Things are still going well for Barça. They qualified for the Copa del Rey Final, are in the driver’s seat in their Champions League tie against Manchester City, and currently are league leaders. However, all this talk about another Barça treble is premature at this moment.
Barça’s disappointing loss to Malaga has become nothing but a distant memory. Barça seemed to struggle with taking advantage of opportunities to breathe down Real Madrid’s necks. Now, they are the ones breathing the fresh air atop of the league summit after finally capturing it. The mood is better at the Camp Nou regarding the manager and players; but not the club administration though. They qualified for their 37th Copa del Rey final where they will face Athletic Club at a yet to be determined venue and enjoy a 2-1 aggregate lead against Manchester City in the first leg of the knock out stage of their UEFA Champions League tie.
However, let’s not get too carried away with any treble talk. In a quest of such magnitude, one must remain humble and focus on only the next match at hand. Pep brought that one game at a time approach and Luis Enrique repeated it today ahead of tomorrow’s second leg match against Manchester City. When asked about this weekend’s El Clásico match, the manager replied, “There is only one game for us and that’s the one tomorrow. Nothing else matters to me right now”.
Up only 2-1, the tie against Manchester City is far from over. It is true that Barça enjoy the upper hand knowing that Manchester City enter the match knowing they need to score two goals at the Camp Nou. However, crazier things have happened to Barça at the Camp Nou. Barça’s “Dream Team” were knocked out of the second round of the qualifying stage for the 92-93 Champions League by CSKA Moskva with a second leg 2-3 loss at the Camp Nou after a 1-1 away draw in Russia. At one point, Barça were leading 2-0 before the Russian side scored three unanswered goals to eliminate the Blaugrana from Europe.
Barça’s match against Manchester City cannot be taken for granted. Barça still has the tendency to give up goals and with the absence of Busquets, one wonders how the midfield will look like in his absence. Even if Barça advance, the teams awaiting them in the Quarter-Finals will not be pushovers. Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Porto and PSG will be waiting for them along with possible teams such as Dortmund or Juventus, Monaco, and Atlético. The path to the Champions League final will not be an easy path, that’s for sure.
Even this weekend’s Clásico cannot be considered that decisive. When Barça won the treble back in 2008-2009, El Clásico took place in the final month of the season, not in March. After this weekend’s clash, there will be an additional 10 league matches to be played. That’s 30 possible points. A win this weekend will give them a four point cushion with another 30 points to be contested by both sides. Clearly, having a small lead is a great boost for morale but a lot can happen over 10 matches too.
I have always been a firm believer that the league is decided in the final five league matches. So any talk of Barça winning or going for the treble by fans is very premature. The media will start talking about it because it’s their job to do so. Some were talking about Real Madrid winning all six titles this season and look how quickly that discussion ended. Only one club from Spain has ever won the treble so it’s no easy task at all. Therefore, let’s wait till May before we can utter the word “treble.” Until then, the Blaugrana faithful need to just take it one match at a time.
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