Barça’s Historic Clásico Victories in Madrid.

 

Barça’s demolition of Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu was a thing of beauty. Even though it was not a “Manita,” it still ranks as one of the greatest wins on enemy ground.

Barça’s 4-0 win against Real Madrid was surprising and very pleasant for the Blaugrana faithful. It was one sided as Barça dominated their arch enemy on enemy grounds. We are used to seeing the Blaugrana clobber their arch enemy at the Camp Nou, but at the Bernabéu, well that’s a different story.

 

There’s the Johan Cruyff inspired5-0 victory during the 1974-1975 season which was one of the first “Manita” in recent history. Barça would claim another “Manita” during the “Dream Team” era but that took place at the Camp Nou. That team was managed Johan Cruyff.

 

The next big victory on enemy ground would take place during the 1998-1999 season. Barça were victorious in a back and forth encounter that ended in 2-3. Current Barça manager Luis Enrique scored the team’s second with the Brazilians Rivaldo scoring the opener and Giovanni scoring the game winner. This game is also remembered for the “Butifarra” goal celebration by Giovanni after he scored what ended up being the goal winner and thereby infuriating the Madrid fan base.

Ten years ago, we would see the Madrid fans give a standing applause to a Barça legend. Barça defeated Real Madrid 3-0 with Eto’o scoring the opener before Ronaldinho scored a brace in the second half. It was a one sided affair and the match is mostly remembered by Ronaldinho’s display of magic as he scored two amazing goals. After Ronaldinho scored his second goal, some Madrid fans got out of their seats to applaud the player. This was an act that had not occurred since Maradona’s goal in the 2-2 draw in the first leg of the 1982-1983 defunct League Cup.

Nevertheless, the most memorable result is the 2-6 victory during the 2008-2009 treble season. The buildup to this match was immense with both teams neck and neck in the standings and the league title was bound for whoever would win this match. Madrid took the lead before Barça scored three unanswered goals through Henry, Puyol and Messi. Madrid pulled one back early in the second half to make it 2-3 before Barça scored three another unanswered goals through Henry, Messi and Pique.

Pique was furious when Munir scoffed his chance at scoring the fifth goal during the last Clásico. Barça’s 4-0 win was too easy from the opening whistle and that was with Messi on the bench. Suárez and Neymar scored the first two goals in the first half before Iniesta and Suárez scored the other two goals in the second half. It could have been, and should have been, five had Munir converted on his chances or left his first chance to Pique to score from close range.

Those results are Barça’s “Manita” of big wins on their arch enemy’s grounds in recent history. Which one is your favorite?

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?

MSN Should Be Ballon d’Or Finalists.

Last season was a fantastic season for Barça and its fans. With the Golden Ball based on performances for 2015, Neymar and Suárez both deserve to be on the podium with Messi for the FIFA Golden Ball.

It’s that time of year again where we start debating who should be crowned the best footballer in the world. After a run of two years where Messi saw Ronaldo win consecutive FIFA Ballon d’Ors, it seems destined that Messi will be winning his fifth Golden Ball. So the debate is not so much who should win it, but rather who should be the three finalists for this award.

There’s no debate who had a better year in football in 2015. Messi lead his team to a treble and guided Argentina to the Copa America final. Even though he has been out with an injury since September, Messi’s 45 total league goals in 2015 was just matched by Ronaldo on Halloween.  One can only imagine what that tally would be if Messi was not injured.

Ronaldo did not win any team titles in 2015 but did win the European Golden Shoe for being the top scorer in a European league. He scored 48 during the 2014-2015 Spanish league season. Yet, he did not have that many big performances in Spain and in Europe in the big games. However, Neymar and Suárez did perform well late last season and now during Messi’s absence.

Neymar scored in every leg of the Champions League from the Quarter-Finals stage to the Final. That’s five consecutive games where he scored in a big game. Suárez scored memorable and big goals that also helped the club capture the treble. Those goals against away to Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain and the game winner against Real Madrid at the Camp Nou in El Clásico from Suárez were key goals for the Blaugrana during their pursuit of the treble.

However, with Messi’s injury, Neymar and Suárez have done a superb job in his absence. Neymar has filled in superbly in Messi’s shoes to guide Barça. Both players have scored 16 goals and provided 5 assists in matches without Messi. Those performances also meant that Neymar was the top scorer in the Spanish League with 11 goals with Suárez occupying 2nd place with 9 goals. Meanwhile, Ronaldo is in 3rd place with 8 and had two recent subpar performances against Paris Saint-Germain and his team is in second place in the standings behind Barça after his club lost to Sevilla 3-2 in a match that he also was a non-factor. Without a doubt, the second half of 2015 belongs to the Brazilian and Uruguayan superstars.

So yes, Messi deserves the Golden Ball this year. To even debate it is futile. However, the debate of whether Neymar and Suárez both deserve to be on the podium with Messi much like Xavi and Iniesta did back in 2010 is merited. MSN had a magnificent 2015 and all three deserve to be the FIFA Ballon d’Or Finalists.

Life Without Messi Not That Bad.

Barça’s life without Messi has been good so far. So far, the world has not yet ended as some predicted thanks to some players taking their game to another level. However, there is still room for improvement.

When we all saw Messi leave the Las Palmas match with an injury back in September, we were shocked. Messi seemed indestructible. Sure, he could suffer from fatigue or loss of form but it always seemed certain that Messi would be in the lineup on every match day. The injury though reminded us that Messi is human after all.

Barça did struggle without Messi a bit but the only slipup was against Sevilla which was a tough away loss. However, that loss and overall performances were not directly related to his absence. Barça’s Achilles heels this season seems to be their defending, or lack of which has resulted in the team giving up 8 goals in their last 6 with only one clean sheet. Even if Messi played in those matches, there was not much he could do to prevent those goals.

Luis Enrique and his staff need to find a way to get the team to defend like the way they did last season.  It’s not just on the coaching staff though. Players need to step it up during Messi’s absence. Those clean sheets from last season seem like a distant memory. The players need to revert back to the team that defended well and applied pressure all over the pitch. If the offense sputters, then it’s good to know the defense is there to keep them in the game.

Fortunately, some players have stepped it up. Neymar has done a great job being the team’s playmaker after injuries to not just Messi, but to also Iniesta and Rafinha, limited the team’s level of creativity. Neymar has dropped deep and gotten the ball and created for others. Luis Suárez has benefitted from Neymar’s performance and he too, has stepped it up with some big goals lately. 

Both now are top of the league scoring table with Ronaldo and it will only be a matter of time before Messi catches up to them when he returns next month.

Messi’s return will be a boost to the team. However, he can only do so much. The team still needs to do a better job of protecting its goal. Failure to do so will only waste the talent of Messi and the other two members of the trident.

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.

Barça’s murky vision towards the future.

Last year, I wrote about my concerns regarding the future of Barça’s future with respect to the treatment of Barça B graduates on the first team. Now, that concern has grown as Barça’s vision towards the future seems murky with Barça B struggling and the first team not investing in the right players for the long haul.

We have witnessed Barça drift away from making sure Barça B and the rest of La Masia remain successful and be an important asset for the first team. Barça B is back in the third division where they are currently languishing in the relegation zone after a poor start to the season that saw them capture two wins from their first eight matches. FIFA also harmed La Masia after some youth players were barred from being with the Blaugrana, which caused the transfer ban in the first place. All in all, the club’s poor handling of the threat of a transfer ban affected the first team and the youth setup.

The transfer ban also caused Barça to go on a shopping spree last season prior to the ban taking effect. The Blaugrana brought in a lot of new faces. Some were good, some were bad, and some were injured who were hardly a factor. Of course, Barça went on to win the treble last season so everyone thought it was a great plan. Barça went ahead and signed Aleix Vidal and Arda Turan this past summer for this season, even though they will have to wait till January 2016 to play for the club. Following the number of injuries the club has suffered this season, along with the departure of Pedro, there is talk of even more transfers when the transfer window opens up again in January without any mention of calling up Barça B players to fill the void. Players such as Álex Grimaldo who should be deputizing for Jordi Alba is ignored for the likes of Mathieu and Adriano, with the latter being offered a new deal, while startlet Sergi Samper is also being ignored by Luis Enrique while Gumbau gets to train with the first much to everyone’s surprise since Samper is considered the rising star.

There has been some grumbling that Barça are distancing themselves from La Masia by solely relying on transfers. Young talent such as Adama and Halilović, who were considered rising stars for the first team, have been sent out on loan to another club. Moreover, Deulofeu and Denis Suarez are out on loan yet again. It’s hard to see how the B team will improve and gain promotion when the majority of the best talent are no longer there. Maybe it could have been different if the team did not suffer relegation which would have allowed those players to face the second best of what Spanish football has to offer. Of course, the bigger concern is no longer whether Barça B can win promotion back to the second division again but, whether they can avoid a second successive relegation. The good news is that there a lot of good up and coming talent from the lower ranks of La Masia. The bad news though is how good can they be for the growth and progress of the first team if Barça B are playing in the third or fourth division?

Another issue of concern was whether La Masia has become a source of revenue for Barça. Some argue that if selling these young talents can help bring in better talent than can help the first team, then so what? Sure, those young players may benefit from playing elsewhere and then can be brought back through a buy back clause or once the loan is over. Perhaps, that is a good argument however; it appears that the sale of these young talents contributes towards the shopping spree piggy bank. With any luck, the club learned from the Cesc transfer and will try to avoid making the same mistake of overspending on former youth players. Hopefully they do not forget about those players out on loan too.

Yet, the biggest concern for some of the Blaugrana faithful, including myself, is the future of Barça’s current squad. Is the club interested in a long term vision or just a short term quick fix? If we look ahead to the next three and five years, will Barça have the proper players available to continue to be contenders? In three years, Busquets, Rakitic, Pique, Luis Suarez, Messi, Turan, and Vermaelen will be in their 30’s. A few more years, those players will be either gone or retired. As of now, Sandro, Munir, Rafinha, Ter Stegen, Neymar, Bartra, Sergi Roberto, Bartra, Jordi Alba and Aleix Vidal will still be in their 20’s after three years with the latter two reaching their 30s in five years. Thus, Barça will be looking at another major shopping spree in the near future to restock their first team.

Meanwhile, Real Madrid, perhaps in anticipation of a possible transfer ban of their own, went ahead and made some interesting moves this past summer. They brought back Casemiro and Lucas Vázquez to the club from their loan spell and signed Danilo and Kovacic who all happen to be 24 or younger. Madrid’s current squad is currently stacked with young players such as Kovacic, Varane, Jesé, Casemiro, Carvajal, Isco, James Rodriguez, Lucas Vasquez, Cheryshev, Danilo, Nacho, and Kroos who are all in their early 20s and will still be in their 20’s in five years with the exception of the latter two, who will be hitting their 30s. Moreover, Gareth Bale is 26, Benzema and Marcelo are 27, Keylor Navas is 28, while Sergio Ramos and Kiko Casilla are 29. Only Ronaldo, Modric, Pepe, and Arbeloa have hit the 30 age mark. At the moment, it appears that Madrid have a better long term plan with a young talented squad than Barça, but then again, this is Madrid where players come and go at depending on Florentino Perez’s mood.

Nonetheless, it was those kinds of transfers that made some Barça fans question the logic of signing a 28 year old Arda Turan, who will be 29 when he makes his debut, when they could have signed a 21 year old Kovacic instead. If the club doesn’t trust the youth players, then sign younger players who can give you 5-6 years at least.

Ultimately, Barça needs to make sure they are taking care of their youth players properly so they can eventually be part of the first team while buying players so both can continue this club’s successful run. The club cannot rely on just the youth or just on transfers, but on both. Barça need to keep an eye out for the future. As Benjamin Franklin once said, “You may delay, but time will not.” Barça needs to reexamine their long term vision before it is too late and realize they are relying on the old guard with no clear new guard in sight.

Should Spanish Clubs Be Allowed to Retire Shirt Numbers?

This summer saw the departure of two legendary players of FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. Xavi and Iker Casillas bid farewell to their respective clubs as they moved on to other clubs. Both captains leave behind a legacy that will never be forgotten. It will be different seeing the shirt numbers that they wore for over a decade get used by another player, which begs the question of whether Spanish clubs be allowed to retire shirt numbers to honor their legends.

After 17 years, Xavi called time on his playing career for Barça after winning the treble last season. The iconic midfielder will be forever remembered for his years of great service while donning that number 6 shirt. Xavi made his debut back in the 1999-2000 season with the number 26 shirt and one season later, he switched to number 16. The following season, 2001-2002, Xavi got the number 6 shirt which he would wear for the next 15 years.

Iker Casillas is now a Porto player after 25 years with Real Madrid. He debuted with the number 28 shirt during the 1997-1998 season, then wore number 27 during the 1999-2000 season, and then 25 during the 2000-2001 season before donning number 1 on the back of his shirt since 2001-2002 season. Thus, Xavi and Iker, who happen to be good friends, both wore their longtime shirt numbers since the 2001-2002 season before departing their respective clubs this past summer.

Iker’s number 1 shirt remains unused although that might change if Keylor Navas will ask for it after Real Madrid failed to sign David de Gea. As for Xavi’s number 6, well it now belongs to Dani Alves. It was strange seeing the number 6 shirt without Xavi’s name on it, and even odder that a fullback is now using it, but that’s how it is in football; here today, gone tomorrow. However, should Spanish clubs be allowed to retire shirt numbers to honor their legends?

It is customary in the United States and Canada, to see sports teams retire the shirt number of former players. The New York Yankees, the Boston Celtics, the Los Angeles Lakers, and theMontreal Canadiens are a few of the many teams with a long history of retiring shirt numbers as a way to honor their legends. The NFL is the only sport from the big four that does not follow that policy since their players use the numbers 1 to 99 and thus cannot afford to retire a single number. In Europe, some European leagues, including the Italian league, Serie A, allows for the retirement of shirt numbers with Javier Zanetti as the latest example after Internazionale retired his number 4 shirt back in 2014.

There was a time when players played without shirt numbers on their backs. Later on, shirt numbers were used to indicate the position of the player with only 1 through 11. Fortunately, things change with time and it was no longer mandatory to field players assigned the first eleven numbers. However, there are limitations. The Spanish league allows a maximum of 25 players to be part of the first team and the shirt numbers have to be between 1 through 25. Players from the club’s youth setup, such as Barça B or Madrid’s Castilla, are assigned higher squad numbers beyond 25 such as when Messi made his debut for Barça’s first team with the number 30 shirt or when Odegaard made his Real Madrid first team debut in the Spanish league with the number 41 last season. On a side note, the Spanish league did not begin printing players’ names on the back of the shirts until 1996-1997 season.

Not all leagues follow the Spanish league format. There are players in the Premier League and Bundesliga whose shirt numbers are high numbers. David Alaba wears number 27 for Bayern and former Barça player Yaya Touré wears number 42 for Manchester City. Italian league though is infamous with players using shirt numbers as high as 77, 88, 96, and 99. Former Spanish league players Ronaldinho (88) and Ronaldo (99) are both guilty of this. However, the craziest shirt number to have ever been used, and no surprise it was in the Italian league, was when former Real Madrid player and Chilean international star Iván Zamorano wore the unique number of 1+8. Since he could no longer wear the number 9 shirt, he adjusted by picking 18 instead, but not before he inserted a plus sign between the 1 and 8 to signify 9.

Perhaps the Spanish league should relax the rules and allow clubs to assign shirts numbers as high as 99 in order to allow clubs to retire shirt numbers. Retiring a shirt number is not something that would be taken lightly. That honor is only bestowed upon those who truly were legends. Xavi is synonymous with 6, Iniesta with 8, Puyol with 5, and Messi with 10. Of course other legends wore such numbers in the past with Hristo Stoichkov wearing the number 8 during his Dream Team playing days and Messi did inherit the number 10 shirt from Ronaldinho.

However, imagine the poor soul who will wear the number 10 shirt when Messi is no longer a Barça player. Imagine the pressure being the next player to such a shirt and all the history and expectations that come with it? It would be a great way to honor one of the greatest players in club history, however, the purists insist that players come and go and the numbers should never be retired. It is a valid argument that it would be tough to retire shirts if more than one player wore it with Madrid’s number 9 as a perfect example.

Conversely, it does seem bizarre when teams give a legendary number to a player who hasn’t played a single second yet. Players are remembered for their performances and their goals, and the number they wore also plays a small role. Some would say no one cares about shirt numbers, yet, fans like to compare players who wore the same shirt numbers akin to Football’s Who Wore It Better? Manchester United’s greatest number 7; Best, Cantona, Beckham or Ronaldo? Those types of discussions would not happen if club were able to retire shirt numbers.

So there is an argument about retiring and not retiring a number. Will it happen? Doubtful. Should it happen? It’s debatable and will not happen unless there is a demand for it. Until then, we will enjoy celebrating past players and dread those who are next to don a legend’s number.