Barça’s worst enemy continues to be themselves.

The winter break is over and Barça will be back in action as they resume their pursuit in conquering all three competitions. Their path consists of the likes of Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, and Sevilla in Spain, while battling Lyon and the other remaining clubs in the Champions League. However, the Blaugrana need to come to grips with their worst enemy; themselves.

The club’s start to the 2018-2019 season has been exceptional thus far.  Barça sit atop of the league table and won their Champions League group stage. However, a few bumps in the road due to on the field and off the field issues have to be resolved as they prepare for their second half of the season.



During the first half of the season, the big issue was Ousmane Dembélé. Fortunately, it seems the matter has been resolved. Yet, I feel it won’t be last time before we read another negative story about the young Frenchman. It’s not unheard of to see someone who is 21 and immature. Messi needed Pep Guardiola to tell him to change his diet habits at 21 and make him shine on the pitch. The club knew they were signing a young player who was not a model citizen at Rennes and Dortmund. Obviously, the lack of professional people managing and advising Dembélé is not helping and he would probably benefit from having an experienced agent to advise him properly. Hopefully Éric Abidal, currently the club’s football first team technical secretary, can be that father figure and take him under his wings to teach him to become more professional athlete and steer him from squandering his opportunity.



Another issue of concern is the manager himself, Ernesto Valverde. Last season, Valverde could hang his hat upon the fact that his team almost went unbeaten in the league and defended well which saw them capture the domestic double. Last season, the Blaugrana conceded only 29 goals. This season however, they have already lost twice and have conceded 19 goals after 17 games. Fortunately, the Blaugrana have kept a clean sheet the last four games and here’s hoping the trend of not leaking goals continues.

Nonetheless, under Valverde, the team is unbalanced with the midfield failing to support the backline. Some of his decisions when it comes to the starting eleven is also baffling, such as immediately starting players who have just returned from an injury. He also benches players after a good run of games and starts players out of the blue. Last season, there were complaints that he kept playing the starters for too long and didn’t rotate enough down the stretch after amassing a big lead in the league standings. This season, Valverde was rotating often which saw the team drop points during the first half of the season.

It is clear that Valverde has not settled on 4-3-3 and often reverts to 4-4-2 which at times has been dull to watch. This is Barça, not Athletic, and with the talent at his disposal, we should not be watching dull football. However, the main concern is that Valverde still seems to make the team become more conservative when they have the lead or he fails to adjust when the team is struggling to gain control on the pitch, with the loss to Real Betis as the perfect example with the bitter taste of being eliminated by Roma in the Champions League still lingering. That Roma elimination is a dark cloud that continues to hover over Valverde to this day.



Another major issue is what to do with Coutinho. Valverde does not consider him as a starter, due in large to Dembélé’s performances lately. With Valverde unable to play 4-3-3 or any other variation, the big signing Coutinho, and other signing Arthur, seem destined to ride the bench for now. However, the bench was not what many had in mind when the club spent €160 million for Coutinho. Nonetheless, Coutinho has failed to shine up front, in the midfield, and in Messi’s absence, so it’s not entirely Valverde’s fault. With any luck, Valverde can find a way to get more out of Coutinho or the board will live with the fact that they spent €160 million for a substitute.



Finally, Valverde needs to give more minutes to La Masia players. Carles Aleñá is a recent La Masia who has made the jump to the first team and here’s to hoping he gets to feature in all three competitions. No one is demanding that Barça B players be inserted into the starting lineups and play a full 90 minutes but with Copa del Rey on the horizon, we should see more of the youth in these games. None of the key starters should feature in the Copa del Rey in order to be rested for the league and Champions League which should be the main priorities this season. Chasing a treble, as much we love to win it, can be costly if it means coming up short in Europe because of fatigue from playing in Copa del Rey, again.

The board also has to do better in terms of protecting its players and investing in the squad. It was no secret that the stories of Dembélé being late to training were being leaked to the media and its unfathomable how this was supposed to improve the situation. Additionally, the club needs to improve on re-enforcing the squad.



Ajax Amsterdam’s Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt are players the club should be signing as heir apparent to Gerard Piqué and Sergio Busquets, who will be 32 and 31 by the time next season starts. Yet, it seems Barça will ultimately sign Adrien Rabiot and Jean-Clair Todibo instead. It is true that signing two of these four players could impact the youth players who want to make the jump to the first team. However, since these signings are going to be made anyways, then wouldn’t it be for the best to sign the finest talent available and not make another André Gomes/ Marlon type signing? The board needs to stop with the poor signings and not waste Messi’s final years with these types of teammates. Elections are a couple of years away but it would be nice for the new board to inherit a strong, if not the greatest, team like this current one did.

The league resumes today with a tricky away fixture to Getafe. Will Barça stop being their own worst enemy? Only time will tell. Hopefully we are not wasting Messi’s talent and time at the club.

Barça’s Upcoming Four Battles.

Final month of football is upon us. The bitter taste of not watching Barça try to win their sixth Champions League crown is still tough to swallow. There is hope that the club can salvage the season with a domestic double. However, these remaining games are basically elimination round fixtures where one slip up ruins the double.

Barça’s final three league matches are at home to Villarreal, away to Las Palmas, before bringing down the curtains when they host Eibar. They will then meet Deportivo Alavés in the Copa del Rey Final soon afterwards. Real Madrid have four league matches left are away to Granada, hosting Sevilla, away to Celta Vigo and then away to Malaga. Perhaps Madrid will slip up in either of those matches.

It’s not fun when you can’t control your destiny and Barça have themselves to blame for that following their poor result against Malaga. However, it’s too soon to throw in the towel on the season. Cruyff’s “Dream Team” showed us how beautiful it is to win the league title in the last match of the season. Yet, the 2006-2007 Barça team showed us gut wrenching it is to lose out on the title in the last match of the season while being level on points with Real Madrid.

So sit back and enjoy the ride with one eye on Barça and one eye on the scoreboard to see what Madrid is doing. Three more weeks of stress and then one week to recover before Barça play in the Copa del Rey. Hopefully it will be for a double.

Spaniards Abroad: David Villa.

Spaniards Abroad: David Villa. The Night David Villa came to Saint Petersburg, Florida.

David Villa is a Spanish football legend. His accomplishments for club and country are exceptional. A winner with four different clubs along with a European and World Cup medal with Spain, David Villa has had a marvelous career. He is now in the twilight of his legendary playing career here in the United States with New York MLS side, NYCFC.

When I learned that David Villa would be playing with his club at a friendly in my hometown in Florida, I did not have to think twice about going. On February 17, 2016, NYCFC faced Montreal Impact in Saint Petersburg, Florida. The venue was Al Lang stadium, home of the NASL side, Tampa Bay Rowdies.

The grounds of Al Lang stadium used to host baseball games since 1923 and underwent many renovations and changes throughout the years. However, it became the home of the Tampa Bay Rowdies a few years ago and underwent a major facelift in late 2014 to become a soccer only stadium. It is a quaint stadium that seats over 7,000 fans and on this night, would be hosting David Villa.

It was a pleasant evening with a nice cool breeze blowing from the marina located next to the stadium. The fans were diverse in their allegiance with some there to see David Villa, some to see Andrea Pirlo while others were there for Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba. For this Cule, David Villa was the main attraction.

David Villa hails from the Asturias region located at the northern tip of Spain. He joins the small list of players from that region who would go on to play for Barça; Quini and Luis Enrique. Just like those two Barça legends, David would feature for Sporting Gijon. He made his debut in 2001, when Sporting were in the second division, and after two impressive seasons, he was sold for €2.7m to Real Zaragoza. His debut with Zaragoza was around the same time FC Barcelona had just elected Joan Laporta as club president and helped usher in the new era for the Blaugrana. That same season, David Villa won his first major club trophy when Zaragoza defeated Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey Final. He had scored from the spot to give his side the lead before halftime. The Final was held in Barcelona, at Espanyol’s old stadium, the Montjuïc so Cules took notice of this young scorer. He later earned his first cap for Spain in 2005 under Luis Aragones.

After two seasons with Zaragoza, he was sold to Valencia for €12 m. He managed to score 28 goals in all competitions, 25 of them coming in the league, in his debut season. That strong performance earned him a spot in Spain’s 2006 World Cup roster where he would go on to score three goals. He won his second Copa del Rey trophy in 2008 when Valencia defeated Getafe in the Final, while scoring against FC Barcelona in the Semi-Finals at the Camp Nou.

That summer of 2008 would be special as Luis Aragones did not include Raul in his Euro 2008 roster, thus allowing David Villa to become the new Spanish number 7. It was a controversial decision that was soon forgotten when Spain finally ended their long wait of winning a major international trophy by defeating Germany in Euro 2008 Final. He scored four memorable goals in the tournament but missed the Final after suffering an injury in the Semi-Finals against Russia. Two years later, he would help steer Spain to World Cup glory over Holland in World Cup 2010 by scoring five of Spain’s eight goals in the tournament.

Barça had attempted to pry him away from Valencia in 2009 with Real Madrid hot on his heels. Ultimately, the transfer never went through but Barça managed to sign him a year later, just before president Laporta’s tenure concluded. David, Messi and Pedro formed the “MVP” trident scored 98 goals, with David scoring 23 goals in all competitions, including a memorable brace in the 5-0 win over Real Madrid, which helped the club win the league title and their fourth Champions League title with David scoring a spectacular goal in the final against Manchester United at Wembley. It was during his first season with Barça that Villa also surpassed Raul to become Spain’s all-time goal scoring leader.

His second season with the club saw him suffer a broken tibia during the FIFA Club World Cup and cause him to miss the second half of the 2011-2012 season and Euro 2012 with Spain. His third and final season at the club would see him score 16 goals in all competitions as he had to fight Alexis, Tello and Pedro for minutes. He would then be sold to Atlético Madrid for €5.1 m where he would go on to score 15 goals in all competitions and help Atlético win the league title, at the Camp Nou against Barça, and play in the Champions League Final where his side fell to their derby rivals Real Madrid.

He would represent Spain one final time during in their dreadful 2014 World Cup campaign. David indicated that this was going to be his final appearance for La Roja. He would score his 59th and final goal for Spain in their final group match against Australia. It was not the fitting end that many had wished for one of the greatest Spanish players ever.

Many, including myself were surprised to see Villa leave La Liga for the MLS after his lone season with Atlético. He was going to cross the Atlantic and play for the new MLS club in New York, NYCFC. Prior to joining his new club, he had to travel all the way to Australia for a short loan spell with Melbourne City and then headed back to New York. His was the club’s first ever captain during NYCFC’s inaugural season in MLS that saw him score 18 goals. Although that was an impressive tally, his club though failed to qualify for the MLS Cup playoffs.

So here he was, David Villa, in my hometown in Florida. NYCFC were part of the teams taking part in the Rowdies’s Suncoast Invitational along other MLS teams as they prepare for their upcoming season. While I watched him warm up with Pirlo and the rest of the team, I managed to chat with an older gentleman from the Asturias region who happened to live in the area. Just like me, he came to see Villa. Villa hasn’t changed much in appearance from when he signed with Barça. He rocks has the same haircut and soul patch that we have accustomed to seeing over the years. What was I noticed was different was that, for once, Villa looked fit during warm-ups and did not resemble the player we had seen these past few seasons in Spain who appeared in pain and sluggish while recovering from injuries.

I took my seat near the field without knowing what to expect from David Villa. Was I going to see a David Villa treating this friendly without interest as he nears retirement? Any doubts towards his professionalism were quickly put to rest when, early into the match, he showed that he still had his powerful shot after he tested the Montreal keeper from distance. In the 20th minute, Villa showed that he still had his pace when he managed to chest the ball down before bursting towards the goal with the ball at his feet. His attempt was wide, but flashbacks came flowing back to his Valencia and Blaugrana playing days. Nevertheless, he showed scent for the goal like a shark that smelt blood. He came close to scoring in the 31st minute when Pirlo delivered a free kick from just outside the box to him but Villa’s effort struck the crossbar.

Villa would start the second half and in the 54th minute, Pirlo whipped a pass into the box, and Villda headed the ball to down to his teammate Diskerud, but his effort was stopped by the Montreal keeper. A few minutes later, Villa had a chance to score from close range but mishit the ball and the keeper had an easy save to make. In the 63rd minute, after a short corner kick, Villa had another attempt from outside the box but was off target.

David Villa’s night came to an end in the 68th minute. He gave Pirlo the captain’s armband and headed for the bench while receiving a warm embrace from his manager, Patrick Vieira and a nice round of applause from the fans in attendance. I was in a state of disbelief that David Villa actually played in my hometown and he did not disappoint.

I have to admit that I was impressed by both, David and Pirlo’s attitude on the pitch. Many might assume that these world class players came to the U.S. to cash it in and take it easy. You cannot make that assumption about these two. Both were leading the charge and demanding the ball from their teammates and urging them on. Their competitive fire still burns and they expect the same from their teammates.

After the game ended, the fans started to leave the small but lovely stadium of the Tampa Bay Rowdies. He made his way to some fans and signed some autographs before heading off to the locker room. I waited outside the stadium to get one final glimpse of David Villa as he was the first player to board the team bus. The legendary Spanish player was leaving my hometown and he still looked like he still had something to offer to the football world. The fans in New York are sure lucky to have him.

Thanks for the Memories, Pedro.

We look back at Pedro's time with Barça with his most memorable moments.

With Pedro bidding farewell to Barça, Blaugrana fans will loss a player who might not have been the most talented player to ever play for Barça, but one who played his heart out for the club. We look back at his time with the club with his most memorable goals that he scored for Barça.

UEFA Super Cup Shakhtar 2009-2010

This is the goal that put him on the map. Not many knew who Pedro was when he came on the pitch to replace Ibrahimovic. Nevertheless, he broke the scoreless deadlock and began the path to become the first player to score a goal in six different competitions.

2009 FIFA Club World Cup Estudiantes

The equalizing goal that seemed unlikely to happen. Pedro’s header in the 88th minute forced the game into extra time where Messi would score the game winner against Estudiantes. The latter would not have happened if not for Pedro’s goal.

El Clasico 2009-2010

The insurance goal that sealed victory and all but clinched the 2009-2010 league title for Barça. Xavi once again with the superb through ball and Pedro timed his run perfectly and somehow did not lose the ball as two defenders tried to close him down but he somehow managed to get an effort on goal that got past Casillas.

El Clasico 2010-2011

Pedro was thorn in Madrid's side twice that season. He scored the second goal the night the Manita took place. He also scored the only goal at the Camp Nou in the Champions League Semi-Finals that was the nail in Madrid’s coffin.

2011 Champions League Final at Wembley

This was the opening goal in the 2011 Champions League Final. Superb through ball from Xavi and Pedro showed great calmness by controlling the before before slotting it in for the opening goal.

2012 Copa del Rey Final

Guardiola’s final match as Barça manager. During the season, Pep had somehow ignored Pedro for the likes of Alexis and Tello. Pedro scored a brace in the first half and Pep had this to say about him afterwards. "Pedro is a fantastic player. I was just asking myself why I didn't play him more.” 

2012-2013 PSG Champions League Quarter-Finals

Second half equalizer that ensured that Barça would advance to the next round. Messi came off the bench and found Villa inside the box who then somehow passed it to Pedro with his first touch. Pedro blasted it in and the game would end in a 1-1 draw that helped Barça advance on away goals rule.

2-5 Getafe Pedro hattrick 2013-2014

It was a great comeback by the team that was without Valdés, Messi and Neymar, and found themselves down 2-0 after 15 minutes. It looked hopeless yet these guys battled back through a Pedro hat trick before the halftime whistle and then Cesc scored a brace in the second half for a2-5 win. Hat trick in 8 minutes.His first goal was from outside the box with the keeper halfway inside his box. He managed to get a hand on it but that was not enough. Equalizer, cuts in from the left side and right footed it into the top corner. Third goal was the difference as he got onto a rebound and blasted it over a sprawling defender and past the keeper with a strong blast.

Chilena v Real Sociedad 2014-2015

The goal that some would say clinched last season’s league title for Barca. Off the bench, Pedro came in and scored this amazing Chilena goal to remind us that he still some magic in his goal scoring shoes.

2015 UEFA Super Cup Sevilla

With talks of Pedro wanting to leave and Neymar out with the mumps, it seemed like he would start this past UEFA Super Cup. Instead, he was on the bench just as he was six years ago and once again, Pedro came off the bench and scored the game winning goal in extra time. His final golden moment and goal for the club.

Crunch Time for Barça.

Barça’s chances at the treble are very legit now. A victory today against Atlético Madrid means they win the league title with two more to go.

What a week it was for Barça. Although they suffered a 3-2 loss in Germany to Bayern Munich, their 3-0 first leg result last week pretty much ensured that they would heading to the Champions League Final in Berlin in June. The chase for the treble is officially on and Barça can win the first title today in Madrid with a victory over Atlético Madrid.

Ironic that it was one year ago to this day when Atlético Madrid came to the Camp Nou and played Barça to 1-1 draw in the final match of the season for the league crown. Today, Barça can exact revenge by winning the league title on Atlético Madrid’s turf. With only two matches left on the schedule, and a four point lead over Real Madrid, it would be best for Barça to get the job done today and rest their players for next week’s final league match against Deportivo at the Camp Nou.

Barça have gotten this far thanks to the excellent form of the front three of Messi, Neymar and Suarez. They have all contributed in the big games and we expect them to continue to do so in these next three big games. The first final is today and the next two are on May 30th against Athletic Club for the Copa del Rey trophy at the Camp Nou and then for the Champions League trophy in Berlin on June 8 against Juventus.

This is the third time Barça and Athletic meet in a final in recent history while this is the first time Barça and Juventus meet on the European stage since 2002-2003 season. However, as Pique reminded everyone on Friday when he said, "The way people are talking it's as if we'd already won the treble, and that's not the case. The finals are against two historic clubs and we still haven't won anything yet. "We're close but and we have to keep our feet on the ground." He is right. Barca need to take it one match at a time and focus solely on today and not look ahead.

Barça Treble Talk Is Premature.

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.

Barça’s Failure to Finish Off Teams Must End.

Barça’s recent first leg ties in both Copa del Rey and UEFA Champions League saw the Blaugrana victorious in both clashes. Yet, their failure to finish off their opponents is a habit that must come to an end.

Barça’s 2015 continue to be one full of progress ever since that loss to Real Sociedad with the minor hiccup of the Malaga loss. Whatever experimentation Luis Enrique was doing in the first half of the season has been abandoned. He and the players seem to have made strides in making this season a memorable one. They have one foot into the Copa del Rey Final after defeating Villarreal 3-1 at the Camp Nou in the first leg of their Semi-Finals clash.

Barça’s success in cup competitions continued last week when Barça traveled to the UK to face Manchester City in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League Round of 16 tie and returned to Barcelona with a 2-1 victory. Both cup victories were a boost to the morale of the team and its fans. However, both victories also left a small bitter taste of disappointment among the fans.

For you see, in both matches, Barça were awarded a penalty towards the end of the match. Yet, both times, they failed to convert from the spot. Neymar missed from the spot against Villarreal and Messi missed from the spot against Manchester City. Moments like those must not be squandered.
If Neymar had scored from the spot, and assuming that Villarreal would not have still scored before the final whistle, the final score would have ended 4-1 and all but ended the tie right there. Villarreal would have needed to win the return leg 3-0 to advance, but instead, a 2-0 result would suffice for them. If Messi had converted from the spot, Barça would have left with a 3-1 win and with an important three away goals advantage. Of course, two away goals are still valuable since this means Manchester City will have to attack, because a 2-0 win would be enough to see them through to the next round. No doubt Barça will look forward to Manchester City playing to attack and not sit back and defend.

Some may construe this as whining. “Hey, your team won; be happy!” Oh I am happy. This is about Barça not finishing teams off. The Blaugrana had two chances to kill off teams in the first leg of a cup tie which could have afforded them a chance to rest some players in the second leg as they remain on course to challenge for the treble. If Barça do not somehow collapse to Manchester City at the Camp Nou, they will be fighting for the Champions League title with seven other teams. Barça better not squander golden chances to finish off teams when the opportunity presents itself. With Real Madrid only two points ahead of them in the league standings, now is the time for Barça to develop a knack of going for the kill for the rest of the season especially with El Clásico is right around the corner.

Barça’s Hectic April Schedule.

Barça are heading down the stretch and still in contention for all three major trophies. The month of April will be a grueling one with Barça forced to focus on remaining in the hunt for the league crown, face their arch enemy in the Copa del Rey Final and try to get past Atletico Madrid in the Champions League to advance to the Semi-Finals. Barça will kick off April Fool’s Day by hosting Atletico Madrid at the Camp Nou. One can only hope that Barça end the month on a good note and not by feeling like fools.

Barça’s league schedule in April will see them play Real Betis, Granada, Athletic Bilbao and Villarreal. The last two league matches are the ones to worry about, although Granada away could be a banana peel for the club. Barça’s league woes stemmed from some surprising performances away such as their loss to Valladolid and they cannot afford to drop anymore points to on the road, or at home for that matter.

Fortunately, those matches will be on the weekend. Unfortunately, Barça won’t be enjoying much rest with midweek games in between. They will be facing Atletico Madrid today and next week.  If they do defeat Atletico and advance to the Semi-Finals of the Champions, they will have to play twice more in the final two weeks of April.

Meanwhile, Barça will face Real Madrid in the middle of all these fixtures when they play in the Copa del Rey Final on April 16th in Valencia. Barça surely won’t have much time to rest but that also means Barça cannot afford anymore hiccups along the way. Hopefully they will defeat Atletico today by a big margin to give themselves a breather in the second leg and not make it more complicated on themselves.

Tata Martino rotated players left and right for this time of the year. Last year, Barça were limping towards the finish. As of now, they seem rejuvenated with a five game winning streak which had not happened prior to the winter break. Let’s see if their April performances will lead to May glory.

Copa del Rey needs a makeover.

Yet another Copa del Rey final will be upon us that will feature El Clásico rivals, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. However, this will not be about these teams going at it again. Unless you have been living under a rock for the past 25 years, everyone knows more than enough about this rivalry. Yet, it seems that the RFEF still manages the Copa del Rey without caring for its domestic and international audience. It is such a shame that a historic competition is still run in such an incompetent manner.

Some of the biggest problems plaguing this competition are on display in the stands where attendance keeps dwindling. The interest in this competition seems to be decreasing because of the late kick offs and the minute chance that a small club will win this competition, let alone reach the final. Furthermore, the Copa needs to solve the issue of organizing the final with a venue and date already set in place.

The lack of fans in the stands this year was very discouraging. Copa del Rey is a historic cup for Barça, who are the all-time winning side of this competition, yet, the Camp Nou was hardly packed. It sure didn’t help that kick off was on Tuesday or Wednesday evenings at 10 PM. Other teams had late night kick offs too which is never a great idea for a midweek game. It’s pretty obvious what will happen when fans have the option of watching the game from the comfort of their home, or from the comfort of their bed with some of these late kick offs, or going to the game. They are most likely going to stay home and watch the game. Hence, RFEF needs to ensure the games kick off at a reasonable time of day since they will not pre-empt weekends for it or change to the format to a single leg competition like the FA Cup.

Speaking of the FA Cup, perhaps RFEF should look at the FA Cup’s blueprint and change the rules regarding the pairings for each round. Currently, Copa del Rey has starts off with random draws for each round until the competition goes down to 32 teams. The draw then allows us to know which teams will face each other all the way to the final. That basically can let fans know whether their club has a chance to make it to the final. RFEF should follow the FA Cup’s blueprint and have random draws for each round without any seedings to stop protecting the big clubs from facing one another early on. That would generate more interest for the fans and keep it unpredictable. Sure, the Clásico cup final would attract huge ratings but think of the long term health of this cup too if domestic interest diminishes.

The other big issue hurting this competition is that, unlike most countries, Spain does not have a “national stadium” to host a cup final. England has Wembley stadium in London to host the FA Cup, Germany has the Olympiastadion in Berlin as the venue for the German cup/DFB-Pokal final. Yet, RFEF opts to wait till the finalists have been decided before choosing a venue for the final. Clearly, a national stadium will never be built and I can imagine the outrage if the Santiago Bernabéu was appointed as such.

Perhaps RFEF should take a page out of NFL‘s book and select the venue years in advance. You don’t see the NFL deciding a few weeks before the Super Bowl on where it should take place. Heck, UEFA already have their venues selected for this season and next season’s Champions League finals. Sadly, the RFEF opts to just keep dragging its feet on decisions that any well run organization would already have figured out from the get go. However, this is La Liga and we have grown accustomed to where going forward is hindered by the league doing things backwards.

Gut Check Time For Barça.

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Although we are only in February, the next few matches are essential in how Barça’s season plays out. They face a serious chance of being eliminated from Copa del Rey tomorrow.  They also face an uphill battle in their UEFA Champions League knock out tie with AC Milan.  Thus, the Blaugrana face a difficult test and we can only hope they show enough courage, character, and determination to overcome these upcoming important matches. If not, then their season is over by mid-March. It’s gut check time for Barça if they want to continue their quest for the treble.

The euphoria we were enjoying as we entered this new year was delightful.  Barça had the league all but wrapped up and could shift their focus to the cup encounters in their quest for another treble. Nevertheless, the chances of a treble could be out of the window as soon as tomorrow. Barça’s 1-1 away draw to Real Madrid was disappointing based on the number of absences in Madrid’s lineup. Mourinho now heads to the Camp Nou with his team that has scored 2 goals in their last three visits.

This is a must win game for the club. A high scoring draw eliminates them and they need to win to avenge last season’s loss in what was Mourinho’s first ever victory at the Camp Nou.  They cannot afford to let Real Madrid get a boost of confidence but they have squandered their opportunities to pile on Real Madrid before and let them off the hook. Will history repeat itself tomorrow?

Barça’s disappointing 2-0 loss to Milan is also a difficult obstacle to overcome. They have the players and the pitch to do it. They have defeated Arsenal at the Camp Nou following disappointing first leg results at the Emirates. They need to go out there and scores plenty of goals while keeping a clean sheet.

So Barça have their work cut out for them. If they fail to eliminate Madrid and Milan, then their season is over what with their great lead atop of the standings. It’s time for the players and Roura to display the intestinal fortitude to show they are the best in the world and get the results needed. If not, then we might not have much to look forward too since the league is all but wrapped up. The taste of success will be bitter sweet if that’s all that this side will be celebrating come June.  It’s time for them to get it done.

RFEF dragging their feet again regarding the Copa Final venue.

The current predicament plaguing the Spanish league is not about which clubs are able to pay their players’ salaries or the possibility of another strike from the league players. No, the current quandary that has once again put the RFEF in the spotlight again is the uncertainty of where the Copa del Rey final will be played. Madrid’s rejection of hosting the final has put the RFEF in a negative light regarding how inept they are which is a clear contrast of their neighboring countries’ leagues.

The Santiago Bernabéu was the preferred venue for the Copa del Rey final by both FC Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao. Unfortunately, Real Madrid opted to refuse to host the final because they have bathrooms to renovate, a Bruce Springsteen concert to plan for and that they might be celebrating Champions League title should they win it on May 20. Some thought their refusal was a sign of fear that they didn’t want Barça celebrating a title in their own stadium. Now, if that was the sole reason for Madrid not wanting to host the final, then shame on them for thinking it was a foregone conclusion that Athletic had no chance of winning the cup against Barça.

However, the problem here falls squarely on the RFEF and their lack of planning ahead. Unlike most countries, Spain does not have a “national stadium” to host a cup final. England has Wembley stadium in London to host the FA Cup and also used the Millennium Stadium, in Wales as the temporary home of the FA Cup final. France has the Stade de France in Paris that hosts the Coupe de France. Germany has the Olympiastadion (Olympic Stadium) in Berlin as the venue for the German cup/DFB-Pokal final. Italy has the Stadio Olimpico, home to both Lazio and Roma, in Rome as the venue for the Coppa Italia final. Even Spain’s Iberian neighbor, Portugal, has a national stadium, Estádio Nacional/Estádio do Jamor located in Jamor that hosts the Portuguese Cup/ Taça de Portugal final.

All those venues have been hosting their respective domestic cup finals for a long time. Yet, Spain opts to wait till the Semi-finalists, or the finalists in this case, have been decided before deciding on a venue for the final. Supposedly, Madrid’s indirect refusal is the first time that a club has rejected hosting a Copa final. So what can the RFEF do? Put their foot down and remind Madrid who’s the boss? Highly doubt it especially with their laid back approach in punishing Mourinho for attempting to poke Tito Vilanova’s eye or their failure to discipline Pepe after what appeared to be an intentional stamp on Messi’s hand.

The RFEF have three options. The first option is to build a national stadium so they can have their own version of Wembley for Cup finals and for big international matches. We know that won’t happen and they sometimes use the Bernabéu for the big international matches. The second option is to go ahead and pick a stadium to be their national stadium which would probably be the Bernabéu since it hosted the 1962 Euro Cup Final and the 1982 World Cup Final. We know the Camp Nou would never get it and can’t imagine the reaction of the Madridistas if the national stadium was located in Catalan country. The problem is would Real Madrid throw a fit if the final would feature Barcelona in it? RFEF doesn’t need more headaches so it won’t happen. Estadio de La Cartuja in Sevilla probably could be a worthy candidate as a Cup Final venue since it’s not being used but its capacity of slightly over 57,000 would not make it a suitable venue. La Cartuja would allow over 28,000 fans from each of the finalist to witness the final which is not bad based on the average attendance of the Spanish league, which was over 29,000. However, if the finalists are from the big clubs, such as this year’s finalists, then that venue would be deemed too small.

Before I address the third option, it should be noted that FC Barcelona never rejected hosting the Copa final back in 2004. Guti tweeted that Barça pulled the same stunt back then but El País and Marca have come out and said it never happened.  The story that Barça didn’t want Real Madrid playing in their stadium is false. All the semi-finalists back then decided that Espanyol’s old stadium, Montjuic, should be the venue for the final.

So that leaves us with the third option, and that is picking the venue a year in advance. You don’t see the NFL waiting till the last minute to decide where the next Super Bowl will be. You already know where the next UEFA Champions League final will be this year and next year. Munich will be hosting it this year and Wembley will be hosting it again next year. Sadly, we all know the RFEF is going to do nothing. They are going to just sit back and pretend that this never happened and go on with to portray the “mañana attitude” that continues to plague Spanish football. One has to cringe when we see how the Premier League gets things done in terms of disciplinary action; TV revenue; scheduling; and marketability while RFEF is content just not care. Villar was just re-elected as FA president but don’t expect any changes anytime soon.