The most decisive match of the year, much more than 3 points are at stake, the whole world watching 22 men fighting on the ground, and so on…Many clichés and trivialities surround this beautiful football game which involves a long-time rivalry prompted by social, politic and of course sporting subjects.

Yet, we should point out one of those phrases we hear over and over during the previous week – “no matter whether they are in or off form, when the times comes no one knows what will happen”. Or paraphrasing Cristiano Ronaldo’s words, “it doesn’t really matter who will play the match”.

THE SURPRISE FACTOR

December 13th, 2008.

Barcelona beat Real Madrid (2-0, goals by Eto’o and Messi) five days after Bernd Schuster got the sack from his job at the Bernabéu stadium. The German manager told the media that it was “impossible to win the derby against Barcelona”, in the press conference after losing to Sevilla 3-4 at home. He was immediately fired, as Juande Ramos took the charge and ended up losing in the most important game of the year, as his predecessor had foretold.

We could say that was the first time in many years where we could see a final result which met the previous expectations. Mostly, the surprise factor plays an important role in these kind of matches – it did in the famous 3-3 tie, when Messi began to be recognized as one of the best players of the world thanks to his three goals, or in the last chorreo* (2-6), when Barça took the first step to achieve their famous treble.

Today, we can see many fans all around the world predicting a blaugrana victory – even some of them dare to say that Guardiola’s guys will play their opponents off the pitch by scoring three, four or even five goals. Apart of these typical and inevitable predictions, everyone agrees that the Catalan giants are the favourite ones to get the points.

January 7th, 1995.

The Spanish derby experienced one of their most historic episodes. One year after Barcelona (still with Johan Cruyff on the bench) humiliated the merengues by beating them 5-0, Real Madrid paid them back by scoring the same result – the manita, a famous word in the Spanish football scene, was enough revenge for Jorge Valdano’s team.

Some years after that game, the Argentinian manager himself gave us one of the most well-known quotes in the football history:

“Football is like a frame of mind”. **

_________________________________________________________________________

* Chorreo: Sid Lowe (The Guardian’s La Liga expert) defined the verb chorrear as “roughly, dick on them, take the piss out of them”.

** “El fútbol es un estado de ánimo” – it all depends on the current mood in the kick-off.

Original cover image.

Quan arriba aquest partit el món es paralitza… tot s’atura… i tot es centra en comprar entrades… comprar subscripcions de televisió de pagament… comprar entrades de cine on donguin el partit o reservar taula en un bar…

Demà serà un gran dia!

Karim Benzema concedió una entrevista exclusiva a MARCA un día antes del Clásico, un partido que como él mismo confesó, va a ser el más importante de su carrera.

Aunque durante estos últimos días se ha hablado mucho del buen juego del Barcelona y de la falta de estilo del Real Madrid, el francés confía en las posibilidades de su equipo este domingo y no teme al eterno rival: “No me dan miedo ni el Barça, ni el Camp Nou”, confesó a Pablo Polo, autor de la entrevista.

De hecho Benzema acude a la Ciudad Condal con las ideas muy claras y en su mente sólo cabe un resultado: la victoria. “Yo no pienso en perder, sólo quiero ponerme a cuatro puntos”, dice mientras pide paciencia y asegura que “poco a poco llegará el espectáculo”.

Prefiere que no juegue Messi
En cuanto a la presencia o no de Messi sobre el terreno de juego, el delantero también habla claro: “Prefiero que no juegue Messi, es muy bueno”.

Además, aprovechó para salir en defensa de su compatriota Henry, muy criticado tras su mano ante Irlanda. “No se pude olvidar todo lo que ha hecho Henry por la selección francesa. El balón le dio en la mano y ya está, pudo pasarle a cualquiera”.

There are three things Real Madrid need to do to win at Barca in Sunday’s first el clásico of the season:  attack Barca, maintain possession, and attack Barca more.

If Barcelona’s 2-0 win over Inter showed the world anything, it is that there is no defending against Barca.  In order to win, you must attack them from the very beginning.  Towards that end, time of possession is vital against Barcelona’s smooth, fluid passing attack.

If Barca’s home loss and road draw to FC Rubin Kazan show the world anything, it is that if you attack Barcelona you can disrupt their gameplan and expose their defense.

Kazan was well outclassed by Barca, but they still walked away with points in both matches.  Madrid, on the other hand, have at least as much overall talent as Barca (though I still do not buy into all of the “Galacticos II” hype for reasons stated in an earlier post), so they do not need to rely on counterattacks to score goals, they simply need to attack from the get go.

Madrid must also improve on their finishing.  In their last two matches against Racing and FC Zurich, they have had a plethora of shots but only one goal in each match.  Madrid must take every chance they get if they want to return to the capitol with three points in hand.

The strategy to pull Madrid 4 points clear with a win at the Camp Nou is simple enough; attack and keep the ball out of Barca’s hands, but the execution is up to the players on the pitch.

Les obres per a la col·locació de la gespa artificial continuen a bon ritme. Actualment s’estan realitzant els drenatges i el pas de instal·lacions d’aigua. També s’està realitzant el nou tunel d’accés al terreny de joc.

Siempre que sean sanos, se entiende. Pero me gustan. La rivalidad se tiene que demostrar por algún sitio. Hay que calentar los partidos, retar al rival, fanfarronear con lo que se tiene. No me gusta la falsedad y la hipocresía de los últimos años. “Si no ganamos nosotros, pues nada, vosotros también lo merecéis”. ¡Venga ya!

Prefiero que salga Casillas en rueda de prensa: “Veo al Barcelona por el retrovisor”. Y que Puyol le conteste: “Bueno, eso es cierto, pero ya veremos después del partido”. Pues claro, es un simple reto deportivo, una rivalidad sana, la chispa del fútbol.

Quien lo tome de otra manera y crea que es un permiso para utilizar la violencia no tiene el cerebro suficiente para poder llamarse persona. Yo entiendo la buena fe de esos piques y los defiendo. El césped dictará sentencia y el perdedor tendrá que aguantar los vaciles del ganador. Eso hace grande el fútbol y los Barcelona-Real Madrid.

Aunque el domingo se juega el derbi español entre Barcelona y Real Madrid, el culé Xavi Hernández y el merengue Karim Benzema se adelantaron un par de días y disputaron el clásico de forma virtual, en el videojuego FIFA 10 para PlayStation 3, en su modalidad online (cada uno desde su ciudad de residencia), donde el resultado fue de 3-0 a favor del Madrid, con los tres goles de Cristiano Ronaldo.

El dato curioso fue que el delantero francés, quien obviamente eligió al Real Madrid, mandó a la banca a Raúl, capitán de los blancos, y prefirió a Gonzalo Higuiaín como compañero en el ataque (conocedor, no? jaja).

“El equipo que he puesto no se si saldrá en el Camp Nou. En el juego se cambia mucho pero en el campo es diferente. No se si jugará Raúl, es un gran jugador. Desconozco lo que pasará por su cabeza cuando se entere que no le puse”, comentó Benzema a los medios de comunicación.

Por su parte, también hizo una observación sobre su falta de gol en el videojuego.

“Espero que poder marcar al Barcelona, pero lo importante es que el equipo gane el partido. Mientras que ganemos da igual quien marque”, dijo.

Sin duda algo que se vuelve cada vez más popular es que fubolistas e incluso los medios de comunicación usen los videojuegos como una forma entretenida de simular los partidos importantes que se llevarán a cabo en la vida real (curiosidad, innovación, o nada mejor que hacer?), mostrando la importancia cada vez más notorias de esta industria, que se hace cada vez más presente en las calles por medio de anuncios (incluso espectaculares), en televisión con comerciales y obviamente en internet.

Pues a ver qué tal resulta ser el partido de la vida real este domingo, en el Camp Nou. Es un partido muy esperado, pues será la primera vez que midan fuerzas los dos equipos reforzados con sus estrellas: Cristiano Ronaldo y Karim Benzema con el Madrid, e Ibrahimovic con el Barcelona, además del ingrediente especial que siempre representa Messi.

Que gane el más fuerte (bueno, mejor el Madrid, no? jaja).

Saludos!

Marca

]]> http://football-art.org/2009/11/26/poema-al-barca/ Thu, 26 Nov 2009 13:44:39 +0000 luxstrange http://football-art.org/2009/11/26/poema-al-barca/

A DREAM TEAM

©LUX STRANGE, 2009

Ma come, io credevo che Juventus e Milan fossero già qualificate per le semi finali di Champions League. E invece, dopo che ho letto le solite frasi scherzose sull’Inter (per carità, tutte o quasi tutte meritate), mi accorgo che: il Milan, sterminatore di prati europei, macchina da guerra oltre i confini nazionali, deve andare a far punti in Svizzera, contro lo Zurigo, per essere sicuro di passare il turno; la Juventus, nostra signora dei furti su territorio nazionale fin dalla notte dei tempi, si gioca la qualificazione con il Bayern Monaco…
Ma quindi, mi par di capire che tutta sta gran qualità europea in più non ci sia tra le rivali dell’Inter nella corsa scudetto, anzi. Corsa scudetto nella quale, mi par di capire, la Beneamata si trovi a 5 punti in più dei bianconeri e 7 punti più dei rossoneri. Ma allora, tutto sommato, MI PAR DI CAPIRE che poi così male non stia andando la squadra di Mourinho. Certo, io sono il primo che dopo 10 minuti di Barcellona – Inter avrebbe voluto spegnere il televisore e mandare in archivio l’ennesima figuraccia internazionale, arrivata dopo i soliti proclami e le tante inutili chiacchiere. Però, forse, sarebbe il caso di guardare prima in casa propria e poi sbeffeggiare chi, nell’arco di questa stagione, tanto per fare un esempio, ha già messo in cascina un derby vinto 4 a 0, ha il miglior attacco della Serie A, è prima in classifica in maniera indiscutibile da tempo immemore, e tanto altro ancora. Con questo, ripeto, nulla toglie che l’Inter abbia fatto l’ennesima figura di merda in campo europeo, sia chiaro. I motivi? Difficile dirlo. Sono certo che i valori in campo non sono realmente quelli emersi durante i 90 minuti di partita con il Barcellona. Per dire, il Bari avrebbe fatto una figura migliore al Camp Nou, e non mi pare che a livello di organico sia meglio di quello dell’Inter. Pare sia sempre e solo una questione di maledetta mentalità: Cambiasso che sbaglia passaggi da dilettante e Maicon che sembra suo nonno (non il nonno di Cambiasso eh), sono solo due esempi lampanti di quello che voglio dire. Comunque, passiamo sto maledetto girone di qualificazione e poi vediamo che succede.

“Sorry old boy, washing my hair that night”. Am I talking here about Fiorentina’s fans not being bothered to travel to Anfield for a meaningless game with Liverpool but saving their cash for a more cheerful Christmas? No, not really.

What a difference two months can make. When UEFA Champions League group stage caravan was ready to go, at the end of september, there were inevitable mass-media comments based on false assumptions that the “predictability of outcomes” and “the same sense of inertia enveloping the bloated early rounds” will generate a lack of interest and subsequently empty seats around the grounds, “as there is no obvious reason to desert the shampoo anywhere on the continent” in these autumn evenings apart from some big old clashes such as Juventus – Bayern, AC Milan – Real Madrid or Barcelona – Inter. I’ve cited from an oppinion going on the lines of Michel Platini’s alleged misjudgement to mix Europe’s finest, the cream of the elite, with some no-hopers.

Never mind the sarcasm which peppered the comment, “You can imagine the look on Jose Mourinho’s face when Inter were drawn in the same group as Rubin Kazan”, but some might argue that the chance itself for lesser clubs to face giants of the game is a step up on the ladder. The minnows can improve only by playing against the best in the trade.

And others might not be so imaginative yet they’ve noticed Pep Guardiola’s face when the current UEFA Champions League holders were defeated on Camp Nou by Gokdeniz Karadeniz 73rd minute strike. It was 2-1 for Rubin in Barcelona. Actually, not that much of a shock, after a 0-0 draw in Kazan, when the Russian champion was already sprinting towards back to back domestic titles.

It’s well documented the fact that Russian clubs take advantage on their day from the unusual spring-autumn format of the season. Only on this basis and the champions of the EURO 2008 semifinalist shouldn’t have been taken for granted. Not to mention their clubs resurgence in UEFA Cup, which was won by CSKA Moscow and Zenit Sankt Petersburg in 2005 and 2008 respectivelly. That’s a harvest double the amount of England’s, triumphant in UEFA Cup in the last 25 years only through Liverpool, in 2001, but this record can be adjusted in may, in Hamburg, with The Reds derailed from glamorous  UEFA Champions League to its poorer renamed cousin, UEFA Europa League. 

The shampoo will be deserted on wednesday the 9th of december in favour of a journey to San Siro for an exciting Inter – Rubin Kazan decider, with Jose Mourinho’s men and Karadeniz et co equal on points. What can you ask for more? Goliath hosting David and not the other way round, another inconvenience for Europe’s finest, through the eyes of western commentators, to have to pull their alike extraterestrial buses in some “Eastern European backwater”. Although there are human beings living and buying football tickets even there, apparently it seems a stage not glitzy enough for the uber-entities.

It was often the case – and a repeat scenario won’t be any surprise - that the bigger clubs prevailed despite a stuttering start or a poor form altogether in the group stage. The smart money will be on Jose Mourinho’s coat and hairstyle to be admired on the glamorous stage as well in spring but it has to be pointed out that no team is by any means qualified yet from this supposedly inbalanced group. And that says a lot about minnows’ progress. A 2-2 draw as Inter made in Milano against Dinamo Kiyv will do though for the Italian champions.   

 And who would have imagined that Fiorentina Firenze will go through the group stage for the first time in its history at the expense of a seasoned Liverpool side? Or who would have thought that unknown Unirea Urziceni will shatter Glasgow Rangers on Ibrox Park with a 4-1 which contributed to the elimination of Scotland’s champions before the last group games were played?

These are some questions to ponder about. The shampoo will be in use in Glasgow when Gers will travel to Seville for an academic outing against the top of the group Andalucians. Full credit to Dan Petrescu, once a versatile player not only for Chelsea, now a capable manager providing an answer in his own way to another ironic arrow targeting Michel Platini. The commentator was asking if the name of Urziceni is the acceptable contraction…

Well, it’s just a name and nothing else, no better or worse than Stuttgart. Urzica is a plant, a stinging nettle, and has therapeutic values. While Platini’s ideals, to evolve the game on the virtues of solidarity and universality, mentioned when he took helm of UEFA in january 2007, seem already to bear fruit. Or may be some observers discomfort is coming from the president’s suggestion that 4 representatives for England or Spain might be a bit too much and that indebted clubs might end one day thrown out of the competition.

Some might say that I’m very harsh and punitive on some wrong predictions. But I’ll argue that it’s not about some wild results that unexpectedly occured, say AC Milan – Zurich 0-1, Atletico Madrid – Apoel Nicosia 0-0, Bayern Munich – Bordeaux 0-2 or even Manchester United – CSKA Moscow 3-3, given that just an owngoal in the 93rd minute have undone the 2005 UEFA Cup winners at Old Trafford, where Besiktas has won as well, but it’s about the concept of rightly mixing in the group stage the mighty and powerful with some new faces.

Enough knock-out stages will then follow for the big clubs to grace the loftier stratospheres of the competition. But as New Zealand, Honduras or North Korea sneaked through in the group stages of 2010 World Cup final, so UEFA Champions League can do with a few underdogs. No harm but – as it was proved – some excitement.

And isn’t it ironic that it went full circle, if it is to quote again the commentary: “[...] another fixture to get hearts pumping; Unirea Urziceni, of Romania, versus, VFB Stuttgart”. You bet it is. Nothing else than a win will do for Die Schwaben to go through. And by the way, the club’s name is correctly spelled with f and not F. Verein fur Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e.V.

Some minnows proved that Platini’s competition format has its merits and it’s just fair to point out that a former European champion both at club and national level, with Juventus Torino and France, who won as well both domestic competitions in Italy and his native country, winning Cup Winners’ Cup, UEFA Supercup and Intercontinental Cup among other trophees, might be more of a visionary with the game’s best interests at heart than some pundits can imagine.

Will Jose Mourinho succeed against Rubin? Or will he find the going as tough as Rafael Benitez did with Liverpool?

While being here and casting an eye on the backwater of Eastern Europe, just one more point to make. It’s surprising to say and admit that for all their travel, some football writers must lack some geography knowledge.  Why I’m saying this? The same error is repeated for decades, mistakingly including footballing nations as say Czech Republic or Hungary, you name them, in… Eastern Europe.

Well, it’s a well known fact even at kindergarten in mainland Europe that the continent’s eastern border consists of Ural Mountains, at meridian 60 E, which splits the Russian Federation into two: the European Russia and the Asian Russia. Take any map and you’ll notice that European Russian Federation is extremely wide, occupying the whole eastern front of the continent. That’s Eastern Europe…

Which leaves the lot, Czech Republic et all, nowhere else but in Central Europe. The meridians are giving an even more accurate view of what’s what in terms of positioning on our continent’s map, be it a footballing one or not. The 60 degrees E meridian is roughly where Urals are stretching from north to south, while the 30 degrees E meridian cuts across eastern Finland, Belarus and Ukraine. Meridian O passes Greenwich.

So how comes that Slavia or Sparta Prague, bang on the western side of 15 degrees E meridian, so much closer to London than to Moscow, are… eastern European clubs? It defies everything: maps, geography, logic, truth…

To emphasise the aforementioned point about the imbalance of power in the elitist Champions League, the columnist choose poor Unirea Urziceni as a perfect “example”, comparing David with mighty Real Madrid. Well, geographically wise, the same error… Urziceni, the town surprisingly holding the current domestic national title in Romania, even being in eastern Romania, is actually bang in central Europe, whichever way you want to study the map of real Europe, known at kindergarten. Somewhere at mid distance between the western points of say Ireland and Portugal and the Urals.

Unirea Urziceni, this unknown quantity with an unpronouncable name, was deemed as an unworthy opponent for the big and powerful, with the stroke of a keyboard. It took decades for minor Romanian outfits to break the horrendous state controlled hijacking of national football, with Steaua and Dinamo the big bullies on the scene. CFR Cluj made history last year by winning the title, despite all the machinations of Steaua. Cluj-Napoca, a provincial city from Transylvania, have defied the structures of power.

Unirea Urziceni followed the trend and, from nowhere, finished on top, due to Dan Petrescu’s managerial knowhow. His skills honed in Poland, at Wisla Krakow, the former Sheffield Wednesday and Chelsea London full back hit the jackpot by bringing the title in a place the size of Slough. Actually, I’m exaggerating, as Slough is quite big.

Instead of recognizing the amazing shift of power in Romanian football, where it seems that truth starts to prevail and Steaua and Dinamo find it harder and harder to control through corruption, sleaze and influence, some are questioning, placing in imaginary boxes and taking the mickey out of the newborn stars. And I say stars but they might be only comets, shining just for a while. It’s their moment, so why to pick them as “examples” in this infinite talk about the Champions League format moulded by Platini!? Because it’s convenient for some…

The simple truth is that Urziceni is not in eastern Europe, whateversome Western Europeans want to believe, and that Unirea did a wonderful job in following the footsteps of another minnow, CFR Cluj Napoca. A few more like them and we’ll escape the plague of associating Romanian football with the names of Steaua and Dinamo. 

I just assume that if Steaua would have won the title and represent Romania in Champions League, it wouldn’t have been picked as an “example” in the explanation about the imbalance of power in the group stages of the European elite.  Just because Steaua won the old European Cup in ‘86 with players cherrypicked from various minnows, some are assuming that it must be a powerful enough entity to be worthy of a home and away double with Real Madrid. Well, Olympique Lyonnais visited Bucharest recently and showed the real difference in power.

And if one day Steaua will pay even without interest the unpaid transfer sums for players… recruited in those days in the Army, then the mighty and powerful of the Iron Curtain block will be bankrupt and buried, while the “minnows” derided now will empower themselves at least for the merit of bringing talents to the footballing world.

And please don’t show to anybody at Steaua or Dinamo the UEFA Champions League group table with Urziceni in second place, with 8 points. Spare them of blushing for the 5 points gathered all together, with 3 goals scored and 12 conceded, in the eight games played in UEFA Europa League groups, scratching the bottom…

It’s a fun-filled week after that excruciatingly long (in my mind) and pointless (ditto) International break. I won’t spoil too much (up here) because there are a few matches to take joy from today and I wouldn’t want to steal my own thunder by spilling the beans right away. So I’m just gonna take it slow and leave the best posts to la -

ACF Fiorentina 1-0 Olympique Lyonnais – Well, La Viola have sealed their Group of 16 qualification! Fiorentina will be joining their French compatriots (ha!), having defeated said Frenchmen by a single goal at the Stadio Artemio Franchi this evening. It would be Juan Manuel Vargas who provided the difference for the home side, with a spot kick on 27′ after AC Milan almost-signing Aly Cissokho downed Marco Marchionni in Les Gones’ area. However, I think the true credit for the victory belongs to Sebastien Frey, whose stellar display between the sticks saved Cesare Prandelli’s men’s collective behinds time and time again – their defense simply is not the same without Alessandro Gamberini marshalling the back line. Oh, one other minor detail regarding their match: it eliminated Liverpool  from the Champions League. Humble Fiorentina move on, while the Scousers are sent home to cry in their… scouse. Beating up on a French team and an English team with the same result? Two birds with one stone, I say. All that’s left to do is seal first place with a victory at Anfield – normally a tall order, but hell, I’m feeling good about it right now.

Your clock is ticking, Rafa!

Liverpool 1-0 Debrecen – Need I even bother? Does it matter? Liverpool have been knocked out of the Champions League as a result of La Viola’s win over Lyon (for those of you who may have skipped the above paragraph) David Ngog put the Reds ahead early in a game which they started confidently – the Frenchmen was first to the ball within the box on 4′ to poke home and give his side an early 1-0 lead. Rafa Benitez’s men put in a spirited performance in the first half, but by the second they were well away what the score was in Firenze and, with their destiny out of their hands, seemed content to simply boot the ball around. Now completely out of Champions League running despite tonight’s victory, the only heart that the Merseysiders can take is in the fact that they can get their revenge on Fiorentina by spoiling their 1st place hopes at Anfield in 2 weeks time. It seems strange after a victory, but Rafa Benitez unemployment watch, anyone?

Rubin Kazan 0-0 Dynamo Kiev – Rubin Kazan were crowned Russian champions earlier this week, but were unable to work any magic in snowy Tatarstan tonight to bolster their European hopes. Both the Russians and Ukrainians seemed aware of the importance of the match, which could have seen either rise to within grasping distance of Round of 16 qualification, and both sides started the match with tense and tentative play, unwilling to give ground but unwilling to push too far forward as well. The visitors actually dominated the play for much of the match, carrying possession and keeping the Rubinovye on their heels. However, it would be the Russians who came closest to scoring in the 90 minutes, with Oleksander Shovkovski being forced to swat away an acrobatic attempt from Alejandro Dominguez just before the halftime interval. In the end, neither side would get ahead, but both still have a chance of qualification thanks to the result that Barcelona and Inter achieved at the Camp Nou this evening.

Xavi will haunt Jose's nightmares for weeks.

Barcelona 2-0 Inter – Ah, the European Inter we know and hate – and the European Barcelona that we know and (some people) love. Italy’s most dominant team domestically once again failed to show up on the European stage, and were beaten black and blue (get it?) all over the match by a dominant Blaugrana side in Catalonia. It was all Barcelona from the very start, as the home side started early and didn’t really slow it down until the match was more than won. I Nerazzurri were reminded of their own glaring deficiencies as they found themselves unable to deal with Barca’s more technically proficient midfield (Xavi, anyone?) and perhaps the more forward-thinking tactics of Pep Guardiola. Barcelona struck twice early in the match, with Gerard Piqué side-footing in a corner on 10′ and Pedro volleying into the top corner after some beautiful team build-up on 27′. To illustrate the point of Catalan dominance, Inter didn’t even get their first shot off until 35′, and Victor Valdés wasn’t called into action until almost halftime to make a routine save on Diego Milito, who wasn’t looking very princely tonight. The scoreline could have been a lot higher if not for the world-class netminding of Julio Cesar, who proved a strong last line of defense against Barcelona’s constant onslaught. Though not exactly a blowout, Inter’s match has shown once again that Jose Mourinho’s men simply do not have the quality or the mentality to succeed in European football. Mourinho himself spoke of the large gap in quality after the match, citing individual talent as a key area in which La Beneamata simply could not compete. I tend to agree, and with creative genius Wesley Sneijder sidelined that gap becomes even more apparent, but I also think it comes down to tactics. Barcelona always play football on their own terms, with brilliant passing and constant movement, while Mourinho’s men play a more tentative game, content to simply grind out wins while expressing only momentary flashes of genius. Regardless of this result, it seems that both these sides will be advancing to the next round (unless Inter lose at home to Rubin Kazan in a fortnight), but to be swatted out of the Camp Nou so easily is surely a blow to i Nerazzurri and especially their loudmouthed tecnico.

Arsenal 2-0 Standard Liege – A run of the mill match for Arsenal – a Beer and Waffles speedbump, if you will. The Londoners cruised past their visitors at the Emirates Stadium on the strength of 2 first-half goals from Samir Nasri and Denilson on 35′ and 45′ respectively. Manuel Almunia was saved his blushes once by the grace of the woodwork, but other than that it was mostly smooth sailing for the Gunners, who have apparently bounced back nicely after a half-arsed defeat to Sunderland on the weekend. As predicted/warned waaay back when, Arsene Wenger’s men have topped Group H with ease.

Unirea Urziceni 1-0 Sevilla – This one’s just up here for its comic value. Sevilla have looked strong all season, both domestically and in European competition, but have fallen for the first time in these group stages after the Romanians were gifted a win through an Ivica Dragutinovic own-goal and the help of the woodwork. The match’s only goal came just before the interval, with the Serbian defender heading an incoming long ball directly into the back of his own net. Comic gold, that (when it’s not happening to you, anyways). Though the Andalusians continued to dominate much of the play throughout the second half, they were unable to overcome that deficit and ultimately fell to the home side in Bucharest. Dragutinovic’s own-goal may have helped the Romanian side to qualify, as they now sit second in the group behind Los Rojiblancos with 8 points. Interestingly, Urziceni have only score 6 goals in this competition, and 3 of those have been own-goals gifted to them by their opponents! If these guys make it through, they’ve definitely earned it.

These are th- Well, you get the point.

Sin Messi y sin Ibrahimovic. No pudieron estar y no hicieron falta, porque cuando el resto juegan de maravilla, no importa que falten las dos grandes estrellas del equipo. Es cierto que la plantilla del Barça es corta, pero excepcional en 15 ó 16 jugadores. La inquietud de los últimos días por las sensaciones y los resultados ha sido borrada de un plumazo tras la exhibición contra el Inter.

Xavi e Iniesta dieron un auténtico recital de mover el balón. Alves recordó que los laterales están para subir cuando el contrario no ataca. Y Pedrito se confirmó como la gran revelación de la temporada. Se está ganando a pulso y a goles un puesto en el once titular. No en vano, es el máximo goleador del Barça contando todas las competiciones. Enfrente, un desapercibido Eto’o, que poco puede hacer si no le llegan balones. No es lo mismo ser el delantero centro del Inter que ser el del Barça.

Así que los culés se han ganado el 90% de su pase a octavos de final, gracias también al empate entre el Rubin y el Dinamo de Kiev. Sólo una catástrofe (que el Barça perdiera por tres goles en Kiev y que ganaran el Rubin o el Inter) puede dejar fuera a los de Guardiola, que hoy ha recuperado la sonrisa y las ganas de bromear con sus jugadores.

Con el gran escollo de la semana salvado, el Barça piensa ya en el Madrid. Los blancos buscan su clasificación mañana contra el Zúrich, en el regreso de Cristiano Ronaldo 55 días después.

P.D: Espero que lo de Paquillo Fernández no sea cierto. Sería un golpe muy duro para nuestro deporte. De momento, él proclama su inocencia. Yo le creo.

Recital sense Messi, ni Ibra i la classificació quasi al sac !

El Barça supera clarament l’Inter de Mourinho i Eto’o en un partidàs de tot l’equip malgrat les baixes. El Barça no ha baixat en cap moment la intensitat, però malgrat que ha tingut un parell d’ocasions més per ampliar el marcador, el marcador ja no s’ha mogut.

Il n’y a qu’une seule équipe sur le terrain. Largement dominateur avec environ 60% de possession de balle, le FC Barcelone déroule tranquillement sur son terrain et mène logiquement. L’Inter est en souffrance et passe très rarement la ligne médiane. C ça les grandes équipes – et encore plus les Catalans – même sans leurs Stars… elles se transcendent !

Le FC Barcelone a pris la tête du groupe F après son succès mérité face au pâle Inter Milan (2-0), mardi soir au Camp Nou. Nul en Russie entre Rubin Kazan et le Dynamo Kiev (0-0). La dernière journée sera décisive.

45 min: 2 – 0 : Goal de Piqué 12′ i después de Pedro 27′

Barca are 2-0 up at the break thanks to goals from Piqué (10 minutes) and Pedro (25) and have dominated possession during the first 45 minutes which have been almost completely played in Inter’s half.

El Barça derrota con claridad al Inter y encarrila la clasificación para octavos…

Paso de gigante del Barça en la Champions. Se ha situado líder del grupo al superar con solvencia al Inter de Milán. Los goles de Piqué y Pedro han decidido.

Victoire – Victory  du Barça (2-0) !

Visca El Barça..Visca S’Alqueria !

IVO…. Català i prou !

Hoteles Catalonia os recomiendo alojarse en uno de sus 21 hoteles en Barcelona para así poder asistir el ¨Clásico¨ del fútbol español entre el FC Barcelona y el Real Madrid. Por fin el duelo ya tiene horario oficial: el 29 de noviembre a las 19.00 hrs. El Camp Nou vivirá un partido apasionante correspondiente a la duodécima jornada del campeonato de Liga en un momento en el que tanto el equipo barcelonés como el madrileño llegarán muy emparejados en lo alto del ranking. No se lo pierden!

Con la resaca de los partidos de ayer, podemos dar por comenzada la Semana Grande del fútbol, con ese Barcelona-Real Madrid al fondo, el domingo a las 19:00 horas.

A ese partido llegará líder el Real Madrid, por inexplicable que sea el hecho. 28 puntos de 33 posibles firman el mejor arranque de los blancos desde hace 17 años. Pero el ansiado buen juego sigue sin tan siquiera asomarse. Contra el Racing no jugó “ni bien ni mal”, como dijo Pellegrini. Sirve también la explicación de Higuaín: “Estoy contento por el gol y por el equipo… Jugamos… Bueno, como pudimos”. Pues pudieron ganar o no, porque el árbitro le amargó la noche a Canales, canterano del equipo cántabro, que marcó su gol de forma legal.

Al otro lado del puente aéreo las cosas no son tan doradas como el año pasado. Todavía no ha perdido en Liga, eso es cierto, pero es una derrota moral perder el liderato. El Barça jugó mejor en la primera parte que en la segunda y demostró que la defensa es un punto flaco que antes era fuerte. Esto también se debe a que ya no es la apisonadora de hace no mucho. A esta alturas de Liga, el año pasado llevaba 36 goles a favor. Ahora, 29.

Antes de medirse cara a cara, Madrid y Barça se juegan su futuro en la Champions. Los blancos deberían no tener problemas para doblegar en casa al Zúrich, en lo que puede ser la vuelta de Cristiano Ronaldo al fútbol. Dependiendo del resultado del Olympique de Marsella, el Madrid puede verse clasificado para octavos el miércoles. Un día antes, el martes, Eto’o regresará al Camp Nou. Si el camerunés y sus compañeros profanan el feudo blaugrana y el Rubin Kazan le gana al Dinamo de Kiev, el Barça diría adiós a la Champions. Me cuesta creer que el Inter se lleve ese partido…

Así comienza esta Semana Grande. Con los dos equipos ni contentos ni tristes, sino todo lo contrario. Su estado de ánimo lo decidirán los partidos de Champions y la evolución de sus dos grandes estrellas, Messi y Cristiano Ronaldo. Si juegan ambos y Madrid y Barça solventan sus compromisos europeos, tendremos servido un gran partido, que es lo que todos esperamos.

Como bien dijo Miguel Gil: “El Madrid entra líder en el Camp Nou”, ¿seguirá acertando y saldrá también líder?, gran pregunta de la cual tendremos respuesta la semana que viene. El Athletic ha puesto algo más de emoción a la liga al empatar ayer contra el Barça. El Madrid gana aunque continúa sin convencer. Por otro lado, el Sevilla suma y sigue y se encuentra en la sombra a sólo 3 puntos del Madrid y a 2 del Barça. El Patético sigue como siempre, no levanta cabeza y se empieza a estrellar contra el fondo del pozo con sus 7 puntitos. Hay que dar la enhorabuena al Deportivo que sigue ganando y puede ser la gran revelación de este año. Aquí os dejo los resúmenes que he podido encontrar de ayer sábado.

Tenerife 1-2 Sevilla

Deportivo 2-1 Atlético

Real Madrid 1-0 Racing

Para los que esperen el resumen del Barça siento comunicarles que no lo he logrado encontrar. Os dejo un enlace de Marca para que lo podáis ver: http://www.marca.com/marcador/futbol/2009_10/primera/jornada_11/ath_bar/

Fuentes: Marca

So I have new reason for hoping I’m accepted by either Michigan State law or Wayne State law. Acceptance to either means that I would be able to start school no earlier than fall 2010. This would mean that my month of May would be free. Why is this good? My parents are taking a two-week cruise through Southern Europe by way of the Mediterranean Sea and they have asked me if I would want to go.

Would I want to go? Fuck yeah, are you kidding me? Granted, the trip wouldn’t be as cool as backpacking through Europe but I honestly wouldn’t do that anyway. As structured as a cruise vacation may be, it won’t stop me from seeing all there is to see throughout the trip’s many destinations. These include: Barcelona (!), Florence, Venice, Rome, Athens (!), and Istanbul (!) just to name a few of the highlights. The only “foreign” country I have ever visited is Canada and, if you’ve been to Canada, you know that totally doesn’t count. I had a chance to play on a hockey team that travelled to Prague for a tournament, sort of like a Michigan high school “all-star” team, but I decided college was more important (2nd worst decision ever, besides not playing junior hockey). That would have been my first shot at Europe and I even bought a passport before opting out of the tryout.

But this is my 2nd, and possibly only, chance. Entry into either of the aforementioned schools is by no means a sure thing and I won’t be hearing anything until at least the end of December. And if I hear from either school earlier than that, it’s probably not good news. But, good God, do I need this to happen. Thinking about all the pictures I could take and the sites I could see is almost unfair. I can see it now, my mom losing her shit and almost calling the American Embassy in Turkey because I disappeared for hours to find the Sukru Saracoglu. Same thing in Spain to see the Camp Nou. But I must not allow myself to put the cart before the horse. There is a very solid chance that I will only be hearing about these places over a phone call while I take a much needed break from reading.

So I’ll just leave everything up to fate, I guess. If it is going to be so, than it will be so. It’s out of my hands at this point so there’s no reason to worry or get all anxious about it. Like I said, early news is likely bad news so I’ll just have to occupy myself for another five to seven weeks.

I feel it necessary at this point to say that what happened to Ireland on Wednesday is just awful. France’s winning goal 1) was offside, three players in fact, 2) featured a grazing hand ball on the arm of Sebastien Squillaci, 3) featured the now infamous handball (would have been a carry in the NBA) from Thierry Henry before Gallas (of all the players in the world it had to be fucking William Gallas) headed it home. Complete BS. And FIFA just announced today that it has denied the Irish Football Association’s petition for a replay. Gee, I wonder why? Could it be that Sepp Blatter is to FIFA what Bud Selig is to MLB? Probably worse, actually. He knows the star power that the World Cup would be missing if France can’t play in South Africa next summer. Also, the head of UEFA, the governing body of the European WC Qualifiers, is Michel Platini: the French team captain from 1982 to 1986 (at least, I’m not about to fully research the asshole for many, many reasons). There is probably no happier man than Platini now that France have qualified. Do you think he’s going to stick up for Ireland? That’ll happen the day Jim Rome accepts soccer as sport.

(at least Thierry Henry has said that France should force to have the game replayed. I don’t blame Henry. He continued the play. What else was he supposed to do. He didn’t even really celebrate the win, for obvious reasons. He gets a pass in my book.)

Btw fuck you, Jim Rome. I caught your rant (sounded like all the others, actually) on JRIB yesterday. So let me put this simply: IF YOU DON’T LIKE A PARTICULAR SPORT, THAN DON’T EVEN TALK ABOUT IT. If you hate it so much than why do you waste time on your show to make all those “hilarious” quips about juice boxes and minivans? Oh yeah, because you have nothing else to talk about. I would pay just about anything to see a soccer fan go Jim Everett on you. Maybe we can get Martin Taylor to snap your leg in half like he did to Eduardo. Not a man’s sport? Do you realize how many bad leg injuries happen each year? Probably 10-times as many as any NFL season. I’m not just talking about hairline fractures, I’m talking about hangin-by-only-the-skin leg breaks. Happens at least once a month in soccer.

Where am I going with this? I don’t know. I just get so mad when I think about the things that Rome says about soccer. I’d go to jail if it meant I could get in a free shot on the guy. Right to the throat.

Nick angry. Nick need lift heavy weights. Nick smash!

 Esto es lo que ha dicho Samuel Eto’o ante su inminente visita al estadio que ha disfrutado de sus goles en los últimos años, según esta noticia de El Mundo Deportivo.

Espero que nunca marques un gol en el Camp Nou, para que así no tengas que contenerte en la celebración. En el Calcio, te deseo que marques muchos goles

Ja s’ha retirat tota la gespa, i ara es retira tota la terra fins arribar al llit de graves de drenatge del camp de gespa. S’observa que les graves del drenatge de la gespa natural estan en molt bon estat, de fet tots sabeu que aquest camp mai es suspenia un partit per la pluja.

De passage à Barcelone, il était évident que j’allais assister à un match du Barça. En fait,  je pense ne surprendre personne en écrivant un article sur un (autre) match de soccer. T’es pas content?! Passe à la page suivante…même si c’est probable que ça concerne le soccer aussi! Peu importe, Barça et Mallorca croisaient le fer ce soir-là. Et moi je croisais les bras et les jambes parce qu’on se les gelait au Camp Nou.

Arrivés au stade, une confusion totale. Où doit-on aller chercher nos billets??? Pas ici, pas là, pas ici non plus. Merde, fait chier. Côté organisation, ça commençait mal. Beaucoup plus simple au Santiago Bernabeu et au Vicente Calderon. Dans la file, il y avait des Anglais qui me racontaient comment ils avaient passé d’un endroit à l’autre et que chaque fois on leur disait de retourner au kiosque précédent. Mais bon, c’est le Barça, donc je leur pardonne!

Comme prévu, une fois dans le stade, le reste c’était du passé. Stade énorme et plein à craquer. Équipe démentielle sur le terrain. Les Ibrahimovic, Henry, Puyol, etc. Ça promettait!!!

Les joueurs du Barça célèbrent un but

Eh bien, j’ai pu assister au plus beau soccer de toute ma vie. De mes propres yeux, j’ai admiré les acrobaties d’Ibrahimovic, l’efficacité de Pedro, l’acharnement et la vitesse de Henry, la classe de Piqué…le jackpot en d’autres mots! Les photos sont sur Facebook et voici le résumé du match:
Mais voilà où ma critique devient plus sombre: les partisans du Camp Nou sont ridiculement PLATES!!! Encore plus silencieux qu’au Santiago Bernabeu et complètement rien à voir avec le Vicente Calderon. Les chants des supporteurs font pitié et les gens n’appuient presque pas leur équipe. J’en suis venu à la conclusion que ce sont des bébés gâtés. Ils ne se rendent pas compte qu’ils ont le meilleur soccer sur la planète et qu’ils devraient en profiter pour se faire entendre. Et ils ont le culot de siffler quand ça ne va pas EXTRÊMENT bien. Trop c’est comme pas assez.

Mais bon, comme je le disais, je leur pardonne. C’est le Barça.

Volvemos a tener el derbi a la vuelta de la esquina, el 29 de este mes de noviembre el Real Madrid vuelve a visitar el Camp Nou para intentar sacarse la espina clavada el año pasado en el partido que ganaron los catalanes por 2-0. El Madrid que hasta hoy día 12 de noviembre tiene una imagen bastante dañada, dispone de un partido de liga y otro de Champions para intentar levantar la moral, tanto de afición como de los jugadores. Aunque ya sabemos que los clásicos nunca son cosa de estadísticas…

El Barcelona, el mismo día recibe al Real Madrid en su campo para intentar alejarse un poco más del club madridista e intentar repetir un resultado positivo en casa. El equipo de Pep que está teniendo un racha impresionante siendo aun el único equipo liguero imbatido, no lo está haciendo muy bien en Champions, por lo que el partido que precede al Clásico ya es para el equipo catalán casi como una final anticipada, deben ganar sí o sí. Un realmente buen estado de forma de la mayoría de los jugadores “blau-granes” crea un buen ambiente entre la afición que confía en el equipo.

Para no variar, y después de la encuesta para saber que jugador era mejor, vamos a pediros que votéis en la siguiente encuesta sobre el partido y que os animéis a poner el resultado que esperáis o queréis que haya al final de los noventa minutos.

Avui dia 9 de novembre han començat les obres de substitució de la gespa natural per l’artificial. En aquest primer dia s’ha procedit a retirar la capa de gespa i la terra vegetal. S’han derruït les banquetes i arrencat les porteries.