It’s been an interesting week for Barcelona, their alleged ‘crisis’ played out against the background of a 5-0 cup win against Elche and a 3-1 victory at home to champions Atlético Madrid, late on Sunday night. Historically speaking, games between these two clubs have usually been entertaining, involving a traditional clash of opposites – of football culture, political outlook and just about anything you could imagine – but Sunday’s game arrived at the perfect moment for the answering of a variety of questions, all of which will have a certain impact during the second half of the season.
– #360debate: Will Ronaldo be a worthy Ballon d’Or winner?
– #360LIVE: January Transfer Window – Higuain to Liverpool?
– West: Bale and Rodriguez see 10-man Real Madrid home
– La Liga: Barcelona beat Atletico, Sevilla climb to fourth
– #Quiz360: WIN a six-month membership to Target Gym
Most of the questions revolved around Barcelona, of course. Nobody doubts Atlético’s pedigree anymore, and their 2-0 power-house win over Real Madrid in the midweek cup game was ample proof of their potent combination of aggression and talent, despite Marcelo’s churlish dismissal of them as “long-ball merchants” who “hoof it forward and just scrap for the 50-50 balls”. Marcelo is a great player, but he’s unlikely to be employed as a football analyst when he retires. Atlético are much more than long-ball hoofers, and given the turbulent circumstances, Barcelona could have been forgiven for not wanting to play them this weekend.
The events of the week are well-known now, but it’s worth reiterating them. After Barcelona’s defeat last week in Anoeta, football director Andoni Zubizarreta was interviewed post-match and asked about his responsibility in the youth players’ affair, which had resulted in the club being fined and barred from signing anyone until 2016. Zubizarreta, a goalkeeper who formerly played for Barcelona with distinction, implied that although he acknowledged responsibility, the current president, Josep María Bartomeu was also in an executive position during the period when the players were illegally signed, and was therefore also responsible. It was a calculated suicide on Zubizarreta’s part, but he probably realised that he was on the way out anyway. The Catalan press, although sympathetic to a legendary ex-player, had decided that less damage would be done to the club if Zubizarreta could be made the scapegoat. Besides, his record since he took over from Txiki Begiristain in 2010 was mixed, and he was seen in some circles as insufficiently pro-active (a nice way of saying ‘lazy’) and something of a ditherer.
The axe inevitably fell the next day, but then the fall-out continued, with Carles Puyol, recently retired and learning his trade from Zubizarreta, resigning in protest at the decision. Puyol didn’t say that, of course, but his decision was a calculated dart in Bartomeu’s direction. Besides, Puyol knows that he will return one day, but Bartomeu cannot be so confident, despite his decision last week to call presidential elections at the end of the season.
The Madrid press was lovin’ it, of course. Barcelona’s tendency to shoot themselves in the foot at regular intervals throughout their history has sustained the hostile Madrid press for years, and has created a situation where almost anything can be said, since it becomes impossible to either confirm or contradict its veracity. The juicy stuff has therefore been flowing all week, with the principal focus of attention on the alleged divorce between Luis Enrique and Leo Messi, exacerbated by Messi’s bench-warming last week in Anoeta. The Atlético game was dubbed by the Madrid press – who hate Luis Enrique with a passion – as the Barça coach’s last stand.
The perfect response to Hack-a-Neymar. That’s 3-1 to Barcelona. And goodnight. https://t.co/pfBd9I2qSC
— Soccer Gods (@soccergods) January 11, 2015
Messi failed to show up for training the day after the Real Sociedad defeat, allegedly due to ‘gastroenteritis’, the word itself appearing in the press consistently surrounded by inverted commas. If Messi had tweeted that he had contracted Legionnaire’s Disease the reaction would have been the same, and the Madrid sports tabloids produced essay upon essay about how Messi was a silent tyrant, that he would brook neither advice nor criticism, and that he failed to share Luis Enrique’s vision of football. Worse, like Salome demanding the head of John the Baptist, he had apparently insisted to Bartomeu that he get rid of Enrique and bring back Frank Rijkaard – and so on and so forth. You get the picture. Oh and of course, Chelsea were preparing a Dh1.082 billion (€ 250m) bid, and had already spoken to Messi’s dad.
During the midweek cup game against Elche, there were faint murmurs of discontent when Luis Enrique appeared, and an apparent show of hands for Messi, as if the issue were so simple. But by the end of Sunday night, with Messi scoring the third and having a hand (excuse the pun) in all three goals, things seemed to have settled a little. Messi certainly looked happier, as if he’d been convinced by someone to cut the sulking and get on with earning his salary, but he might have been put in a better mood by the pre-game presentation of the trophy which recognised his feat of overtaking Telmo Zarra’s 253-goal record in the La Liga, which had stood for almost 60 years. The next day he was to fly to Zurich to compete with Cristiano Ronaldo and Manuel Neuer for the Ballon d’Or. Life’s still not so bad for him, you suspect. Would he really want to go and play for Mourinho?
Intermittent last season, Neymar has shifted up a gear, playing more vertically, threatening more than before, and working harder on defensive duties.
Meanwhile, the potency of Barcelona’s front-line can overshadow the club’s institutional problems – for now at least. Apart from missing an open goal in the first half, Neymar was sensational in the second half, running Atlético ragged and tempting them into their worst version of thuggish behaviour. Intermittent last season, and questioned by some, Neymar has shifted up a gear, playing more vertically and threatening more than before, as well as working harder on defensive duties. Despite always seeming to use the same trick, feinting inside on his right foot and tempting defenders to anticipate when and if he will change the direction of his diagonal run, he is still extremely effective. Along with Luis Suarez’ aggression and vision, Barcelona are still alive on all fronts. They probably depend less on Messi than on the consistency of Javier Mascherano, but that sort of observation doesn’t make headlines. One thing is certain though – Pep Guardiola will not be returning, even if Joan Laporta stands at the elections and wins. As Guardiola said this week, “I’m not the solution”, and he’s probably right.
Elsewhere, Real Madrid also returned to winning ways, breezing past Espanyol 3-0 at home. The interesting statistic from the game was that Ronaldo failed to score at the Bernabeú for the first time since September 2013 (17 games), an astonishing statistic and one that will probably guarantee him the Ballon d’Or on Monday night. Besides, Messi is too grumpy this year and they always give the trophy to the smiley players. Ronaldo smiles all the time these days, apart from when Gareth Bale doesn’t pass the ball to him. Sevilla won 2-0 at Almería and sneaked quietly into 4th place, one behind Atlético with a game in hand. As next week signals the official half-way stage of the season, who is to say that they can’t make a bid to climb higher?
Whatever, there’s no peace for some. Real Madrid and Atlético have to slug it out again this Thursday, in the second leg of their Copa del Rey tie, whilst Barcelona can probably relax and put out a weakened side at Elche the same evening. Assuming they win, next weekend’s visit to Deportivo doesn’t look particularly threatening. Luis Enrique, it seems, can breathe again.
