The Review: Levante 1-1 FC Barcelona – CHAMPIONS OF SPAIN!!!
Ladies and gentlemen, FC Barcelona are the official La Liga Champions for the 2010-2011 season!
This season was special. We were made fun of in the beginning of the season, after losing our first home game to Hercules in September. The doubters and haters had come out as fast as they could after the game. We were called weak, they said we were tired, that Real Madrid would trounce us this year, especially considering that Madrid were the ones who possessed the “Special One”. Yet after a brutal season, our boys have battled through every obstacle placed in front of them, and in they end, after all the smoke had cleared, OUR team stood the tallest. This is a day for all of us to be proud, We Did It!
We went into Week 36 squaring off against Levante. The Valencia based side needed to win this game just as much as we did, although a draw would have been beneficial to both teams. We needed a point in order for us to be appointed La Liga Champions, and a point for Levante would have guaranteed them a place in the Spanish top flight next season.
Guardiola clearly realized the situation, and his team selection reflected the occasion. Our coach decided to roll out with a line-up which consisted of both first-teamers and substitutes. Valdes was the goalie, while Pep chose a back-line of Alves, Mascherano, Pique, and Abidal, with a midfield consisting of Xavi, Keita, and Busquets, while our front line included Messi, Villa, and Afellay.
The beginning of the game was unusual. Barça had most of the ball, while Levante had the better chances in the first 20 minutes. Weak headers, and some woeful finishing denied Levante the chance to get the opening goal of the game. Barcelona then managed to grab a hold on the match, and the best chance in the first half for Barcelona fell in the 25th minute. After winning a free kick, Xavi whipped the ball into the penalty area which Busquets almost managed to get a head to.
Two minutes after the first chance, we took the lead thanks to a brilliant pass from Xavi. After having received the ball 40 yards from the goal, Xavi turned, looked up, and spotted Keita’s 20 yard run. Our midfield general then picked out Keita with a peach of a pass, from where our number 15 managed to produce a wonderful header into the top left corner of the net.
As soon as the first goal was scored, Barcelona went back to what it does best. Keep Ball. Our next chance of the game fell to Villa, whose curling shot from the edge of the area missed the right hand corner by a couple of inches. Two minutes after this chance by Villa, Levante scored their first goal of the night. A routine ball from Javi Venta should have been cleared by Pique, but a misunderstanding between the defender and Valdes allowed Caicedo to roll the ball into the empty net. Messi then almost managed to get his first goal of the night, trying to place the ball into the top corner of the net from a 25 yard free kick, but it curled agonizingly wide from the post. With that, the half time whistle had blown.
The second half was probably one of the most boring halves of the season. The only highlights were two Messi runs, two runs which should have produced a better outcome. His first occurred in the 56th minute. He received the ball 25 yards from goal, and after having his passing options limited by the Levante defence, Messi managed to wriggle and skip past four Levante players, but his shot bounced back from the inside of the post and it was cleared to safety.
His second run saw him start from 40 yards out. After playing a one-two with Alves, Messi went on a mazy run, which saw him evade the attention of the entire Levante defense, but after some nice footwork, his shot from the edge of the area missed the goal by a matter of centimeters.
The clock ticked down to the final minutes, and other than a few substitutions, one that included Abidal getting a standing ovation from the Levante faithful, there was not much special to witness. And when the last minute of stoppage time had finished, and the referee had signaled the end of the 36th game in Barcelona’s 2010-2011 season, everyone that was associated with FC Barcelona were ecstatic, as that was the whistle that confirmed FC Barcelona as the 2010-2011 La Liga Champions.
When I wrote my first review, the review that I submitted when I applied for totalBarça (I picked the Barcelona-Real Madrid game), I wrote that whether or not FC Barcelona win a title this season, we were witnessing a special era. An era which saw us rack up title after title, assemble one of the greatest teams ever brought together, both on an individual and collective note, an era which saw us produce one of the greatest performances in the history of football, an era which saw three of our best players recognized as the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd best players in the world, an era which saw us witness one of the greatest ever football players to have graced the game, the list goes on…. This team is special, and they now have three La Liga titles from the last three years. I feel like crying. A part of me feels as if though, until I die, I will never be able to witness such a golden period in FC Barcelona’s history, and just for the record, I’m eighteen years old. I haven’t seen Sacchi’s Milan, I haven’t seen the great Ajax, I haven’t seen the 1970′s Brazil, I haven’t even seen our very own Dream team of the 90′s, but watching this team play makes me feel as if, though I don’t need to see all those other teams play, it makes me feel as though this team is better than all the other great teams of the years before. Enjoy this moment fellow Cules, WE did it. Oh, and did I mention, we’re also in the Champions League Final… Not bad, not bad at all… VISCA BARCA!!!!
Awards
Man of the Match: None, the man of the match for this game is the whole club. Clinching a league title is no easy feat, especially when it’s the third one on the trot. The boys didn’t play their best game, but they didn’t have to, as a draw would have been perfect for both the teams. If I did have to pick one player, then it would probably be Xavi, wonderful passing, and the pass for our goal… speechless…
Stat(s) of the day: 21st La Liga title, third in a row, nuff’ said…
Photo: Getty Images
Great review GowthamP! Thanks for this..
I agree with the entire paragraph about the eras.
We will never see such dominance again. Ever.
These seasons have been special.
Campeones , Campeones , Ole ole ole!!!
Forca Barca!!!
Soon to be Champions of Europe and the World again
Visca E Barcelona
my team for rest of liga matches would be
afellay——villa(strkr)————pedro
Keita——–Thiago—————–Xavi
King abi–Masch—Pique—–Alves
—————-Pinto———————–
Thank you Barca!! Now I would love to see the following players joining Cesc, Neymar, Sissoko, Van der Wiel, Eden Hazard, Bale, Bastos, Thiago Silva, Modric, Rossi
To stay in the "Transfer Rumors" archives. The stories linking us with players are just.. pfft.
Sorry Sid, but we aren't Madrid. Let's celebrate now, not talk about all these signings. And don't forget, we still have to play the most important match this season. After winning at Wembley and even bigger celebrations yesterday/today/tommorow, then we can look to the transfer window. Though I'm more excited about Thiago's (and also Fontas) first (real) season in first team next year than about all those new signings.
Congrats to all cules around the world.
VISCA LA MASIA, VISCA BARÇA Y VISCA CATALUNYA!
)
(Y VISCA FUENTEALBILLA, don Andres might add
Here's to hoping Pep would really play the cards in his hands next season, considering it might be his last. Barça could have definitely done better this season. We've made to overwork by him countless times and our recent results testify to that.
I hope Pep has figured out what to do next year after his HUGE gambles this season (lack of rotation, converting Villa to a winger/forward/striker/decoy, etc in addition to his normal gambles). Now I'm not saying I'm unhappy with Pep. It's a good season for him; mosta his gambles paid off. I just think we would be in a better position if he had gambled less (ie Copa, earlier Liga, Pedro & Bojan's form) though I do agree this is important for the future.
Nevertheless, all in all, a good season and I'm confident Pep is gonna outdo himself next season as he has always done every year.
forza barca ….in CL!!
I can't believe people are talking about transfers and being in better position if Pep had gambled less. Is winning the liga and being in the CL final not being in a good position? Have we become this spoilt? My God, we just won the liga and there's already a whole paragraph about Pep's gambling, not rotating and plans for next season..lets just finish this season first! We couldnt have won everything, the players arent robots. We won the liga! Lets celebrate for God's sake! And then try for the double in Wembley! Leave all the rumors, criticisms and negatives till the summer at least..
CAMPEONES!! CAMPIONS! CHAMPIONS!
Congrats and thanks to the team and staff and all cules around the world.
Thanks for the great review Gowtham! (I cant believe you are just 18! Your pieces are always so very well written and maturely presented. Keep up the good work cule!)
The sweetest thing is……el Traductor mou defeated……Visca el Barcaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
50 Mili for Cesc……oh noooo plz!!!
I think you forgot a name called "MESSI"
I don't think he forgot Messi. I think he wants Pep to rest (or play sparingly) him for CL at Wembley.
I think Fontas was really good in the match. Even though our defence was slipping sometimes, he did a great job. He maintained possession, did not take any risk, found his team mates in time. And what a play by Leo ! I was shouting my lungs out when the ball hit the post !
Well, the final is like 16 days away from now. so , maybe rest him during the previous week or so. Not for our match against deportivo and the others.
VISCA LA MASIA,VISCA CARCA Y VISCA CATAGUNYA!!!!!!!!! I am very very happy for what we have recived in the season, althoug it was a very hard season but the boys done it. i apercite pep cuz of his hard working. onther thing that i had heard the Pele has said that javier hernandez is second messi??????????????????????????? My dear Pele! hernandez must play for 60 years then he will become messi student.
Nobody doubts that this team is something special. We are reassured of that every week by our opponents. They play with 10-11 defenders against us. That alone shows what enormous respect they have. And yes, this team is also historic. Their style of play is so unique. (It really isn't "modern football" at all. Manchester and Real Madrid (except when they play against us) play modern football: fast attacking, trying to get to the opponents goal as quickly as possible, very strong defense, many tall and strong players etc)
This is probably the first team since Sacchi's/Capello's Milan that is recognized by the whole world as something more than just another very good team, but as a team that will go down in history as one of the truly great. I have seen some other of those big teams in history. Not just YouTube clips but whole matches. (Well,often just one or two, I must say. If somebody knows how to find historic matches online…pleeaase!) And in terms of dominance and elegance Barca is on that level or even better. It's hard to compare of course, football evolves.
But since this season's Christmas Break I have the fear that Barca is in decline. I just want to give you one statistic:
Goals per match first half of the season: 3,21
Goals per match second half of the season: 1,82
My subjective point of view is also negative: We still have a lot of possession, but we do not turn it into goalscoring chances. I think that in the year 2011 we have created less chances than in any similar period of time since Pep is our coach. Our passing patterns are different too: We used to constantly outpass players from the other team in midfield, nowadays we mainly pass around those players. As a result we keep the ball even longer but to little or no effect. The defending team remains a solid mass and we rarely find the space to create a chance.
What are the reasons for that? I don't know for sure. I'm just a fan, not an expert or an insider. But I have some thoughts: 1. The team is tired. The Spanish players haven't had a real summer off since 2007! (2008 EURO, 2009 ConfedCup, 2010 World Cup) 2. The team is complacent and not willing to really work and fight for every goalscoring opportunity. I doubt that as a general answer, but haven't you noticed how in recent times the team just played very laid back after the first goal? 3. We aren't good enough to constantly beat a 10-11 men defense. Doubt that too. Were our opponents really not so defensive last November/December? 4. Our tactical plans rely too heavy on one idea: possession. Don't get me wrong, I love our team excactly for that idea, tiki-taka possession. But shouldn't we go for a little bit more direct version of that? Like in 2008/09 with a real central striker like Eto'o. Why not trying that with Villa? Tiki-taka and a bit more direct approach aren't mutually exclusive.
A last thought: I know, we have just won La Liga. Why the hell am I that negative? But don't you too catch yourself thinking "Oh, they have an off-day today" more often in recent times? And don't the statistics show that this isn't just me being way too pessimistic?
We still are the best team in the world… but we were better last year.
(Sorry for the extra long post)
also peter crouch. we need a big man up front.
and squidward. our team needs a fish to nullify the threat from mesut ozil.
Oh god…..your list will cost us a min of 200 million….no chance we are buying these many guys….all we need are 2 good cbs…..
Jesus H Christ! Take a chill pill! Just because I don't say champions in 3 languages you gonna castrate me?
The league isn't just one game. Maybe watching football (moreover Barça's) over a season doesn't evoke as much emotions as winning the Liga for you, but I'm sorry, I care about more.
I am excited about the Liga as it is the most important titulo, and as I felt a sense of "mission accomplished" I just decided to give my thoughts on the season.
"We couldn't have won everything" Seriously, you actually buy that? You might as well say "Villa couldn't have scored 20 goals in Barça"! Your excuses would prolly make Pep say "NO! Don't cover me!" Look, he was just trying some new things out, nothing wrong with that.
All I'm saying is, we can stick with the old and still perform better than this ongoing season.
Pele is only putting his curse on Chicho. Maybe he saw how menacing Mexico could be in the last WC and decided to take preemptive measures.
Well written…..this was my exact view…..i hope these issues are addressed very soon if this glorious era is to continue….
Champions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And the best thing is that we beat Madrid and Mou ha ha!!
Someone has been playing too much Football Manager.
just saying if youve seen the team playing all throughout last season you would how much better we are from then even in the second half of the season.
I couldn't be home to watch the game, but when I got back and checked the score and saw that Barca had gotten their point, I burst into tears. I knew they were going to win again, so I don't know why I had such a strong reaction.
It's not like Barca doesn't win titles and trophies left and right these days. It was clear that La Liga was going to Barca again this year awhile ago. But there's a difference between "I know they're going to win the league again" and "They just DID win the league again," and I'm still so happy that they did.
it's a time to enjoy the victory! visca Barca!
I would not really say we are in decline. Bu there is still a difference and these are what I have noticed
- before X mas, we just play for the first goal and after the first, we attack like a tsunami and score more goals
after Xmas, the first goal takes longer and after we are content to just keep the ball.
- before Xmas, the inter play between Xavi, Iniesta and Messi was always in the dangerous areas. Not anymore. I am really afraid, Xavi's passes to Messi in the dangerous areas are much less. Note, how many time Xavi passed to Messi yesterday please and you will know what I mean. before x mas, there were more Xavi – Messi plays. The passes received by Messi after Xmas, I think should be at least 30% less than what it was before Xmas. I dont have any numbers, just what I feel
- before Xmas, one of our best attacking pair used to be Messi – Alves,
after Xmas their linking up happens hardly once or twice in a match
- we let in more goals after Xmas than before Xmas. when we were attacking at full throttle, we used to let in less goals.
We are still a really great team, much better than our best contenders, but we have kept our killer punch somewhere. May be it is still in the locker. We just need to get it back before flying to Wembley.
Hoenstly, wouldnt it be happeir, had we score 4/5 goals yesterday, which we could have easily.
It seems that Luis Enrique is going to coach Atletico Madrid next season.
Good luck and hopefully he can bring Atletico back to top4!
We were just ripping apart team's before the winter break.I think the main reason to have dropped the standard is because of faigue.Seven players of our squad started and played the whole World Cup.Normally,after every WC year,the players are quite tired.
Adding to that is our "thin sqaud" which got thinner towards the end.We had all our defence on sidelines and Pep had to play players out of their normal positions and had to borrow players from the B team.
Thanks for the review! SOMOS CAMPEONES!!!
Yeah, it was a pretty dull game today but the important thing was the one point. Hopefully between now and Wembley, the team will get some rest, and work on all the things they need to work on in order to get back into form, into manita+ form! VISCA BARCA!
SO PROUD TO BE A CULÉ! What a blessing it is to be able to see this team play!!!
Oh nooo! I wanted HIm to be Pep's successor if Pep leaves one day!
I agree, although I think 6 players started and played the entire World Cup (minus Pedro (sub), and Valdes), but yes, they are all quite tired. They came back to play Supercup, and then of course La Liga, CDR, CL. Congrats boys! Get some rest before the CL final! And yay for Abi! Campeones!
I love the last paragraph and I just feel like CRYING…………………..BECAUSE WE MIGHT NOT WITNESS A TEAM AS GOOD,RELIABLE, CONFIDENT,HARDWORKING as this again.
VISCA BARCA
Enjoy this time fellow CULE.
I love BARCA I love you ALL.
THATS WHAT I HAVE BEEN SAYING, WE JUST NEED TWO CENTER BACKS
I'd go with:
Pinto
Adriano-Milito (if he's still injured, then Bartra)-Fontas-Abidal (being subbed off for Maxwell)
Thiago-Keita-Afellay
Pedro (subbing with Nolito)-Bojan-Jeffren
I'm not too sure he is the type of coach that Atletico need, but he has proven to be very good with Barcelona B. I wish him all the luck, I really want him to succeed. Maybe in a few years he can be Pep's replacement
.
A little headsup it's ", oé, oé, oé" not ole.. that is misunderstood and as culés we gotta follow ♥♥BARÇA♥♥ & do everything right at all times lol!!
Ah, fine!
you are confusing us with RM, we don't buy a whole starting XI.
you forgot about Titi Henry in 08/09. His diagonal runs were sublime.
Totally agree, great analysis. Although I'm not so sure about being much better than Manchester United at the moment.
Maybe you're the one that should take a chill pill. Your whole post is exactly my point. The season isn't over yet so there is no need to speculate just yet. Leave all this talk till the summer. Now its celebration time!
Chill out.
I have probably been watching football before you were born. So don't give me a lecture about what I feel. All I feel now is happiness, that the team I have been supporting for 15 years has such an incredible team who just might be the best team in history and we just won our third straight liga title. So I will say it again in case you forgot:
CAMPEONES!!
HAVE A GREAT DAY CULE.
That's funny. I like Ozil (about as much as I can "like" a blanco), but my GF and I call him "Fishy Bob." Anybody who likes Eddie Izzard will understand.
When I heard what Pele said, I thought, "he must be getting senile." Chicharito and Messi are not even similar players. Even if they were, how could the "next Messi" be just a year younger? The "next Messi" probably hasn't been born yet, if we're lucky enough to get another one.
Pele is just jealous of the attention Messi is getting that he no longer gets; in addition, I'm not sure a famous Brazilian ex-footballer is always the best source for quotes about a famous Argentine footballer.
visca el barca
he will make barca suffer next season