So the time is finally upon us. All talk is set to stop as the two teams emerge to do battle, desperate to claim that most prized asset as their own. But for one team this may well be the game that relieves a great weight that many pundits have thrust upon them over recent months – the weight of being possibly the greatest team ever. Whether or not this group of players are remembered as such will be determined by just how succesful they eventually are, with Wembley, once again, ready to place Barça’s name firmly into football’s history books.

Where Manchester United will be looking to begin their very own modern day dynasty with a victory on Saturday, Barça are seeking to cement their reputation, confirming many people’s high expectations. Expectations that began two seasons ago on a rainy night in Rome and have been with us ever since. Instilled with the energy and idealism of Cruyff, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho, this is a team that has dazzled fans and neutrals alike; inspiring many with their new brand of total football. Forcing people to ask the question – is this the greatest club team we have ever seen? It may be too soon to truly evaluate just yet, but come Sunday morning we may be able to see the answer a little more clearly, even if it is through hazey, sleepless, celebratory eyes.

Of course history already has its greats – Ajax, Milan, Liverpool and of course Madrid – but for such a long time football as an art form has seemingly stood still, only infused by individual magic or key tactical battles. For some it seemed we would never again reach the heights of Arrigo Sacchi or Bill Shankly, Alfredo Di Stefano or Piet Keizer, but finally it appears we may have a team capable of breaking into people’s hearts the same way those other legends of the game once did. Adding the names of Messi, Xavi, Iniesta and, of course, Guardiola to the stuff of football legend and allowing us modern fans to take pride in the fact that we witnessed this most brilliant and beautiful of Barça sides first hand. It’s what growing old was made for.

As someone born and raised in Liverpool, I can tell you how firmly rooted greatness is into the psyche of not only a club, but also its fans and surrounding community. To this day there are scouse grandparents who sit back and smile about the joy and pride they felt watching their team march around the world, taking on all comers, and literally painting every town they reached red. There are drawers upon drawers filled with sepia tinged photos, scarfs, shirts and programmes that tell the tale of when greatness touched their hearts. Of course it is not only in Liverpool where such a legacy exists – it is all over the world – but hopefully, if the moon and stars align in just the right way, and the universe smiles fondly upon those famous Blaugrana colours, then someday soon we will be able to say that our team is also one of the greatest there has ever been.

With this in mind I would like to say one thing to you all. Enjoy it. Cherish it. Thrive upon it. For it is temporal and will not last forever. Some time, not too long from now, it will all be a distant memory that we will look back upon with nostalgia, the same way those scouse grandparents do today. But for now, it is real and it is ours. All of ours, together. Wherever we may be. So enjoy it. That is what it’s there for. It is very rare that such a group of players find themselves thrust together like this, playing alongside each other in a team whose only purpose it is to remind us of the pure joy football and unity can bring. All of that other stuff; the nastiness, the politics, the drama, that is nothing but window dressing, merely a distraction that adds spice to the sweetness of what we are currently tasting. So eat it up my friends and savour it, for history awaits us and this wonderful wonderful team of ours, but it is history that is being made right now in front of our very eyes and that we have been blessed to be a part of.

Visca Barca! Visca Catalunya!

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