So, after all the BBC drooling over Barca, it seems the mighty have taken one massive fall. Not only were they thrashed in the first leg, they were well and truly spanked in front of their home crowd. So much for the invincibility of Barca, maybe we can all now move on.
of course it is just as simple as that ain't it, they make the semis and take the league with their new manager in NY for treatment for his cancer for chunks of the season. it is really that they have just turned into a **** team all of a sudden. Every team has poor seasons, I think they can more than hold their heads high after sustaining such dominance, no one wins every game every trophy and no team is on their game very game either, they got spanked but when you look back, they spanked others many more times, stupid thread.
barca was crap last season too .. coincidence? .. NO barca was in their peak bcz they were able to close down opponents once losing the ball and thus take it back again as soon as thye lost it and thus piling up pressure on teams, Inesita and particularly xavi are not getting younger and are not able to run all over the pitch like before
Barca are not invincible but a great team. I've enjoyed watching them and cannot understand people rejoicing when they fail.
the pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, lose ball, take it back , pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, lose ball/take shot ........ gets boring after 10 minutes
Some of it's to do with the media "greatest team ever", "football form the heavens", "if Jesus came back to earth he'd struggle to get into their women's team" etc. etc etc. I also personally feel that their gamesmanship and actual pure cheating is possibly worse than any other team - and if they're that good they don't need to do it.
Nah don't care about the media. Just enjoy the way they play. I disagree about their cheating. No worse IMO than other European sides and even Premier League clubs these days.
They can be a bit tedious on occasion, usually when they are massively superior to their opponents. But when they need to turn it on, like against Milan in the CL this year, they can be really, really good. Nothing boring about the football they played that night, at all. It was brilliant. Bayern were just better over the two legs and and are a better team, Barca missed their catalyst in Messi. He is the difference and when he's not there they go back to being just like the rest. They've got a pretty average back five to be fair, it's always been the case when Puyol is not in the team and Pique is bizarrely over rated by many people . He's just an ok center half, why do you think he never got in our side?
Don't think it's all about Messi tbh. They need the triangle of Xavi, Iniesta and Messi all firing in the heart of their team in order to really perform. In 2010 they had Iniesta out against Inter and were bang average against a team we had bossed the year before. Then in 2012 Xavi and Messi were pretty ordinary against Chelsea and the whole team suffered as a result. You're right about their defence tho - they've always had something of a glass jaw, particularly against counter attacks. Again, they rely on the trio to keep possession enough to stop the opposition ever having more than two or three counters in a game.
Same reason why there is an ABU brigade, people dislike it when teams are successful for a number of years in a row.
Bayern are just a class above everyone else really. Barcelona are a great side, but Bayern have a top class set of defenders, plus their midfielders all have defensive qualities. They're so difficult to break down, and have only coceded around 10-15 all season.
I put this on the rival thread (I think) but here goes again... Surely writing Barca off at this point is a bit like saying Man Utd are finished too? Both teams have run away with the respective leagues and neither as done as well in Europe as they had wanted, however Barca made it to the semi's. Bit of a joke on both accounts if you ask me!
Who's said United are finished? Clearly we're not, and nor are Barca for that matter but they have had their aura shattered somewhat by what happened. We on the other hand got knocked out by the odd goal after having gone down to ten men, it was hardly the end of the world. No doubt they'll be back.
There is a different between losing by the odd goal in five after a dodgy sending off, and getting spanked to nil both home and away. Also I don't remember many people claiming this Utd side was the best club side in football history - the higher the team is built up to be the harder they fall. I agree it's too early to write them off, but no one is doing that. People are just pointing out that the massive hype of the past few years has been quite brutally punctured by Bayern.
Pass pass without any penetration IS boring. This is what happened last night and recently without Messi. It gets very boring for the spectators and viewers to see the ball being passed in front of the defence without a shot on goal . Without the skill and flair, even the kick and rush and all hell for leather physical game of the championship can seem more exciting. With a fully fit Messi (plus Iniesta and Xavi), the cutting of the most solid defence and the pressing game they had with Pep G to get the ball back, they WERE indeed formidable. And their football was fantastic to watch too.
