A total of 14 trophies including two La Liga titles and
Champions league double in 2009 and 2011, yes these were the achievements that
Barca had achieved under the reign of legendary Pep Guardiola. But, now
according to the latest champions league semi-final draw Barca will be facing
Guardiola’s current managed team FC Bayern Munich which will see Guardiola
coming for the first time in camp Nou since he left four years ago.
It’s a quite heady-mix time for the Barcelona fans as
they are finally preparing to defeat the man who has given them so much to be
proud of. The whole FC Barcelona community waited three years for this game and
finally it arrived in their doorsteps and the last thing that they have to do
is “Seize the moment”. There are many speculations about the draw like who’s
going to have the advantage this time after what happened 2 years before, when
FC Bayern overpowered Barca’s domination with a 7-0 scoreline. But, this time I
think it is Barca’s time to triumph and let me tell you why?
The new
(Old) Barca!
Yes, Eto’o/Henry/Messi is now Messi/Suarez/Neymar.
Previously, the old trident were generally being fed by the Xavi-Iniesta pair
who had almost hands in all the goals for Barcelona back in those days but now
the times have changed, though the ‘pair’ is still there in the squad but with
Xavi’s growing age, their visionary ‘pair- power’ have never been the same.
But, Barca now has Rakitic who has shown excellent form this season in the
mid-field area and can be a valuable asset in the game against Bayern. The new trio
hasn’t disappointed at-all in the recent years. Neymar with his ball-playing
skills have always been a invariable attacking threat to the opponents and
Suarez is an excellent dribbler of the ball and an skillful individual too who
is quite professional when comes in ‘one on one’ situation and Messi is well ‘Lionel
Messi’.
The
revenge!
Defeats are like war-wounds and Barca’s wound has not yet
been dried up, it is still as wide opened as it was two years before when
Bayern beat them 7-0 and took advantage of a coach-less team, a team when it
lacked most of its prime players, a team which was emotionally tired( the
‘Vilanova’ incident). But, this time the dice will played in a different way as
the FC Barcelona squad is fully fit with an excellent coach and with no
emotions tied up with them, just one thing in mind ‘the revenge must be taken’.
Now that Barca has its chance, I hope the players will relish and anticipate
the situation completely.
Magical
Messi!
Well, why it always has to come down to this lad? Answer
could be that he is the world’s best player but it is much more complex than
that. Messi is well-known for his quick movements and dribbling skills and
that’s exactly what will edge Barca a little bit ahead of their rivals Bayern in
the tie up between the two giants. In recent years, opponents players have
found a traditional way of stopping Messi, i.e either put four defenders on
him or foul him but in the current season, Messi has mesmerized everybody with
his true leadership qualities by giving everything he can to make his team win
attitude, it is obligatory that the only person who can stop Messi is Messi.
Bayern is an excellent team and they too have individuals
who can decide a game but true speaking they don’t have a player who can decide
that ‘today will be the day that I will win this match for my team by being
phenomenal’.
Bayern is an excellent team who has a strong squad and
the most innovative coach in their backyard but they are not supernatural or
unbeatable. If Bayern repeat the same mistake versus Barca as they made in the
first leg against Porto, then it will be ‘game over’ for them but things can
never be conventional in football, so both the team will have to be the very
best in their games if they want to progress for the final.
/Anuttam/
No comments:
Post a Comment