FC Barcelona (Barça) lost to AC Milan 2-0 in Milan. It was universally regarded as an upset since Barça are regarded as the best football club on the planet, and are deserved of this title. From 2006 to 2012, Barça have won four (4) Spanish titles, four (4) Supercopa de España, two (2) Copa del Rey titles, three (3) UEFA Champions League, two (2) UEFA Super Cups and two (2) FIFA Club World Cup titles. It's also important to note that some of the senior members of this squad are part of the core that has helped Spain win two (2) UEFA European Championships and a FIFA World Cup. It would not be far-fetched to say that this is arguably the greatest club in the history of football, or at the very least, one of the top five of all-time.
Back to the match, a relatively young AC Milan squad stepped out in the San Siro and delivered one of the greatest examples of catenaccio, that is to say, the Italian strategy of defend first and counter-attack. Barça looked sluggish, slow, and lost. After this match, they faced el eterno rival, the eternal rival, which is to say Real Madrid. They lost to Real Madrid in the second leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final 3-1 in front of their home crowd. That weekend, they went to the Santiago Bernabéu and proceeded to lose 2-1 once again to Real Madrid. By now, the press had completely turned on Barça, especially in Spain. Calls for Jordi Roura's (their interim coach) head were coming from all sides. Even in Calalunya, the club's home region, questions were being asked about whether or not this was the end of Barça's superiority. Even questions about Lionel Messi, their star player were being asked, and this is a footballer who only three months earlier, won his fourth consecutive Balon D'Or.
The media portrayed Barça as a rudderless, over-the-hill squad that lacked pace and creativity. After only three poor matches, they were being discarded as yesterday's news. Queue the second leg of the Champions League match at the Camp Nou. The atmosphere couldn't have been any more electric, the almost 90,000 blaugrana faithful packed one of Europe's greatest football cathedrals and the players came out to this:
"SOM UN EQUIP!", "WE ARE A TEAM!" was the message from the cules to their squad. Their squad did not dissapoint. The world's greatest footballer, Messi, came out storming and within five minutes scored one of the best goals I have seen in a while, surrounded by five AC Milan players, he not only only managed to get a shot out, but he curled it around and over the keeper.
What proceeded was one of the most dominant displays of football in a few years. Barcelona needed to score at least twice to draw this two-legged tie and three if they wanted to outright win. The third, and deciding goal came from David Villa, the former Valencia player who had just come back from injury. It was one of those goals that only true "poachers" of the game can score.
A fourth came from their speedy left-winger, Jordi Alba, another Valencia alumni. The world press were shocked to see the dominant display of Barça and even the Italian press could not deny the superiority of this club. It seemed that for one night, Barça had once again reclaimed their title of "the world's greatest club". The next test will be against one of Europe's elite squad. Will we have another Clásico? I'm certain Barça would love nothing more than to face their rivals once again to prove that they are not only Spain's, but Europe's superpower.
As the Barça supporters say, VISCA BARÇA!
Hey Juan! This is a great blog! And it was absolutely a fantastic futbol game!. I was lucky to see the 2nd. period on TV. Man, that was the real Barcelona!. This photos are great! Thanks Juan!!
ReplyDeleteIt was a fantastic match!
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