No Busquets, No Party.

When UEFA.com released its nominees for UEFA’s Team of the Year, one omission struck a nerve with the Blaugrana faithful. It’s not a team if Sergio Busquets is not part of it.

Busquets seems to be one of the most under-appreciated players of this era. Perhaps it is because his style of play on the pitch is so discrete that it is undetectable. It’s hard not to appreciate the hard and dirty work he puts in for the club in every match ever since his debut back in the 2008-2009 season. So when his name was missing from UEFA’s Team of the Year nominees, the Blaugrana fans protested and some even mocked the decision.

Sergio Busquets made his debut with Barça back in the 2008 summer friendlies during Pep Guardiola’s first year in charge. I won’t lie; I had no clue who he was and had to ask, “Is that Busquets’s kid?” when I first saw the name. His father, Carles Busquets, was Barça’s backup keeper, serving as Zubizaretta’s deputy who was mostly remembered for his blunders.

Nevertheless, the son of the goalkeeper whose back of the shirt only has his first name has done a great job in making a name for himself since his debut. He filled in superbly for the injured Yaya Toure at the start of the 2008-2009 season and I had no qualms with him remaining the starter after Yaya was fit. Barça were on a superb run at the time, so why tinker with it. Guardiola also preferred the younger player and Yaya left the club after 2009-2010 season.

Busquets was only 20 during that magical 2008-2009 season that saw the club win a treble. Again, he was just 20 when he started both Copa del Rey Final and Champions League Final and became one of the few players to ever win a treble. Fast forward to today and he is one of the rare few to win two trebles. Since his debut, he has won five league titles, three Copa del Reys, and three Champions League titles along with a World Cup and European Cup for Spain. Yet, Busquets seems to not get the love or the respect that he deserves.

Football fans keep bringing up the “Peek a Boo” incident against Inter in the Champions League Semi-Finals after Motta struck him in the throat with his arm. Motta had already been booked prior to that incident so his sending off was inevitable after that second bookable offense. Yet, Busquets was the villain for his actions. That is an odd reaction seeing as many of those same fans seem to worship Totti even though he was sent off for spitting at an opponent during Euro 2004 and Zidane, who also saw red for head butting Materazzi during the 2006 World Cup Final.

Busquets is one of those rare players who has a knack for being at the right place at the right time to recover the ball on the pitch while putting his body in harm’s way. Fans might prefer defensive midfielders who are swashbucklers and fly in with sliding tackles to win the ball. Give me Busquets who will be in the right place to win the ball back and then pass it to the right player in an instant while leaving his body in harm’s way. David Beckham received criticism after England’s elimination to Brazil in World Cup 2002 after he jumped to avoid a tackle and lost the ball that resulted into an equalizer from an ensuing counter attack for Brazil. Busquets though is the type of player that would do the opposite to protect his team.

Busquets also possesses superb skills with the ball where his one touch passes are mesmerizing and his first touch is sublime. The opening seconds of the most recent Clásico is a great example of his underrated skills. After the opening whistle blew, Busquets played the role of a matador with a cape to perfection when the bull, Gareth Bale, rushed at him to win the ball, only for the midfielder to drag the ball behind him in a manner much like the matador performing a “veronica” and elude the ball away from Bale.

Fortunately, there are those who do appreciate Busquets. Former Real Madrid manager and current Spanish National team manager Vicente del Bosque once said, “If I were a player, I would like to be like Busquets.” Guardiola paid Busquets the highest compliment possible when he stated, “If I was reincarnated as a player, I’d like to be like him. He’s the best defensive central midfielder in the world. Barça has a priceless player.” After UEFA announced its nominees for team of the year, former Barça player and teammate of Busquets, Éric Abidal said, “Those who have made the list have no idea about football because Busquets isn’t on it.”

Barça fans will forever be grateful for Busquets. This team is not the same without his presence and influence on the pitch. He may not get the recognition that he deserves and he might not care about such recognition. However, what is obvious is if there is no Busquets, there is no party. So the next time you watch a Barça match, pay attention to Busquets while operates and appreciate his body of work.

Neymar and Suárez shining in Messi’s absence.

With El Clásico a day away, all eyes will be on the Spanish capital for tomorrow’s game. Messi has been cleared to return but the spotlight right now is shining on Neymar and Luis Suárez.

Many believed Barça would be in trouble when Messi went down with an injury back in September. Messi was the man who made things happen for the Blaugrana last season. He either scored, assisted or provided the superb pass that lead to the assist for Barça. His absence was going to be missed as he truly is irreplaceable.

Nevertheless, Barça managed to get by without the amazing player. Neymar took on the role as the man who had to pull the strings on the pitch and impressed as he tried his best to fill the void left by Messi’s absence. Not many can play like Messi but Neymar admirably played the role of goal scorer and playmaker in his own way that helped Barça. His partner in crime, Luis Suárez, also benefited from Neymar’s new role and both have carried the team on their backs which now sees them in first place in the league standings. Both have scored ten goals in Messi’s absence. Moreover, Neymar and Suárez are currently first and second in the Pichichi race as league top scorers with 11 and 9 goals respectively.

Of course, the world will be looking at Messi tomorrow. Yet, the spotlight will be on Neymar and Suárez if Messi starts the match from the bench. Messi’s inclusion for the Madrid trip might be mind tricks by Luis Enrique but then again, Messi is not the type to sit out a match, regardless of the match’s importance. I would prefer Luis Enrique to play it safe and have Messi come in the final half hour of the match against a tired Madrid side and cause havoc. With the lone exception of the Sevilla match, the team has done well with the Brazilian and Uruguay superstars and should be entrusted with our faith against their arch rivals if Messi does not feature. They have earned that truth.

The game tomorrow will not be won or lost if Messi plays or not. It will come down to mistakes. The outcome will be based on which counter attacking side will present the fewer scoring chances to their opponents and not squander their scoring chances. Also, this outcome will not decide the league title. We are still in November and last season showed us that the winner of the first Clásico did not fare too well down the stretch. A setback tomorrow will not be catastrophic towards to league title aspirations. It will only bring justified and unjustified heat from the media and fans but there’s still a lot of football left to be played.

What is certain is that if Barça win and both Neymar and Suárez perform well, then expect their names to surface as potential Ballon d’Or finalists with Messi. Both have had a magnificent 2015 thus far. The second half of the 2014-2015 season saw the duo score big goals in big games down the stretch that saw Barça capture a historic second treble. The first half of 2015-2016 has also seen them perform remarkably, especially during Messi’s absence. The results and performances speak for themselves. Tomorrow will be their final opportunity to shine in the spotlight before sharing it back with Messi. Do they have one last dynamic performance to give?

How Will The Spanish Referee Controversy Play Out?

The recent scandal about a linesman being pressured to make calls in favor of Real Madrid in the upcoming Clásico raised more than just a few eyebrows. The big question now is how will it play out?

A few days ago, Spanish football was caught off guard when the media reported a story that an unidentified linesman was informed to make decisions in favor of Real Madrid in the upcoming Clásico in November. The unnamed referee is now being represented by Jacinto Vicente, a sports law attorney from Barcelona, who helped file a formal complaint and the legal authorities are now investigating these claims.

Allegedly, this unnamed referee was contacted by José Ángel Jiménez Muñoz, a member of the Comité Técnico de Árbitros, the league’s referees’ committee, who informed him to make calls in favor of Madrid in the upcoming Clásico. The reasoning behind this approach was this less vilifies the referee in charge of the game and instead, makes the linesman the scapegoat. This accusation also mentioned that this tactic had been used in previous matches. Somehow, this would absolve the referee of any suspicious actions since the blame would be directed at the linesman instead. Of course, Mr. Jiménez Muñoz denied this accusation and compared it to something straight out of a Kafka novel.

As expected, the reactions were predictable. Barça fans either shrugged since there has always been this view that referees favored Madrid anyways or rejoiced that this story provided some sort of validation that their long held conspiracy theory might finally have finally be proven true. It is now being investigated and has not yet been swept under the rug. Miguel Cardenal, Spain’s CSD Higher Sports Council, wanted the Spanish football officials to investigate this matter and take it seriously. Whether this matter will be treated seriously or not is up for debate.

It’s not as if Spanish football authorities have not let us down before. Spanish football dragged its feet back in 2004 following the racist abuse of England’s black players from the fans during a friendly against Spain in Madrid. This is a league that still has trouble scheduling matches properly while keeping their fans in the dark as to kickoff times. This could be Spanish Football’s Serpico whistleblowing moment if such manipulation of referees to favor Real Madrid is true. It’s not that farfetched either seeing as Comité Técnico de Árbitros has a history of being led by men who had ties to Real Madrid as either former players or as club members.

What will the ramifications be though if this allegation turns out to be true? What would the fallout be? Obviously heads will roll, but which heads? Those from the the Comité Técnico de Árbitros who contacted the referees would be the first to face the music. Referees who also obeyed those instructions should also face lifetime bars. If somehow ties are proven that someone from Madrid was behind this, then don’t be surprised if that person turns out to be the fall guy and was acting on his own without the club’s knowledge. Unless someone from the Comité Técnico de Árbitros points the finger to directly implicate Real Madrid’s president Florentino Perez with some sort of concrete evidence, it is highly unlikely he will step down. Nevertheless, the club should face punishment if it is directly involved.

Perhaps this will be a lie, just like the false claims of “Villarato” that was created by Madrid media whenever Barça got a favorable call. Perhaps this was just some bogus claim to stir things up in the media to make Madrid look bad by those with ties to Madrid who have grown tired of Florentino Perez’s rule. Perhaps it’s an evil plot by those with ties to Barça who want payback for Real Madrid allegedly being the ones who contacted FIFA which led to the FIFA transfer ban. Or just maybe, it’s the truth and one referee finally had found the strength to blow the whistle on this scandal. For now, it’s just mere speculation but it will be interesting how this plays out the rest of the way.

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.