Harmonic Alignment

Leo Messi scored his first goal in the Champions League against Panathinaikos in late 2005. He played the ball forward before losing it to the defenders, it then got recovered by Eto'o who played it back to Leo, who wrestled it to the inner top of the net as the world was falling apart on all sides of him. He was 18 years old at the time.

The celebration after the goal is incredible. Ronaldinho, Eto'o and Messi huddled together-
The eldest genius brother, the middle child at his prime, and the youngest one who you love only as a younger brother can be loved;

With the belief that he can be brighter and more brilliant than you.

Is Iniesta going to go?

I read somewhere that Iniesta as a key contender for the Ballon D'or (against Messi and Xavi), may very well be sold from the club--the only club he's ever played for since childhood. The move would come as the team is cash strapped in spite of it's fame. The club is supposedly several hundred million dollars in the hole.

By selling the world cup winning goal scorer/ballon d'or player of the year to Man U, the club would free up a big chunk of money. Maybe that is why they are bringing in another Ibra...

Ibrahim Afellay from Holland has been signed to the team and he will arrive before the end of the year. He plays a lot like Iniesta. They both are skaters and passers that can come up with some cannon shots. Truth be told, there isn't that much room for him on the pitch as the team plays now. Plus he's a hothead. The catalan fascination and debt to the dutch rises up in weird ways. Will a Dutch kid be the replacement for the team's left lung?

Brothers

Barcelona are playing so incredibly these days.

The team look unstoppable. They get on the pitch and chat back and forth with each other, weaving the ball in and out through their opponents like they are exchanging inside jokes in the presence of strangers.



I saw a photo of them training this week with Dani Alves doing something that looks like capoeira and the other dudes around him smiling and laughing. The Bahiano, Dani Alves is such an integral part of how they move the ball. Him and Iniesta, Pedro and Messi have created such a water tight style of passing play in front of the goal that it always looks to be just a matter of time before they score.

They beat Real Sociedad today 5-0. Four teammates scored. It was sparkling. They completed 900 passes during the game--the most ever recorded.

Though there is still a lot of season left to play before May, no matter what the outcome of La Liga and the Champion's league, to watch them right now feels like we are watching the greatest team to ever play the game.

It's a joy.

Clasico at Camp Nou

Barack knows the score.

Today Barcelona beat up Real Madrid at the the Camp Nou. Now Barça are in first and, for the time being at least, the vengeful war with Madrid, Mourinho (the team's coaching nemesis) and Spanish Society feels in favor of the Catalan giants.

On the field were 11 members of the World Cup champion Spanish side. In addition to them were Leo Messi, Cristano Ronaldo and Mesut Özil who was a standout for Germany this summer. Argentines, Brazilians peppered in with the kind of talent that is rarely seen together on one pitch. A game of National Egos.

The Catalans are feverish with their nationalism in the face of Castelano society. Especially this year where the Spanish national team won the cup, the great pride for Catalunya is that their boys were the nerve center and motor that made it happen. Who are the kings of the kings?

The game was brutal. A lot of aggression on the field. It seemed to be the inverse of Jose Mourinho's behavior on the bench; He just sat back with his legs kicked out and seemed almost detached. It was Guardiola who was up on his feet and seemed more frenetic than usual. He went so far as to pick up a ball that was due to Ronaldo for a free throw--almost teasing him with it before rolling it past him. Sure, I'll let you play with my ball...




Ronaldo picked up on it and shoved Guardiola back as he went to get the ball. Then he shoved Iniesta who stepped up for his coach. Valdes runs all the way upfield from the goalie box and starts in the fray. He did that in May when Mourinho spit his Champions league advancement in the Camp Nou. Valdes grabbed him and tried to urge him to chill out.

Yellow Cards Yellow Cards. So many. 13 in the game. There were so many and it was such a tough and nasty match that it makes it almost easy to forget the outcome.

Barcelona (5-0) Real Madrid.

It was a total ass-whomping. From the opening minutes of the game Barça styled and out-classed Madrid in every way. They had incredible passing that shot the ball back and forth zipping through the lines of the defense and beat the offside trap beautifully; The clever slickness of their timing completely in focus. A goal from Xavi--who almost never scores--around the tenth minute. Because it was Xavi who scored the opener, the game then took on a more mythic character. That amped the Catalans. Then he fed a pass to Villa who drove it and blasted past the net to Pedro (our boy from Tenerife) who knocked it in for 2. Inside the first 20 minutes and the Blaugrana was blazing ahead.

Messi's incredible passing found Villa for two great goals in the second half just minutes apart. 4-nil.

The faces of the Madrid players looked hurt and impotently raging. I'm glad Ozil wasn't there for the second half. He made nearly no impact in the first and was pulled. Higuain, the Argentine striker for Madrid did not play because of injuries. The side needed him. They could have used anything more than what they had.

But that is the fallacy of supporting Real Madrid. They buy the most expensive talent and team that are available on Earth. They are assembled like the cast of an all star action movie. Barcelona are rooted in their youth program and developing kids into their singular style of play at it's highest level. Guardiola is Obi-Wan to these kids, and one of his kids from the youth system, Jeffren, came on in the last minutes of bonus time and met up with Bojan for a final, fifth goal.

Another brawl started on the field when Sergio Ramos kicked Messi to the ground, then shoved Puyol's face to send him falling back. Ramos, el Comanche is sent off like a jerk. It was crazy to see the same group of guys who had celebrated the Cup win together show such unbridled contempt for each other. It was played harder than the World Cup final was, and that was a bloody match. You know that this shit means more to them in many ways, and with a result like today's, which was the only time Barça have beaten Madrid by five since 94', the shockwave is fierce. The meaning of this gash in the Madrid armor is still unknown. The season's not even half-over.

Return of the Jedi

FC Barcelona vs Sevilla 5-0. 10/30/10

The Blast from Maxwell

In yesterday's Copa del Rey opener against third division Ceuta, Maxwell scored a sick goal in the 16th minute. It was his first goal for the team since coming aboard as left-back this season.

It showed the level of play that even defenders carry for the team. Dani Alves is an unbelievable right-back for the team, and he makes more plays and assists to the scorers than nearly anyone playing the game professionally. Alves is now sought out by Chelsea when his Barça contract expires in 2012. It would be a shame to lose him, in my opinion worse for the team than their shedding of Liga top scorer Samuel Eto'o in 2009.


Alves celebrates back in the Eto'o days

The team has been playing well--they have locked down the most artistic elements of the World Cup-winning Spanish(but isn't it really Catlan?!?)-style. They are in a three-way tie for second in La Liga, behind Real Madrid. While Real Madrid have blown some of their opponents clean out of the water with high scores, Barça have won most of theirs with 2-0 scores or even tighter--same low-ish scores that Spain rode to the World Cup win. It's all about trickery-dickery play that keeps their foes on edge.

With the game yesterday against third-division Ceuta in the half-esoteric Copa del Rey, many of the first team mainstays remained seated while the reserves and bench stepped up for the match. Bojan wore the captain's band for the second time ever. He looks to me like Gael Garcia Bernal. Anyone??

Sporting

Barcelona went to Madrid yesterday and played the Europa League Champs, Atletico Madrid. Barça haven't beaten the team in three years, and Atletico is particularly hot in this year--what with their Europa title and the star performance of their Uruguayan captain Diego Forlan in the world cup this summer.

But though Messi was not hot to win games in the Cup and Forlan was, yesterday it was Messi who played brilliantly and scored while Forlan was shut out. Barça played their slinky attacking game and after Atletico equalized in the 23rd minute, Barça scored again from a great close range shot from Pique to lock the score at 1-2. They kept attacking for the next hour of play and Madrid never really got any momentum. Unfortunately, in the extra time at the game's close, Leo Messi got his foot stomped on by Atletico's Ujfalusi.

He rolled on the ground in pain and covered his face as he was taken off the field in a stretcher. Though the injury is said to not be too grave, it sends shock waves through the club whose system is apparently dependent on him. The immediate diagnosis: a ligament sprain and (at least) two games missed.

Its a tough week in La Liga. The team plays on Wednesday hosting Sporting Gijon, and then they'll play in Bilbao against Atletic Bilbao on Saturday. The Bilbao game last year was pretty tough, and this upcoming one will be a good one to watch.

That's still too far to look ahead to. The team have to perform on Wednesday. Now they have mixed momentum at their handling of At. Madrid, hobbled by the loss of Messi.

For the Sporting Gijon game, the young guys have to come up. Pedro has to connect, and Bojan better get into form already in the season's third week. There is no more Ibra to act like Shaq and hang out and wait for dunks. Boys, set your phasers on whoop-de-whoomp.

EMF

I like watching Arsenal play, but why do they have to look like EMF? Right now it's the half of their first champion's league game against Braga from Portugal, and they are whomping em' 3-0. Cesc plays great for the team and it is easy to see why the club didn't want to let him go to Barcelona this summer. He's stands tall with the international outfit of London, but when he plays with his countrymen he seems intimidated. It's probably for the best that the switch didn't come this season.

Barça played yesterday and beat Panathinaikos, the visiting Greek champions. After scoring the opening goal (their only shot), the Greeks had to deal with a Messi answer goal within a minute, followed by two more by the half. The Greeks played like whipped donkeys. In the last moments of extra time, Messi got a great assist to Dani Alves for the fifth point header that closed it. It was a point you don't see everyday and it sealed the game and Barça's introduction to the Champions League season, 5-1.

Hercules!

Today Barça lost to Hercules 0-2.
They are a team that is newly promoted to la liga from the 2nd tier, and they've made their entrance by beating the Blaugrana at the camp nou, against the champion's in their first home game of the season.

The team lacked the finishing spark that the Spainish national side failed to show as well in Argentina a few days ago. Argentina whomped Spain 4-1.

I shaved clean a few days ago. As I looked at the screen and saw Pep on the sidelines, he was also clean shaven. I thought we were playing Hercules..? Did that make us Samson? It's been a tough little stretch of days. They say that everyone has a great struggle.

Gamper

The founder of the club was Joan Gamper. He was born in Switzerland, moved to Barcelona and in 1899 created the FC Barcelona. Mr. Gamper scored 120 goals and later became club president. After FC Barcelona got scandalized and painted as a Catalan separatist team, he fell on hard times and took his own life in 1930. Mr. Gamper remains the great spiritual martyr of the club.

Hence, they play the Gamper invitational Cup at the Camp Nou as the last pre-season game for the team. Today's game brought AC Milan to the stadium and it was Ronaldinho's return to the stadium 2 years after his being traded to Milan.


photo by Dennis Doyle

Ronnie had played five landmark seasons and left just as Pep Guardiola became coach and steered the team to pure class. Ronaldinho has been sited by him as an inspiration for their renaissance, and he was greeted with love. Puyol, even called him with the squad for the pre-game team photograph.



The game was dominated by Barça, though they seemed perpetually unsettled at playing at least six substitutions during it's course. Ibrá looked like tall crap and it is possible he may be traded in the next few days. They are also talking about acquiring Mascherano, though where they would put the Liverpool/Argentine defensive wall is puzzling. They already have Puyol and el matador, Pique.

The other new guy, David Villa played the first half and he scored the only regulation goal for the team. But why does he have to suck his thumb after he scores? I hope Pep talks that shit out of him...



Milan scored in the second half and neither Messi, nor Pedro or Bojan could break through to the winning goal. Game went to penalties and second choice goalie Pinto stopped three of Milan's and, thump!, Barça wins the Gamper Cup.

Young men keep playing this game. Some grow into the organization after the pitch. They build the team up in different architecture of the game's philosophy. Swiss, Brazilian, Dutch and Catalán, it's a collection of guys that are willing to sweat, bleed, play and love for the team. At all costs.

Supercopa

FC Barcelona are lifting the Super Copa right now, having trounced Sevilla 4-0 at the Camp Nou.

Today was all about showing how the team is the perfect activator of Messi's talent. Messi scored a hat-trick and he was set up with grace and beauty by his teammates. Alves gifted him incredibly on a break, and Xavi found Leo with a world-class pass to set his score. It was like some best-of football from the team of National side players.



Pedro started off the scoring about 15 minutes into the game with a stunning run and cross that was knocked in by Konko of Sevilla. After that, the superstar from Argentina who'd had a disappointing World Cup took over the scoring. But though the game was dominated by one man, the team play of the side was second to none. They found their sneaky passes and breaks upfield with a unity that defines their style.

Barça have come back from a loss last week in Seviila 3-1 in the first game of the two-game series. Ibra scored a goal, but then the team unraveled from the absence of their linchpins. Xavi, Pedro, Valdes, Pique and Puyol were all playing for Spain's national team in Mexico (which ended in a 1-1 tie at the Estadio Azteca), and the World Cup goal winner himself, Andrés Iniesta was still resting. The team looked shaky and the B-team substitutes didn't rise. It was played like a lost cause to be decided in the second game, played today in Barcelona with their full squad.

Lot's of football being played. Too many cups and trophies. The Super Cup is less than 20 years old and played between the two winners of La Liga and the Copa del Rey. It was presumed that Barça would win the cup. When they play like they did today--so pretty and unstoppable--they lift it with class.

The Tie that Binds

There it was.

Another edition of the world's greatest single-sport spectacle has come and gone, leaving in it's wake the scattered debris of the planet's football zealots and a persistent ringing in the ears from tens of thousands of vuvuzelas howling at once for a show. The show came to South Africa and has now left and returned to the ether of expectations, building for the next cup four years from now in Brazil.

But the present one is still fresh. Played only yesterday, the Final came down to Spain and Holland. The weeks-long build up of sixty-some games involving 32 teams from all over. So what were hot games? What were choice moments?

The opening game of South Africa v. Mexico was thrilling. No host nation team has ever lost a Cup opener. By having South Africa be that host, the jubilant struggle of Africa was more immediate, if not overstated. The game against Mexico seemed to have equanimity. Mexico and South Africa; it's a beautiful thing. The cup's first goal was among it's greatest; Tshabalala of the host nation scored a tremendous strike to the back of the net. Golazo! Barcelona's Rafa Marquez answered the goal with a nice sneak past the keeper about seven minutes later. The game drew; the host nation loss-less streak continues.

The USA game vs. England. A dork-shot strike snuck by the english keeper -- it just puttered through his butterfingers. England drew with the States to the accompanying jeers of the British press and the team never got any footing at all in the cup from there out. The USA played very well in the cup this year. They finished at the top of their group (ahead of England) and demonstrated an ability to make moments happen. Harrowing goals in the late minutes and two game winning goals denied by the referees. Still, they came out at the hands of Ghana.

Ghana's lone star flag proved tell-tale of Africa's cup prospects. After the first round, Ghana was the only African nation left represented on the field. Though there were sparks of greatness, there were also tough expectations and scandals unsettling the teams. Didiér Drogba played with a broken elbow he'd sustained against Japan in a warm-up match. Eto'o remained magnetic, but diminished from years past. Both of them were sole star-players on squads that had difficulty in going all the way to wins.

But the real eerie weird bitterness came courtesy of the Nigerian team. They'd only had their coach for a few short months. They were booked last minute into an economy hotel until the coach supposedly-intervened. After their quick dispersal from the tournament, the team returned to Nigeria, their president Goodluck Jonathan ordering their suspension for two-years. FIFA stepped in and put that political involvement down within a day.

ah, yes.

FIFA also stepped in to silence Sarkozy for his proposed investigation of the French national team following their total breakdown. BROKE DOWN!!! The team collapsed completely amid coach-player(s) scandal: 'You're an asshole' 'You're going home' 'You can't send him home, we're going on strike'...Guess what? They lose; Everybody goes home.

Japan had a good showing. They played with guts and were the first team to get the hang of the ball on free-kicks. The blond guy for them who plays for CSKA Moscow was badass. Their loss to Paraguay in penalty kicks was one of the most moving of the cup. The Ghanaian loss to Uruguay was another heart-wrencher. A shambling bitter disaster that was awash in lost opportunities for the last African nation left for the quarter-finals.

But Uruguay was too strong. The most competitive and driven team at the cup--at least visibly. They wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. Their captain, Diego Forlan, was coming off his best season of professional play. He blew the doors off until the team's fourth place finish two days ago against Germany.

The Germans were fantastic. They were these young guys that seemed really focused and driven to the goal. To see the Germans rout Argentina's team was stunning. Argentina had played with guts and seemed very confident in the tournament. Leo Messi showed his creativity with the ball and even captained the team to a 2-0 win against Greece with Maradona playing his B-team. But no goals for the pitúfo.

Diegito throws the new ball back

Germany broke down Argentina with twice the effectivity and none of the shady-calls that worked to Argentina's favor when they knocked out Mexico. 4-0, Germany made them look like petulant punks. The German team was younger than the Argentine super-stars, and they took the big-dogs to school. Bad as the Germans were, they had to settle for third after falling to Spain.

The spanish team under-performed for the most part. They relied too much on the midfield. The constant patter of their passing --back-and-forth!--back-and-back-and-back-and-forth! - it was great to watch, but it nullified their opponents so effectively that it took out the goals from the equation. Consequently, every Spanish win ends in like 1-0 or occasionally 2-1.

Watching Spain, we were basically watching Barcelona play with a greater goalie (the intensely talented keeper from R. Madrid, Iker Casillas), and a Messi-less attack. Seven players from Barça on the field at anytime. The midfield routine that Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets have been developing has been focused almost entirely on Messi. So where did the goals come from? David Villa. The new pre-cup signing from Valencia. He lit it up. His first goal was a stunner, along with a fun shot from way outside after he caught the Chilean goalie out of the box.

But the baddest of the Spanish goals weren't from the usual strikers. It was Carles Puyol in the header that beat Germany. Barça's captain had a fucking great cup. He proved to be the man to beat for would-be strikers from all over. His locking up with Pique was almost always a wall.

The true master player of the team had to be Andres Iniesta. Though Xavi is key to make-plays, he very rarely shoots and scores. When Iniesta won the cup with a Goal at the end of overtime, he pulled off his shirt and ran to the corner as he did when he scored the extra time goal for Barça that sent Chelsea packing and advanced Barcelona to the Champion's League final (where they beat Manchester United) in 2009.

Iniesta and Eto'o celebrate in London, 2009

While David Villa settled into a groove with his future Barça boys, no one at all seemed to click with Fernando Torres, himself no exception. The Liverpool striker had terrific goals before injuries recently took their toll. So for the last two games of the cup, as I hoped, the coach Del Bosque sat Torres and started with Pedro. My man from Barcelona who was born in the Canary Islands. Why hasn't Anthony Bourdain gone there yet? Can I go there?? They eat little bony fish. I'm sure of it.

Spain is an easier place to hate if you haven't been there. The conquest history is too brutal to forget over football. But to hate the Spanish team is like hating Picasso and Miró. It is to not walk through their Southern streets and find them so familiar to ones we know from Mexico and Puerto Rico, Cuba and Colombia.

It's the nationalism about the cup that is distasteful. Even more so than hand-balls and vicious kicks on the field. It's the old-world beef that we bring to the game that is supposed to be beautiful. When you break through the crushing coal and the diamond shines in front of you, the cup is better than gold.

Miró

Expensive Beef

Season's over. Barça are Champions of La Liga.

It was the closest title race in the history of the Spanish League. Barça won the title with a total of 99 points. Real Madrid were in second with 96. It basically came down to a single game between the two of them.

99 points in a season is a record for most points earned for a team, not only in Spain but also in all of major European play. That puts Barça's squad at a summit of the very greatest teams to ever play the game.

Still, there is a bitterness there at them losing out on the Champion's League to Inter Milan. What can you do?


Laporta can't ever be satisfied

Since the season ended about a month ago, the business of the team has turned to establishing the drama of the next season. The team has made a formal offer for Cesc Fabregas from Arsenal. Fabregas, of course, came up through the Barça youth system and was pulled away to London at the age of 17. Now he is 23 and the team want to bring him back like the prodigal son.

As the club's president for the last seven years, Joán Laporta has to retire from his post this summer. It's like any presidency-there are term limits. The dudes who are vying to be his successor have all used the courting of Fabregas as a campaign promise to help them secure the position of club president. I never write too much about the larger curious political intricacies of the club that is 'mes que un clúb' [more than a team], because I honestly cannot really follow it. It's a bit ironic, I know. Mostly the club president seems to be the public face of the backers and administration of the team, but to weigh one from another is more difficult to gauge then the efficacy of Ibrahimovic as a striker vs. Eto'o.


David Villa looking Douchey

Though he is on the way out, Laporta has still been a busy CEO for the team. They signed David Villa from Valencia as a striker right after the season drew to a close. Villa is a badass. He scored the second or third most goals in the league and will be a welcome addition to the front line, as Henry is leaving for the bright lights and muddled play of the MLS in New York City for the, cough, Red Bulls.

Who the fuck comes up with these MLS names?? Pathetic. New York City Red Bulls? Really?? Were the Mountain Dews already taken? How about the San Francisco Yoo-Hoos? Too on the nose? Whatever. I can't blame him for going. The money is bound to be retarded-good, and who wouldn't want to play in one of the world's greatest cities at the end of his career? An ultimate cash-out for a prize fighter.

Though they were nearly unbeatable, too much of the burden of goals fell on the wunderkind, Leo Messi. Now with Villa there will be another go-to guy with golden boots. What is more tricky to figure is just how the team will be able to adjust to Fabregas in the line-up. After all, he is a mid-fielder where the team has a surplus of vital players in Iniesta and Xavi. The line-up will have to shift in ways that remain mysterious. Of course, the team's initial offer of 35€M has been rejected by Arsenal and they may have to go up to 50€M to bring him back to Barça.

Why would the team go so hard for another superstar signing? It rivals the spending of Real Madrid a year ago in their cash-makes-right buying spree that netted them Kaka and C. Ronaldo. The answer is clearly because although they edged out Real Madrid for the titles this year, they just barely did it and La Merengue decided to hire Jose Mourinho from Inter Milan--the team that served as the thorn in Barça's side just a month ago. The stumbling block in their quest to be clearly recognized as history's greatest.


Mourinho being a prick when Inter beat Barça

This year was the most competitive ever in Spanish football--at least between the two top teams--and Real Madrid are dying to revenge-fuck Barça for making them settle for second best. The shit is so petty. Mourinho, being a bitter ego-maniacal douche, is thrilled at the possibility of amplifying his personal beef with Barcelona by coaching their arch-rivals against them. Plus, even he couldn't stomach how rife the Italian Serie-A is with corruption and crap vibes.

Before any of that manifests in August with the first pre-season games, there is the World Cup to watch. Lot's of people have "fever" for it, but me? Not so much. In the age of globalism and post-post-colonialism, the rivalries between nations seem less intriguing to me than the shit that's going down between the Catalans and the Castellanos of Spain. Of course, I will still watch with interest, but the nationalism inherent in the event puts me off somehow. Who even thinks about Canada, much less argues with them?

Still, I am eager to see if Maradona will go batshit on the sidelines as he coaches Argentina. If Messi will deliver in national play as he does for his club. If Henry will redeem his misguided tricky handball that helped to knock Ireland out a few months back with some beautiful goal that I had given up hope for from him. I want to see how bad England will be derailed by their personal soap-operas and injuries.

World Cup is more like NASCAR for me: I only really watch for the crashes.

Ibrá- 'I'm not a fag!'

I saw a clip of a Catalan reporter speaking to Ibrahimovic after a practice.

In her hand was a photo of Ibra huddled close to Pique, a lynchpin of the defense. There is an intimacy present.



As she tried to get to the footballer amid the crash of hysterical fans circling his sports car, she circled to the passenger side and Ibra opened his window to her.

She asked what he thought of the photo and if he was angry.

"Venga[come on]," he responded.

Then he beckoned her to the window, as she continued asking if he was angry, and he told her to come with him and see who's a "maricon." She responds, 'oh, then let's go to your house', to which he tells her to bring her sister. She says he's mad and he drives off.

I can imagine him beating the wheel with his arms and cursing on the ride home. The tension that would rear up in the locker room at the embarrassment. Ibra is a hot-headed striker. A self-prizing ferrari. A dick.

There are certainly gay players and club members, but almost none openly. Instead there is adonis intimacy alluded to by the marketing of the game and by the players themselves. They just had a spread in Vanity Fair of the top World Cup jocks in their briefs painted with their national flags. Gayest thing since the village people. I keed...

There is a lot of sexual marketing in sports, particularly for a sport (soccer) that has yet to break big in the states. I can hear the PR team screaming 'Push the Beefcake!'-...and cue the blow-up of the Vanity Fair cover to Oprah's stage...now!

So how does the game and it's players respond to the implication of homosexuality? By macho thuggery. But when you make it a game of alpha males, you know what you get.

Europa Cup: Fulham vs. Atletico Madrid

V.

UEFA Europa league championships were held yesterday. It is a second tier cup below the Champion's League, which both of these teams were knocked out of earlier in top European play. That is the title that Barcelona were knocked out of last week by Inter Milan.

In the semi-finals of the Champion's League Barça went down after failing to overcome the 3-1 loss of the first game in Milan. Instead, they scored one goal at home but didn't overcome the deficit of the week before. 2-3 cumulative. Bye-bye champion's league.

Those hopes were slashed months ago for At. Madrid and Fulham. Excellent teams of European play's second tier, they had to duke it out in London. It was a tough game that showed Atletico's Spanish passing struggle to catch fire. They scored once, only to have the English side answer about seven minutes later. Then the tough winds blew and the ball stayed away from the goals. Hesitation from Atletico's strikers, though they had lot's of opportunities. My boy was talking about Eto'o playing for At. Madrid... That would be badass.

They went to overtime, and played an additional 30 minutes, looking half-haggard. At the 118th minute, one of the Atletico plays finally broke through their place of frustration. Score. They celebrate--the Madrid supporters ecstatic as the English fans begin to re-sharpen their fatalism.

All the drama unfolding in interrupted bursts from the heavily broken down feeds to the game; it's hard to watch football on the internet. The games--the marquee ones at least--are so hyper-protected by UEFA copyright holders that any signals which are uploaded are quickly pulled. This equals: Finding a good signal, consistently refreshing the page as it fails, then finding a back-up feed in the inevitability that the previous channel collapses. Repeat. Repeat.

This was a long game, so hosts weren't ready to broadcast the OT. It was murder to watch. Tense. For the players, supporters, commentators, and the poor scum at home trying to watch the game for free.



Rolling Stones, 'Connection'

chairs

I guess it was all about chairs. A place to sit down and collect myself amid the chaos around me.

Waist deep in the measures of bad news and broken expectations. Bush years. 20's gone weird, almost as I'd hoped they might. Anything to break away from the sad silence of windy chicago fields planted with grey memories.

To sit far away from the fields in plush acceptance from the cushion beneath me. Yes, that was what I wanted.

This city, with it's jumbled ethnicity and mixed-up defense mechanisms--this dream became my own and I fed on it's confusion. Contributed to it's polarities. Set-tripping and maneuvering. Made plans and love. Little money and visions held & followed. Peace Frog and LA Woman. All felt from a chair.

It was some 'time of life'-as all times are. A place to be. Is any place the right place to be? If it is, how long can it stay right before it dissipates and reforms in another location? Beautiful city; the more I lived in you, the bigger the question got.

Is it the ground or the ether that controls us all?

The Long Arm Language

The team played Inter Milan. Internazionale. That name is a bit of a joke. What they are referring to doesn't seem to be trans-nationality. In Italy, citizenship is eligible based upon un-renounced citizenship of parents or grandparents. This stops citizenship for immigrants. No one is seen as Italian if they are not ethnically Italian.

During the time of Il Duce, Mussolini cheered his team Lazio and the stadiums throughout the country have had spectators flashing the straight-arm salute ever since.


Canio throws it up after a win for Lazio. 2000's. Source: BBC.

The game on Tuesday in Milan saw more of the twisted same.

Crowd shots of Milan showed folks casting horns at the field (ostensibly at Barça), and straight-arming as their team took a brutal lead. Bad ju-ju afoot... Pedro scored early in the game and got the coveted away goal which counts for more in the series.

But then Inter broke through from Barça's mid-field weaving and cracked the whip. Their strategy was to explode upfield when they got possession deep in their half. Lightning attacks that shot up field in a few short seconds to the goal and scored.

Ibra didn't hit nothing. Messi was shutout. There were glimpses of the attacking wonderment (a late-game bicycle shot that Pedro didn't get by the keeper), and the clever passing play the team throws around like witty reparté--but it was not enough to keep Inter off of them.

Diego Milito (Argentine-Italian citizen) scored a nasty goal that was clearly off-sides and overlooked by the referees. His brother, Gabi, was not a factor in the game for Barcelona's defense against Milan.

And then there was the story of Samuel Eto'o playing against his former squad. Though Ibra was part of the trade with Inter, his narrative is less involved than Eto'o's. This is because everyone sees Ibra as a mercenary prize-horse that is less personally involved in the game and more invested in his own worth. Not a public speaker. Samuel Eto'o, though, was the most outspoken critic of racism in football and Barça's high scorer. Then they switched their play up around Messi and decided to unload Eto'o to Milan for Ibra and 40mil€. Have fun playing at Lazio; See you in the Champion's league.

Eto'o didn't have a great game, and there was little drama around him aside from his punting the ball into the stands after he was disappointed at a call. That earned him a yellow. He caught pressure from Barça and they seemed to have his number. The other boys on the Inter attack were a different matter. They just blasted through at the urging of Mourinho, their coach punching his palms from the sidelines.

Barça got five yellow cards, though they looked to have caught the brunt of the abuse in the match. Fouls overlooked against them. Cold calls. Inter drew only two in the whole game, while they unleashed a battery on the visitors. The Camp Nou would not be like this.

As the Blaugrana boarded their flight to Barcelona after the match, they were no doubt relieved that they didn't have to sit in a bus for 14 hours as they had to get to Italy. Airspace was open as the air was deemed clear to fly while the game was played.

They went home to cook something up. A dream game that will validate their wet grass magic of arcs and lines. That game will be played on the 28th in front of nearly 100,000. I'd love to be there instead of here struggling with my feed to the game. I have some cooking-up to do too.


Straight-Arm Salute

Catalan Derby

Yesterday was the Catalan derby, which played out with the local squads duking it out across town. FC Barcelona played Espanyol just a few kilometers from Barça's home at the Camp Nou. A new stadium for their brothers across the way with the pitch spanning into two different cities: Cornelia and Él Plat. Stats could be kept as to which city in the same stadium had more goals. Espanyol hadn't had their own proper stadium for 11 years and this was the first time they'd host Barça in it.

The two Catalan squads have an eerie rivalry. Espanyol have fought Barça on the pitch with a focus that is nearly unmatched in all of football. To look at the players on the field ~ where internationals hold such presence ~ we saw nine Catalans. Four for Espanyol and five playing for Barça. Local football, as exemplified by the coaching and captains of each team. Pochettino coaching Esp. had played and been involved with the squad since the days Guardiola played for Barça. They were former adversaries on the field who were now still battling via their coaching.


Pochettino and Guardiola

Barça were three points ahead of Real Madrid for first place and now they were to face a team that had consistently drawn or beaten them in La Liga. RCD Espanyol showed why they were such formidable opposition. They took the field among their rabid fans in blue and white. This was the game they looked forward to with the most bile. The chance to keep the local giants in check. Someone threw a coin and hit Messi with it. The field is closer to the stands than most arenas.

Dani Alves was playing hard, but he was thrown out in the second half for getting his second yellow. The squad was down a man. Messi was shutdown by the defense. Xavi was not hot. The thing about Xavi is that his primary instinct is to always set someone else up for the play. Too much of the team has been focused on activating the magic Messi and leaving the rest of the assault as gravy. Xavi gets key opportunities he could take to score, but then pauses to check for someone else and the momentum is broken. Drawback of the play-maker.

In the second half both Ibra and Henry were brought out to try and make some goals happen, but neither one looked fit. Ibra is nursing his recent injury and made his first appearance in weeks, and Henry has simply conked out for the season. This season has seen his playing age five years.

So it ended in a draw, and I'm satisfied. Espanyol are local boys. They couldn't beat their big bros, but they did draw a line and hold their ground. It was a Catalan thing.

Now the team is in Milan to face Inter for the UEFA quarter-finals. All flights in Europe grounded from the Icelandic volcano plume so the team has taken a coach. The last time the sides met was in September in Milan. A draw at nil. Now they go back for the first of two games this week and next. Eto'o vs Barça and Ibra. Milito brothers facing eachother's world-class squads.

But it's a different point in the season than it was in September. Last week Barça climbed to first in their jiu jitsu lock with Real Madrid, and Inter slipped down from first at the hands of Roma in Serie A. The end of the season is approaching and the screws are on in the races.

The only way to win a race; keep running, keep running, keep running.

Jedi

El Clásico was just played in Madrid. Biggest game of the season.

Madrid has lost to Barcelona tonight. Barça are back in the top spot of la Liga after having been in a stranglehold tie for first with Madrid. That's exactly how the game was played--as a taut twisting grapple for dominance between two teams that are eager to stomp the other out of the picture.

The first half was a bitter war of inches and possession. The sides struggled against eachother and gave up fouls. Lot's of thrown bows and whistles blown. Still, Barça managed to eke out an advantage in possession and direction of the ball.

The team seemed to be playing in direct psychic opposition to the rough play of Madrid. Madrid were vicious. Each possession of Barça would receive a brutal challenge. Players all over the field; ankles twisted back and their eyebrows scrunched with pain. The refs didn't feel like calling the most egregious fouls and decided instead to blow the whistle when the guilt from negligence reared randomly.

It was after one of these violent clashes that Messi broke through off a quick pass from Xavi. Leo skated up through the center of the pitch and snuck to the box to shoot past the keeper. It was another in the current streak of successively more incredible goals for him. One for the ages.


Messi scores

Ibra was out for the game, so the team employed a different lineup that moved Messi to the center. This was not ideal, as his lack of height made the chances for headers slim to none.
Pedro was on the side.

Pedro did deliver through out the game with a lot of possession and brutality endured. He then came up on a goal in the second half. 0-2.

But where was Ronaldo?

The Madrid star was consistently denied by the defense of Pique. The two players, both of similar stature and alumni of Man U. were well matched. Pique had his number. That combined with Valdes' supreme handling of the net created a hull that Madrid found they couldn't breach, no matter how many rusty cannonballs they lobbed.

Madrid mostly showed their confusion in the face of Barça's game philosophy: The deft handling of the ball at all times kept la Merengue always one step back. The world's most expensive team couldn't break the code of Barça's frequency.

It was easily the most difficult win of the season so far. They were met at all times and were contested with more audacity than by any other team in the spanish league. The team of the Empire used all of the sinister tricks available to them to try to claw the eyes out of Barcelona, but it was trumped by adherence to their philosophy. Guardiola directed his team to victory by playing their unique game and not getting into a slugfest. Same way they won against Arsenal-who showed a surprisingly physical game in the face of their diminished chances.

How do you kill a sith lord? With a jedi.

Inter moving forward

Today Inter Milan is beating CSKA Moscow out of the champions league.

This means that the possibility of Barcelona beating Arsenal in the next game, and then setting up the series against Inter Milan is becoming tantalizingly real.

Eto'o, traded away from Barça to Inter for Zlatan Ibrahimovic and 60mil Euros, will be facing the club-mes que un club. Inter's Milito and Barça's' Milito are in fact brothers. A dramatic rivalry that could only be conjured in the Spanish Kingdom and Italian terra.

Today's team for the Camp Nou battle is looking good. The line up has me psyched. Alves is due for a great game, and Milito is on the pitch for Puyol. Abidal is playing with Keita, and in the front the young great attacking line of Pedro, Messi and Bojan. It feels like a good representation of the team's ethos. Who will wear the captain's band is yet to be seen.

Slackfoot

There it was. Another day of play and the sounds of grinding city life outside the window filtering in, screening every win of the team and personal disappointment.

Disappointment is an idea that hangs on the hook of an appointment you thought you'd made. As if you're ordering your life in a restaurant. The soup comes and it's the wrong color and flavor from what you thought you'd ordered. But it's one of those restaurants that if you order something, the only way to get it right is if you get in there and cook it.

The team played athletic bilbao. I think they drew with them in the fall. I remember it being a bittersweet day in the league. Barça dropped to second behind Real Madrid--who they play next weekend. Arsenal come first, this tuesday. After that funky game in London, it will be good to have today's defeat of At. Bilbao behind them, filling their sails.

It was the day of the young guys. Jeffren finally scored. It was off of a three man strike that he cleaned up. Bojan followed that with a great goal. In the second half he got another. Ah, the 19 year-old is warming up to the idea of scoring in the league. His Rudy-style celebration was muted for the second score, as if he realized, 'Hey, I can't keep jumping around every time I score. I'm getting the hang, man. That's kid-stuff...' atta-boy.

Then Messi came through with a nice slick shot that he skated by as the defenders all slipped around him. 4-nil`. But with 20 to play, At. Bilbao break past the slackfooted Chrygzmnstrr(????) playing every bit the bewildered defensive back. It's the young guy team, today. Here's the drawback, plus half-disbelief at Jeffren scoring at last.

What Goes Around...

That was a very very weird game.

In London, Barça and Arsenal have played their first of two in the Champions League quarter finals, and although Barcelona outplayed Arsenal in virtually every way, the north London squad still pulled out a draw under shady circumstances.

The game opened up with Barcelona lashing Arsenal's defense and taking shot after shot after shot in the first fifteen minutes of play. But as dazzling as their attacks may have been, the back of the net went unmoved. Ibra could not connect. It was a completely frustrating opening filled with the loud "Oh"'s and yells that accompany effort that nearly makes it, but somehow manages to fall short.

Fabregas, playing against his boyhood team, his country and culture--went into the game with one yellow card. Around the twentieth minute he picked up another against Busquets and cancelled himself from playing in the next. Arsene Wenger sent Arshavin off the field after he picked up a yellow, looking to avoid a similar misfortune for next week's game at the Blaugrana.

By the half it was level at nil, with the British commentators left to marvel at how outplayed Arsenal was. Something like 15 shots to Arsenal's one. 70% of possession. The game could have been 4-0 by the half.

It was with that frustrated momentum that Barça took the field for the second half, and on the first play, Pique passes to Ibra who breaks free and taps the ball to send it arcing just over the keeper to bounce and land softly inside the wall of the net. 1-0. A minute later he's there again with only the keeper to beat. He does. 2-nil.

Within a few minutes, the crowd seems to be turning on their team. The London fans are pissed at the adolescent performance of their side. The sounds get surlier. Just when I start to pity Arsenal, they come up with a slick goal. We've got a game.



The problem is that the officials want more than a game; They want a vengeful miracle for Arsenal. This comes when Fabregas breaks out in front of the goal to take a shot in the games closing minutes. Puyol comes forward to him and tries to get some coverage on him from behind, sending the shot wide. But Puyol's block is ruled not only a foul, but a Red card. Barça's captain is sent off the pitch and will miss the next match as well.

The call was pure venom. It was like a hobbling of the team out of spite. "Oh, our captain will miss the next game in Barcelona? Guess what, tio, now we'll take yours out of the mix for that one too." On top of that, the penalty shot comes and Fabregas sends it past Valdes for the tie.

Fabregas immediately starts limping away from the goal. He is feeling a sharp pain. That's shame. A bullshit call has allowed him to equalize against the team of his country and family. The consolation is that he won't have to play in Barcelona and have his relatives booing him next week. In fact, his fitness is completely scalded. They weren't sure if he'd be up for the match after having some leg injury, and now after the game the ruling has come down that he will not play for the next six weeks. Wegner took chances with his line-up and put in players that were of questionable health. Their team next week will be softer than this one.

Though Barça's side next week will be short Puyol and Pique (who also got a damning yellow card in the second half), the team will surely have a vicious payback on their mind. They should have scored more. They got almost nothing out of Leo. Ibra didn't deliver on ten or more opportunities. Henry? Oh, he's the guy who walked around on the pitch for the last five minutes and got the applause that Kareem Abdul Jabar gets for showing up to watch the Lakers.

The teams played out the last minutes of the game resigned to the draw, as if the outcome had been determined long before the formality of the match. Maybe Barça were just putting us on. This is an aggravation on the road to their inevitable hoisting of the Cup at the end of May.

Maybe.

Your Arsenal

Barcelona are going to London to meet Arsenal on Wednesday in the Champions League. The top eight teams in Europe are playing each other this week and the next, all leading up to the finals--set to take place in May at Madrid's Bernabeu.



The Bernabeu, Madrid's football colliseum, is always the site of memorable play for the team. The long-standing cultural rivalry between the Catalan side and the Castilian seat of power held in Madrid. The Franco years. Barça has made the trip north with fists firmly in pockets. Though the team want to be there for the Champions league final, their own local concerns still have them tied in the hot race for La Liga.

The team cannot win the treble this year (Spanish Copa del Rey, La Liga and Champions League) because they were knocked from the Copa Del Rey a few months back. I don't know how many possible cup titles there are for a team. They'll count them up at the end of the season and punch them into the fact machines.

On the 11th is the R. Madrid/Barcelona match in Madrid. El Clasico was played in the autumn in Barcelona and this is the second and final game of the season against their great rivals. Tied for first but behind Real Madrid in goals scored; number one is a tenuous draw. The two teams upcoming game in Madrid looks decisive to the Spanish League.

Madrid were knocked out of Champs league so they are trying to steel their grip on La Liga. Barça, however, are still in the running for Europe and are gearing up for Wednesday's game.

Emirates Stadium, London

In London, Thierry Henry will take perhaps his last stand against the team he cut his teeth on. Family, adulthood. It's tough growing some and going back home. We'll see how much he plays. Here's to hoping he looks fit in training.

Iniesta will be out for the game after tearing his calf muscle in Sunday's win against Mallorca. The good news is that Ibra has scored in three straight games, and that one saw his return to form as a striker. He has been getting caught offsides above defense a lot lately. Messi has been taking it to the goal from any place. He cuts through the backs like a slick finned fish and takes shots on the goal through befuddled defenders.

Pedro is playing hard and getting goals, and young Bojan has made an impression in his limited minutes on the field. This mediates the glare on the three marquee names. Although Barça routinely keep possession for 60% or 70% of the games, the goals are what keep the appearance of invincibility. Ibra's bad streak is breaking just in time.

Like the song says, You're gonna need someone on your side.

Ground Thunder

The League

The Champions League Cup is the most prestigious title in Europe. The title has existed in slightly different incarnations since the fifties. More recently, as the league has been administered by UEFA, it has been marketed as a newer title.

In this era of Champions play going back six years, no team has repeated a championship. In fact, no team that won the previous title has advanced beyond quarter finals. Barça, as last year's miracle team are in the position of defending that elusive title.

This year's team is a different one from last year's lightning attack squad. No more Eto'o.

Samuel Eto'o was the leading scorer for the team and league last year. The striker from Cameroon formed an arrowhead tip with Messi and Henry. Particularly with Henry. Scoring and celebrating with salutes to the crowd and eachother.



But the chemistry of that team wouldn't last. Pep Guardiola reshuffled the front line of the team by trading Eto'o to Inter Milan for Ibrahimovic and 60milion euros. It seemed like mucking up a good thing. An exciting and whip-smart team that won three titles in a season, split up for what?!

Apparently, Guardiola had the future of the club and the ongoing team philosophy in mind. Though he is coach now, he'd played for the team from youth league to professional for years. Pep was the same kind of play-making mid-fielder as Iniesta or Xavi today. Iniesta and Xavi get more gushing adulation from commentators and coaches than any other two players in the game. The FoxSoccer channel's American commentator could only come up with that Iniesta looks like Landon Donovan.



Eto'o was a controversial figure. He'd score and incite the audiences. Talked shit in public when provoked. He also was a public figure in criticizing racism in European football.



It may have been a distraction to Guardiola's understanding of the Barcelona game. To re-work the chemistry of their play he brings in a tall northerner, like Johan Cruyff was in the Seventies. Cruyff, from Holland, became Barça and pretty much Catalan. One of the greatest players ever, he then coached there and is still intimately involved with the club affairs.

Management opted to keep the team changing, but these days it looks like the choices have kept them winning with all of the burden on Messi's shoulders. He scored all three of the team's goals in the second half on Sunday against Valencia. They were still replaying the second goal when he scored the third.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izO9Mf7wZes

Wednesday night in Barcelona against Stuttgart to reach the top eight teams of European play.

The game starts out aggressively for Barça. They're putting Stuttgart on the defensive right away with 90,000 fans in attendance backing them. Henry makes a few attempts that don't connect. Around the twelfth minute Messi explodes up the field and blasts a goal while four defenders converge on him at the top of the box. Boom!

Then Messi delivers to Yaya who sneaks back to Pedro for a goal. Pretty teamwork. More prettiness when Dani Alves flicks the ball back to Messi for his second goal. Other than that, Alves is not looking his best. His crosses aren't connecting as lean with Henry. Henry is good natured on the pitch, but the ten years he has on Messi are showing.

In the second half they bring on Ibra with twenty-five to go. They keep playing hard and looking for more goals, but there are a lot of flubbed opportunities. The score should be higher. Stuttgart takes only one shot in the half to Barça's twelve.

Three minutes of regulation to go, and Henry is sent off as Bojan comes on. First play, Barça breaks through the wall of Stuttgart again and head downfield to the goal. 30 yards out, Ibra sends it forward to Bojan, who touches it once to send it into the net.

Flash to Messi looking slightly perturbed at the success of his team-mate, then joining in the celebration. He's trying for his second consecutive hat-trick. Messi does get about two more chances which closely get sent wide and denied. A minute and a half after regulation, the ref blows the whistle and calls the game. 4-nil'.

Barça advance with their reputation re-affirmed, though everyone knows they could have performed better. But to look shabby and still score four!?! That should make teams nervous.

Meanwhile, in Italy, Samuel Eto'o has scored and knocked out Chelsea from play. The signing seems to be going well for Inter since he's arrived. The tension of a possible game is bubbling. That or possibly Arsenal, which was Henry's home for the greatest days of his football.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfVWFn5ygpE&feature=related

Henry was their captain and is their all-time leading scorer. Now they are captained by Cesc Fabregas, who came up through the Barcelona youth team and is among the best play-making mid-fielders in Europe. That would be a game to get excited over.

The teams all decided, the next draw for play will come on Friday by the time I wake up in Los Angeles. This town, my home, is cool and lovely in the morning. A small earthquake the other night at four in the morning. I was up for it and dashed into the doorway. I don't feel them so much as hear them. It sounds like a garbage can fight. Ground thunder.

the game in russian*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeConZsOAZo

Own Goal?!!??

Carles Puyol, our team's captain scored an own goal against Almeria to help the team from my least favorite Spanish city draw 2-2 against Barça today.

Almeria?!?

What the fuck?!!!?

If Real Madrid wins, they are in first. If they draw, they are tied for first.

I hate this sport.


***update***

Great. It's an hour later and I am watching Real Madrid play Sevilla. Defining myself in opposition to what I loathe rather than in solidarity with what I like.

The good news is, Madrid is down by one in spite of their boombastic shooting display in the first half.
The bad news is, the goal is not enough to count the Madrillenos out and I have to watch another hour of a game to see if--hope against hope--Barça can hold onto first.

Atletico Madrid: Lesson Learned.

Yesterday Barça lost to Atletico Madrid 2-1.

After the whomping that Barça delivered them in September it was apparent that the eager punk team of Madrid would go to some measures to get their comeuppance. As it stands, they are the only team in Madrid to have beaten Barcelona recently--
hundred million dollar signings, or not.



The real drag about the loss is that not only did At. Madrid nearly shutdown the striking power of Ibra (who scored the sides lone goal off a corner), but the failure of composure that the team showed.

Puyol, of all people, made costly errors that resulted in both goals. Their captain slipping, the crew got into trouble. Hasty fouls. The current stink-eyed play of Ibra continuing and growing greyer. Lack of control.

But the performance of the team's captain seemed to tell about the mounting pressures on the team. The team fit has started to look shakier after the honeymoon in the fall. Is it the whole world right now? Obama's healthcare. A shittier crop than ever in the oscar race? Winter storms and earthquakes.

Carles, let us know when you get back from vacation;
The team's in trouble without you.