Chelski parked their big blue bus in the Nou Camp, switched off the engine and there it stood for 90 minutes, while the artists of Barca tried to spin a web of magic around it. But the big, heavy, stupid bus just sat there. The world’s best midfielder, Xavi Hernandez, usually so quiet, was reduced to blaming the refs and the big bad English boys for spoiling his evening. Anti-football, they’re calling it. No amigo, that’s smart football, the right measure at the right time. Chelsea know they can’t go to the Nou Camp and try to attack. Let the Spaniards spray the style, and you would do best to defend.
The second leg at the bridge was one game Chelsea really should have won. The referee was an idiot, we all will agree. Those were two clear penalties, but the kind of chance Drogba missed, maybe it was never meant to be. But i could rave about that for hours, and it would be no freakin use. Barca play the final in Rome.
Anyway, Barca were beautiful as always, and though United have more than just a chance of winning, it remains to be seen how they manage to keep tabs on Leo Messi like Chelsea did in their fixtures, without looking like the Chelsea ‘anti football’ team they and their fans seem to despise so much. Evra can’t do it alone, not on your life.
Xavi Hernandez is the best player in the world right now. You can’t not give him that. He’s been the inspiration behind some of the best attacking moves and the sexiest football played in the world this season. Euro ’08 where he was player of the tournament was just the beginning, he carried that form and that vision to the club level where he took Barca to heights unimaginable to us mere mortals.
Who can keep him quiet? Carrick? Hah! Xavi can play 30 passes in a match through Carricks’ legs on a bad day. And anyway, Iniesta will keep him busy anyway. Paul Scholes’ll have the herculean task of outplaying Yaya Toure and still being playmaker to Rooney, Berbatov and Ronnie Boy. Maybe if the portugese pretty-boy plays well against Barca he might be offered ten thou a week extra to go to the Bernabau. No-one wants to see 6-2 again. El Clasico really shouldn’t become El Footballing Lesson again.
It may sound funny, but the key to Barca playing well might lie in the hands of Barcelona’s right back Dani Alves. How he plays might well determine the result. Does he seek out Ryan Giggs? Does he keep bombing forward like he’s best at doing? Does he sit back a little more?
If he’s caught out by one of United’s superfast counterattacks Barca might find themselves trailing. Imagine four red shirts sprinting upfield with just Puyol and Marquez protecting poor Victor Valdes. That might spell game over.
Bring it on.
