFourTwo’s Tim Stannard said it best in his column today,

"Wouldn’t Guardiola have received even more criticism had Iniesta and Xavi played for example and knackered themselves again, missing the Champions League games which Barcelona could then have lost?"

So the bottom line now is for the club to go ahead and capture the cup double by winning the Copa Del Rey and the club’s fifth Champions League title.

With Madridistas already celebrating the league title, the cup double would put a damper on their celebrations. What Mourinho will be accomplishing is a personal impressive statistic but Valdano, Capello and Schuster also won the league title managing Real Madrid. The thing is; they at least managed to defeat Barça on their way on claiming the league crown. Madrid will be coming to the Camp Nou in May, which coincidentally would be around the same time as the UEFA Champions League Semi-Finals. The best way to really dampen the mood over in the Spanish capital would be if both teams end up meeting in the Champions League Quarter-Finals with Barça yet again getting the best of Madrid.

That early elimination would leave Madrid with just league football to look forward to for the rest of the season while Barça continue their quest to win titles. Of course it still is disappointing to see the league be determined so early but it was inevitable. Many fans thought the club should have made more signings during the summer and the winter break. I am not a fan of buying players during the winter break but I think picking up some players on loan would have been a great idea during the winter transfer window. However, I blame Pep on relying too much on having a small squad. That works in seasons where the schedule is more relaxed than and not as condensed as seasons such as this year that because an upcoming international summer tournament.

In hindsight, perhaps signing the likes of Kanouté, Botía, and José Ángel along with Alexis and Cesc would have benefitted the club in the long run. But alas, Pep trusted his players a bit too much and didn’t expect tons of hamstring injuries. It’s February and we can already see players are suffering from playing in too many games. Being champions took a toll on their bodies with trips to Monaco, Japan along with friendlies in numerous countries over the summer. Hopefully Pep learned from this season and will plan better for next season in having a slightly deeper squad. Additionally, maybe it’s best if club president Sandro Rosell doesn’t plan any upcoming summer tours that will see the team fly halfway across the globe.

This upcoming summer will see half the squad participating in Euro 2012. Thus, any ideas from Rosell about traveling to North America or Asia as part of their summer preseason/tour should be scrapped. These players have been through a lot these first four seasons under Pep and deserve some rest this summer. How about participating in European summer tournaments such as the Amsterdam Tournament, Emirates Cup, or the Wembley cup while also participating in domestic tournaments such as Trofeo Naranja or the one cup Pep has yet to win, Copa Catalunya. As much as I would love to see Barça come back to America this summer, I believe it’s time for Rosell and the club to ignore the dollar signs and let the players rest and adjust to one time zone for at least one summer.

I might as well vent some more since I’m mentioning Rosell since part of the reason why the club has fallen back 10 points behind Real Madrid also falls on his shoulders. We can’t ignore the obvious in that Madrid’s tactics of intimidating the referees has worked to their advantage. I mentioned it before that we need instant replay since referees are missing the obvious calls while Madrid seem to be getting the benefit of the calls. 11 consecutive penalties awarded without any given against them? I am not saying they don’t deserve getting penalties. I am more upset at how the referees seem to swallow the whistle if there is call against Madrid. Madrid’s away form hasn’t been that impressive either as evidenced by their recent struggles against Mallorca and Getafe where they benefitted from some bad decisions.

Of course this is mere speculation but it’s not that difficult to see that Madrid gained a lot from going after the referees via the club, manager, media and the fans. Meanwhile, Mr. Rosell opted to play the nice guy. Maybe it was worth going forward and filing complaints with the league against Mourinho after eye gouging Tito Vilanova and against Pepe after what did to Messi. Instead, Rosell put his faith in the league and in return, the league walked over him like Pepe did when he stepped on Messi’s hand. Perhaps then the league would have finally grown a pair and came down on both clubs and made it easier on their referees to make calls without fear of repercussions or backlash from either club. Nice guys don’t fare well when they are in a dirty fight and Rosell is being nice to a club that is trying its best to destroy our club by any shady means necessary. Madrid’s Allegations of doping, allegations of gaining favors from referees, allegations of favoritism, along with dirty cheap shots on Barça players from the Merengues makes this a dirty fight that requires a club president to fight back and not rely on the better judgment of league and its officials.

The club resumes its quest to win their fifth Champions League title tomorrow.  Now, for those who are upset or doubt this team can win the Champions League because of their poor showing in the league. Let me give you this bit of sports trivia. When AC Milan became the last team to win back to back Champions Cup under Sacchi, they did so without ever winning the league title during those two seasons.  Even Real Madrid won their 8th Champions League title while finishing fifth in the league table. So it is possible for Barça to win another Champions League title and here’s hoping that Pep and the players bring back El Quinto so we can celebrate a special brand of Manita Champions League success along with another Copa Del Rey triumph in May.