Never Any Doubt

Last night's 3-1 win for Barcelona in the Bernabeu was probably the most humiliating to date for Jose Mourinho and company because they were psychologically prepared to get over the hump. After previous recent clasicos, Madrid bosses have made somewhat compelling excuses. They declared their roster inadequate (Juande Ramos, 2009) and the team unprepared (Mourinho, after last year's manita). But this time around Mourinho could only manage to grumble that much in football comes down to luck.

And WHEREAS the second goal was luck, and WHEREAS Barcelona's cycle of dominance will eventually end as all dynasties do, Barça are still superior at this moment.

The game was a rewind of every other edition over the past 4 years. Pepe was dirty, Ronaldo was profligate, Xavi and Iniesta were serene, Messi was omnipotent, and Madrid finished the game playing 5 & 5 vs 11. Initially, Madrid disrupted Barcelona's possession game and threatened with intensity. But they flagged and stopped chasing the ball, while Barcelona - Messi in particular - careened across the pitch as if their life depended on recovering possession.

The most surprising aspect of the game was Barcelona's self-assuredness. Whenever Ronaldo or Benzema came barreling down towards goal, Puyol and Pique stood their ground, grimly relishing the moment. "Bring it on." In the midfield, Barcelona dribbled and twirled effortlessly. And the game plan did not waver: Play the through balls, release Alves on the right.

Finally, the additions of Cesc and Alexis give Madrid something new to think about, assuring Barcelona of continued dominance in this rivalry.

El Clasico approaches!

I subjected myself tonight to Barca B against a not very excellent Bate Borisov side in a meaningless Champions League game. Barca B were quite superior, passing Bate to death in between the 18’s though they struggled to create a final product until, 1-0 up in the 60th minute, the goals really started to flow. Some of the play was chaotic – particularly by the fullbacks – but the shape of the lines, the triangles, and the ball chasing are exactly what we’ve come to expect from a Barca side.

Overall, yet another demonstration of the cantera’s muscle. Many of the players are already stepping into the first team with regularity and on the basis of this game, some may wonder why them and not others? Nonetheless, most of the cantera will eventually be offloaded, albeit with a “just in case” buyback clause like Bojan. The only indispensable players in this game were Thiago and Pedro.

Now onto the clásico which looms this weekend. If Barcelona had gone in 3 points down, Madrid would have been trembling. Now that they go in with a de-facto 6 point advantage since they have a game in hand, they’ve already crowned themselves champions. (You could argue that only the Madrid sporting press are jumping to conclusions while the club itself behaves with perfect humility, but the two are so intertwined that this would be pure semantics.)

Now, let’s consider some historical data. Barcelona is undefeated in the league versus Madrid since 2008. Though Madrid won the Copa del Rey last year, Barcelona won their recent meetings in the Super Cup final and Champions League semifinal. Even the “manita” game is not that far in the past. Then, there is the small fact that Barcelona has won 3 of the past 5 Champions Leagues, while Madrid have none. And Messi continues to solidify his legend while Ronaldo looks more like a prima donna every day.

My point is, Madrid (and its lackies from Marca) shouldn’t claim they’ve dethroned Barcelona until they truly duplicate Barca’s accomplishments.