Barcelona Mess(i) it up

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Barcelona crashed out of the Champions League after a riveting second leg in the semifinals against Chelsea at Camp Nou on Tuesday.

The 2-2 draw had all the ingredients that make a simple game of 22 guys chasing a spherical ball so compelling: a red card, a sublime goal and a missed penalty.

Barcelona’s intimidating home became a veritable theatre of contrasting emotions as Chelsea achieved mission impossible through old-fashioned grit and defensive discipline, which is an euphemism for defending with 10 men. For a more dramatic script, William Shakespeare must come alive.

The Catalan giants’ season collapsed in a matter of two matches. The 2-1 defeat against Real on Saturday virtually ended Barca’s La Liga hopes and Chelsea delivered the knockout blow 72 hours later in Europe’s blue ribbon event.

Barca midfielder Cesc Fabregas has pleaded with his team-mates to focus on the Spanish Cup. It is like swapping a Ferrari for a bullock cart.

The Cup is only a poor cousin of the big-eared European trophy. It is no solace for a team of Barcelona’s stature and success rate in recent years.

There is no need for a ballot to find out the most popular football club in the world. Manchester United and Real Madrid may have more financial muscle, but Barcelona are the club people, cutting across continents, love. Barca, no doubt, play the game the way it should be played.

Barca’s legion of fans must be in mourning. But they would be wrong to console themselves that their beloved club had been robbed of a place in the final.

Nothing produces more excuses than perceived injustice. It would be wrong to take refuge in possession and passes completed because football matches aren’t won on statistics.

Chelsea won fair and square, even though questions will be asked about the lack of flair in their game and the means they adopted to achieve the end.

Here are some observations on the Camp Nou encounter that left Barca bloodied and the Blues triumphant.

1Lionel Messi is not from Mars; he is made of flesh and nerves like all of us. It would be cruel to say that the little genius was responsible for Barca’s ouster as he gave away possession that resulted in Chelsea’s winner in the first leg and his failure to put away a penalty at home.

At the same time, it must be mentioned that Messi was a pale shadow of himself at Camp Nou.
Barring the pass that set up his team’s second goal, the Argentinian did nothing of note.

The way he brought down Frank Lampard towards the end by tugging him summed up his wretched day.

It wasn’t the Messi his fans are familiar with. Lesser players may have escaped with mild censure but Messi has set the bar so high for himself that a couple of mistakes become monstrous.

2Barcelona ran out of ideas when their preferred passing game and attack through the middle failed to provide the goods.

They lacked Plan B and it bled them. Did you ever see Barca whip in crosses from both flanks when Chelsea blocked route one by parking a London double-decker?

Even corners were changed into open play as Barca showed obsessive interest in stroking the ball into the net. Headed goals don’t count less.

Not having taller players in the box may be trotted out as an excuse, but a perfectly-timed jump is more lethal than centimeters sometimes. Set-pieces settled the 1998 World Cup final between Brazil and France.

Zinedine Zidane achieved with his head what Ronaldo couldn’t with his feet. Let’s not forget that the Frenchman was also capable of conjuring up magic with his feet.

3. Brazilians can bring you to the edge of your seat even if he is a defensive midfielder playing for a ‘negative’ team like Chelsea. Few would forget the Ramires chip. It was as audacious as it was aesthetically pleasing.

4. Chelsea should sack a high-profile manager for a stop-gap arrangement if they have to reach the Champions League final. Avram Grant took them to the summit clash in 2009 and it is now the turn of Roberto Di Matteo. Chelsea sparkle if there is no pressure on their manager.

5John Terry is crap. His knee-jerk reaction on Tuesday only confirmed it.