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.
