The reason for FC Barcelona’s bad luck this season finally made itself known in the La Liga game against Real Sociedad. A black cat crossed the paths of our players during tonight’s game and now all of the serious injuries and seven point deficit seem to make sense. Unfortunately, the strange and shocking revelation did not bring an end to the Catalans’ problems. On the contrary, it may have just exacerbated the issue. Although the team won 2-1, crucial midfielder Sergio Busquets was stretchered off the pitch after a late tackle and his return is still unknown.

Head coach Pep Guardiola, still unaware of the black cat, fielded a very youthful lineup. While many were thrilled that B-teamers who have shown a lot of spark in the last few games as substitutes, such as Tello, were getting the start, the new lineup also proved how much the midweek Copa del Rey clash with Valencia CF cost the veteran starters. In full, Valdés, Alves, Puyol, Mascherano, Adriano, Fàbregas, Dos Santos, Thiago, Messi, Cuenca, and Tello began the game for the blaugrana.

The game started off with very high energy, probably due to all of the fresh legs on the pitch for Barcelona. Real looked just as dangerous though, and within the first minute Valdés was forced to save a shot. However, Messi returned the favor by testing Bravo in the 4th minute. The back and fourth continued again a minute later when Ifran made a great shot that Valdés had to agilely save.

After eight minutes, the intensity quickly paid off as Barcelona netted its first goal of the night thanks to the prodigy Tello. Messi provided the simple assist through the defense that Tello just had to connect with and guide into the goal. After a series of games where early goals were all but nonexistent, this fairly fast goal was a stunner.

Barcelona continued its goal-scoring hunt in the 14th minute when Cesc launched the ball well over the crossbar. In the 17th minute, Messi once again had a clear opportunity denied by Bravo. Messi and Cesc combined for the next attempt which saw La Pulga slide a perfect assist to Cesc who wasted his one-on-one with Bravo by again kicking his effort high.

Dos Santos pulled a strike just wide of Real’s net in the 30th minute. Tello consistently terrorized his wing, forcing corners and aiming perfect crosses into the box for his teammates. The half ended 1-0 to Barcelona largely because of him.

The second half kicked off with a chance for Real that defenders Puyol and Mascherano dealt with confidently. In the 51st minute, the blaugrana backline was again tested and Valdés had to come up with the clutch save. Just six minutes later, Ifran, one of Real’s most important players during the game, injured himself and had to be substituted off in favor of Carlos Vela.

Right after the substitution, Messi still could not get a shot past Bravo after a Tello assist. If it were not for the goalkeeper, Real may very well have been much farther behind than just a single goal. Once Messi was able to beat Bravo in the 62nd minute, his strike was cleared off the line by a defender. Real’s defense could not rest as the 67th minute produced a lofting Messi assist straight to a stampeding Puyol that Bravo managed to collect.

Barcelona had the ball in the back of the net in the 68th minute after Tello converted the rebound of Cuenca’s off the post shot, but Alves strayed offside and the goal was disallowed. Camp Nou did not have to wait long for the second goal – or third, for that matter. Alves chipped a ball over the Real defense to Messi who slipped it past Bravo and into an empty net in the 72 minute. Unfortunately, Carlos Vela broke away from the defense and pulled one back for his team against Valdés just one minute later.

Barcelona had been in control for most of the game, but it looked as if the habitual bad luck had returned. The 76th minute called for a double substitution to help reinvigorate the team to take the lead once again. Puyol and Dos Santos came off for Abidal and Busquets. A minute later, Real followed suit by switching Pardo with Llorente.

Busquets’ match came to an abrupt in at the 81st minute after the substitute was incapacitated by a late tackle. The deep gash in his knee is treatable, but the defensive midfielder still had to be carried off the pitch and is uncertain for upcoming fixtures. Defender Piqué came on in his place. The last few minutes were frantic as Real desperately tried to equalize and Barcelona tried to maintain its lead. Fortunately for the blaugrana, no more goals were scored and the score line remained 2-1.

A black cat, perhaps it is the reason for all of Barcelona’s troubles. How a cat even snuck its way into Camp Nou, let alone to streak across the pitch, is still a mystery. Then again, so is Barcelona being seven points behind in the League and having almost a half dozen first team players injured. Superstition may be an easy excuse, but hopefully the season is not so out of hand that Barcelona has to result to blaming scared animals for its struggles.

Image Source: Reuters Pictures