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Spanish Inquisition: Barcelona’s Messianic Luxury
Goal.com’s Cyrus C. Malek explains why Lionel Messi is Barcelona’s messiah, but only when he needs to be…
| Bet: | Returns: | Leverkusen £70.00 | Draw £42.00 | Barcelona £14.00 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Leverkusen £65.00 | Draw £43.30 | Barcelona £14.00 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Leverkusen £85.00 | Draw £45.00 | Barcelona £14.00 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Leverkusen £75.00 | Draw £42.00 | Barcelona £13.70 |
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Mar 15, 2010 10:58:00 AM
By Cyrus C. Malek
Just two Spanish sides remain in the Champions League after Atletico Madrid’s horrendous showing at the start of the season and Real Madrid’s woefully ironic (given the amount of money that went into ensuring European supremacy) elimination last week from the world’s greatest club competition. Left in the mix are, of course, the defending European champions, Barcelona, and the team on the cusp of becoming a perennial power in Spanish football, Sevilla.
While many worldwide fans of La Liga are convinced of the Spanish game’s superiority over the English, Italian, German, and French leagues (just follow the money), Spanish sides have been unable to demonstrate that excellence on the European stage. Whereas at least three English sides have progressed to the Champions League quarterfinals in each of the past three years, only one has progressed from La Liga in each of those three years with the exception of last term (Villarreal).
While Premier League fans remain unconvinced of the talent on exhibit in La Liga, having not seen teams like Valencia, Getafe, Deportivo La Coruña, Atletico Madrid, Athletic Bilbao, and Mallorca play week in week out, there is one team that has been a testament to the extraordinary skill of the Spanish game: Barcelona.
Cules In A Class Of Their Own
The word ‘culo’ from which ‘Cule’ comes (the name referring to a Barca fan) is Spanish for arse. Hardly thought of as an offence, the name comes from the days when Barcelona played in their old stadium of Les Courts (the Camp Nou’s predecessor), during which people passing by would look up only to see the arses of the fans seated in the highest row of the stadium. Since Pep Guardiola took over as the Barca coach, that affectionate nickname has taken on even greater meaning, as the rest of Spain and Europe have been looking up only to see the culos of Barca’s Cules.
In watching football, many fans are transfixed by what is happening at the heart of the action: the player with the ball and that which immediately surrounds him. While Barca consistently inspire awe, wonder, and chants of “Olé” on this individual level, it is only in watching the movements of the entire team, including those farthest from the action, that one can truly appreciate the attention to detail that Guardiola has instilled in his men.
The next time Barca are enjoying one of their seemingly endless spells of possession, force yourself to look not at the mercurial Lionel Messi shrugging off tackles; the amazing Andres Iniesta, somehow managing to weasel through a maze of defenders to deliver the next pass; or the extraordinary Xavi, whose passes seem to cut through a defence like a warm knife through butter.
Instead, try to watch the way in which Barca meticulously space themselves, constantly moving to create passing triangles all over the pitch and giving the player on the ball at least two clear options for an outlet pass. The philosophy Guardiola employs is childishly simple: move the ball faster than your opponent’s defence can make up the distance. But the incisive manner in which Barca employ this directive is a joy to watch as players are perpetually dynamic, efficiently breaking the defence’s ability to contain the flow of play.
Try playing a game with yourself and attempt to guess where the ball is going to go next. On clear opportunities to pass up the flank, it may be fairly easy to anticipate, although the defence is already too far out of position to recover. But when the ball is in the centre of the pitch, the swift fluidity with which the Blaugrana are able to switch the field of play almost elicits empathy for the defence struggling to keep up. Sometimes, one can even catch a few of the opposing defenders share the same expression as the spectators, staring in stupefied admiration at the crisp, accurate one-touch passing.
On rare occasions, albeit ones that have become more frequent in recent weeks, Barca make a mistake in the midfield, gifting possession to their opponents. Against faster-paced opponents like Valencia in Sunday night’s La Liga fixture, Atletico Madrid at the Vicente Calderon, and against Stuttgart in Germany, those mistakes can cause Barca to suffer as they struggle to play in a position they are not accustomed to being in: on their heels in defence.
But while it is possible to score against them, there is always the feeling that no lead is large enough against the Blaugrana, as in many instances, it is only a matter of time for the floodgates to open and the goals to burst the net. Iniesta, Xavi, and Dani Alves do a fine job in creating this foreboding sentiment and causing heart-stopping moments of dread for opposing teams, but it is largely due to Messi that Barca are able to continue to assert themselves as the best side in football.
Only One True Messiah
While he may receive his criticism for underwhelming performances with the Argentina national team, Messi has, at the ripe age of 22 years old, won all that one can win at the club level. Winning six consecutive titles in the span of a single year, the Ballon D’Or, the World Player of the Year award, among a host of other accolades (this year he has his sights set on the Pichichi trophy), the diminutive Argentine has made blowing past defenders the norm rather than the exception.
During the first half of Barcelona’s match yesterday at the Camp Nou, Messi was largely anonymous, offering only glimpses of his talent and ineffective in putting his stamp on the match. As Valencia continued to threaten Victor Valdes’ goal, wastefully missing multiple chances to build a lead at the Camp Nou, one got the feeling that Barca might go into their Champions League fixture against Stuttgart this week having ceded more points to Real Madrid in La Liga's title race, thus paving the way for a possible German upset.
Some may have noticed that Messi began Sunday’s match playing in the centre forward position and this is not the first time that Guardiola has fielded the Argentine in a place other than his customary right-wing role. An outspoken supporter of his small-in-stature superstar, it has been speculated that Pep may be trying to expose Messi to multiple positions on the pitch so that he will be able to play more confidently in his international fixtures with Argentina. Against Valencia, Messi was still a threat in his new role, but when Thierry Henry took the pitch to fill the central position and Messi shifted over into his customary right-sided slot, the match was instantly turned on its head.
As has become custom, the majestic Argentine bolted past one, two, then three defenders, and almost as if he had simply grown tired of the match, effortlessly buried the ball past a desperate Cesar Sanchez. The Camp Nou erupted and Messi coolly went back to work slotting in two more goals with such ease, he looked to have scored them simply to show that he could.
In every sport there are players who achieve the status of greatness. These players make the impossible look effortless and can do it at any moment of any game, as easily as you or I turn on a light in a room. In basketball, Michael Jordan is always thought of as this reference; in golf, Tiger Woods, in swimming, Michael Phelps; in tennis, Roger Federer. In football, that figure of untouchable legend has become Lionel Messi.
Some critical voices may compare Gonzalo Higuain’s hat-trick in Real Madrid’s visit to Valladolid yesterday to Messi’s three-goal waltz through Los Che, but the truth is that the gulf separating these two players remains immense. While Higuain may be a proficient goalscorer, Messi remains a world apart from his compatriot, a complete player capable of single-handedly carrying his team - provided Barca need him to do so.
As Barcelona prepare to face Stuttgart in the second leg of their Champions League fixture, Barcelonistas can take comfort knowing that even if the footballing machine that Guardiola has so carefully engineered falters, it will only be a matter of time before Messi appears to answer the Blaugrana prayers. As long as the Messiah continues to play as if he is a God amongst mortals, there is no reason to doubt that he will make a case for Liga football by leading Barcelona to another European championship. Rest assured, countless defenders will see the little Cule’s culo on the way.
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While many worldwide fans of La Liga are convinced of the Spanish game’s superiority over the English, Italian, German, and French leagues (just follow the money), Spanish sides have been unable to demonstrate that excellence on the European stage. Whereas at least three English sides have progressed to the Champions League quarterfinals in each of the past three years, only one has progressed from La Liga in each of those three years with the exception of last term (Villarreal).
While Premier League fans remain unconvinced of the talent on exhibit in La Liga, having not seen teams like Valencia, Getafe, Deportivo La Coruña, Atletico Madrid, Athletic Bilbao, and Mallorca play week in week out, there is one team that has been a testament to the extraordinary skill of the Spanish game: Barcelona.
Cules In A Class Of Their Own
The word ‘culo’ from which ‘Cule’ comes (the name referring to a Barca fan) is Spanish for arse. Hardly thought of as an offence, the name comes from the days when Barcelona played in their old stadium of Les Courts (the Camp Nou’s predecessor), during which people passing by would look up only to see the arses of the fans seated in the highest row of the stadium. Since Pep Guardiola took over as the Barca coach, that affectionate nickname has taken on even greater meaning, as the rest of Spain and Europe have been looking up only to see the culos of Barca’s Cules.
In watching football, many fans are transfixed by what is happening at the heart of the action: the player with the ball and that which immediately surrounds him. While Barca consistently inspire awe, wonder, and chants of “Olé” on this individual level, it is only in watching the movements of the entire team, including those farthest from the action, that one can truly appreciate the attention to detail that Guardiola has instilled in his men.
The next time Barca are enjoying one of their seemingly endless spells of possession, force yourself to look not at the mercurial Lionel Messi shrugging off tackles; the amazing Andres Iniesta, somehow managing to weasel through a maze of defenders to deliver the next pass; or the extraordinary Xavi, whose passes seem to cut through a defence like a warm knife through butter.
Instead, try to watch the way in which Barca meticulously space themselves, constantly moving to create passing triangles all over the pitch and giving the player on the ball at least two clear options for an outlet pass. The philosophy Guardiola employs is childishly simple: move the ball faster than your opponent’s defence can make up the distance. But the incisive manner in which Barca employ this directive is a joy to watch as players are perpetually dynamic, efficiently breaking the defence’s ability to contain the flow of play.
Try playing a game with yourself and attempt to guess where the ball is going to go next. On clear opportunities to pass up the flank, it may be fairly easy to anticipate, although the defence is already too far out of position to recover. But when the ball is in the centre of the pitch, the swift fluidity with which the Blaugrana are able to switch the field of play almost elicits empathy for the defence struggling to keep up. Sometimes, one can even catch a few of the opposing defenders share the same expression as the spectators, staring in stupefied admiration at the crisp, accurate one-touch passing.
On rare occasions, albeit ones that have become more frequent in recent weeks, Barca make a mistake in the midfield, gifting possession to their opponents. Against faster-paced opponents like Valencia in Sunday night’s La Liga fixture, Atletico Madrid at the Vicente Calderon, and against Stuttgart in Germany, those mistakes can cause Barca to suffer as they struggle to play in a position they are not accustomed to being in: on their heels in defence.
But while it is possible to score against them, there is always the feeling that no lead is large enough against the Blaugrana, as in many instances, it is only a matter of time for the floodgates to open and the goals to burst the net. Iniesta, Xavi, and Dani Alves do a fine job in creating this foreboding sentiment and causing heart-stopping moments of dread for opposing teams, but it is largely due to Messi that Barca are able to continue to assert themselves as the best side in football.
Only One True Messiah
While he may receive his criticism for underwhelming performances with the Argentina national team, Messi has, at the ripe age of 22 years old, won all that one can win at the club level. Winning six consecutive titles in the span of a single year, the Ballon D’Or, the World Player of the Year award, among a host of other accolades (this year he has his sights set on the Pichichi trophy), the diminutive Argentine has made blowing past defenders the norm rather than the exception.
During the first half of Barcelona’s match yesterday at the Camp Nou, Messi was largely anonymous, offering only glimpses of his talent and ineffective in putting his stamp on the match. As Valencia continued to threaten Victor Valdes’ goal, wastefully missing multiple chances to build a lead at the Camp Nou, one got the feeling that Barca might go into their Champions League fixture against Stuttgart this week having ceded more points to Real Madrid in La Liga's title race, thus paving the way for a possible German upset.
Some may have noticed that Messi began Sunday’s match playing in the centre forward position and this is not the first time that Guardiola has fielded the Argentine in a place other than his customary right-wing role. An outspoken supporter of his small-in-stature superstar, it has been speculated that Pep may be trying to expose Messi to multiple positions on the pitch so that he will be able to play more confidently in his international fixtures with Argentina. Against Valencia, Messi was still a threat in his new role, but when Thierry Henry took the pitch to fill the central position and Messi shifted over into his customary right-sided slot, the match was instantly turned on its head.
As has become custom, the majestic Argentine bolted past one, two, then three defenders, and almost as if he had simply grown tired of the match, effortlessly buried the ball past a desperate Cesar Sanchez. The Camp Nou erupted and Messi coolly went back to work slotting in two more goals with such ease, he looked to have scored them simply to show that he could.
In every sport there are players who achieve the status of greatness. These players make the impossible look effortless and can do it at any moment of any game, as easily as you or I turn on a light in a room. In basketball, Michael Jordan is always thought of as this reference; in golf, Tiger Woods, in swimming, Michael Phelps; in tennis, Roger Federer. In football, that figure of untouchable legend has become Lionel Messi.
Some critical voices may compare Gonzalo Higuain’s hat-trick in Real Madrid’s visit to Valladolid yesterday to Messi’s three-goal waltz through Los Che, but the truth is that the gulf separating these two players remains immense. While Higuain may be a proficient goalscorer, Messi remains a world apart from his compatriot, a complete player capable of single-handedly carrying his team - provided Barca need him to do so.
As Barcelona prepare to face Stuttgart in the second leg of their Champions League fixture, Barcelonistas can take comfort knowing that even if the footballing machine that Guardiola has so carefully engineered falters, it will only be a matter of time before Messi appears to answer the Blaugrana prayers. As long as the Messiah continues to play as if he is a God amongst mortals, there is no reason to doubt that he will make a case for Liga football by leading Barcelona to another European championship. Rest assured, countless defenders will see the little Cule’s culo on the way.
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