Come at the King, You Best Not Miss - Barcelona 2015/2016

Zososoxfan

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Barcelona got their campaign off to a positive start yesterday with a 5-4 extra time victory over Sevilla in the European Super Cup. Messi banged home two awesome free kicks and Ever Banega got the game off to a crackling start with a free kick of his own (see video below). Barca dominated the rest of the first half, and Rafinha snagged a goal just before the whistle. Barca came out and looked strong in the 2nd half, getting gifted a goal that Suarez put thru. Then, the legs wheels came off, and Sevilla got back 3 goals, pushing the game into Extra Time. My DVR cutoff the recording at that point, but after another nice Messi free kick, Pedro jumped on the rebound for the game winner. Very nice way to send him off to England (presumably) where I will certainly continue to cheer for the guy (provided it's not to Chelsea).
 
Next up, the Spanish Supercup against Bilbao on Friday. Crazy short turnaround time, and Barca is starting to face injuries (Alba and Neymar) and their summer signings cannot play until January. Will be interesting to see if Lucho rotates his squad in the first half of the season like he did last year. My guess is that he was figuring out his best XI last year, but also saw how beneficial it was to have everyone healthy and rested, so hopefully he will continue to give guys throughout the squad opportunities.
 
http://screamer.deadspin.com/lionel-messi-and-ever-banega-are-in-the-middle-of-a-fre-1723442325
 
Edit: I still dislike Ter Stegen in net.
 

Schnerres

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I don´t like ter Stegen that much either.
But those four goals were not his mistake, as weird as that sounds. Although a great keeper might save 1-2 of those (or he might have had, if he would be in better shape, I guess he had a short break after the U21Euro). There was the freekick, was half slept from Mascherano and half was he blocked from the guy in offside position, there was the 2nd goal after the cross, when Alves was out of position when Barca was attacking and Mascherano and Mathieu went on the 1st post and nobody was with Jose Reyes, then the penalty (on Mathieu) and Bartra was sleeping on the 4th goal. I don´t think there´s much on ter Stegen.
 
I think they are not yet in midseason form to reduce their mistakes.
 
(I think the 2-1 freekick from Messi was an easy goal, it was in the keepers corner and it was from a longer distance, that was a mistake from Beto.)
 

Zososoxfan

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Schnerres said:
I don´t like ter Stegen that much either.
But those four goals were not his mistake, as weird as that sounds. Although a great keeper might save 1-2 of those (or he might have had, if he would be in better shape, I guess he had a short break after the U21Euro). There was the freekick, was half slept from Mascherano and half was he blocked from the guy in offside position, there was the 2nd goal after the cross, when Alves was out of position when Barca was attacking and Mascherano and Mathieu went on the 1st post and nobody was with Jose Reyes, then the penalty (on Mathieu) and Bartra was sleeping on the 4th goal. I don´t think there´s much on ter Stegen.
 
I think they are not yet in midseason form to reduce their mistakes.
 
(I think the 2-1 freekick from Messi was an easy goal, it was in the keepers corner and it was from a longer distance, that was a mistake from Beto.)
 
I agree that the goals weren't entirely his fault, but there were non-goals that troubled him more than they should have and he gave up a couple of soft rebounds too. I think Beto was just burned from the first goal, which led to him cheating over to the wall-side on Messi's 2nd. Those caveats notwithstanding, Messi banged a shot with medium pace off the post - no keeper even cheating by staying in the middle for an extra split second is saving that.
 

Cellar-Door

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Pique just got a straight red for arguing a blown offsides call. I've never seen that, even in CONCACAF.
 

bosox4283

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So Barca is selling Pedro, most likely to Chelsea.
 
And, just like that, Barca is going to have to rely on its youngsters, at least until January when Turan can play and perhaps when Barca will sign another player.
 
Neymar-Messi-Suarez is set as the starting three up front, with Busquets and Rakitic behidn them in the midfield. Iniesta will, of course, see significant time in the midfield, but he needs to be rotated to stay fresh for the bigger matches. 
 
That leaves Sergi Roberto (MF, 56 games at Barca, 23 years old), Munir (F, 16 games, 19), Sandro Ramirez (F, 12 games, 20), and Rafinha (MF, 40 games, 22) to play the extra minutes. 
 
Luis Enrique will have to be creative in order to get the most out of these four. 
 
BrazilianSoxFan said:
He not only got a straight red, he is also facing a possible 12 games suspension.

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/aug/18/barcelona-gerard-pique-rant-assistant-referee-super-cup-athletic-bilbao

It's not usually recommended to say that you will shat upon the assistant's whore of a mother...
 
Sounds like we have a potential new thread title...
 
I do like the zero tolerance approach of this particular refereeing crew. If more referees (including assistants) would actually enforce both the spirit and the letter of the law in confrontations like this - or when groups of players surround the referee, etc. - over time we'd almost certainly see fewer theatrics not only at the top levels but also in youth and Sunday League matches where players instinctively emulate the behaviors they see on television.
 

Zososoxfan

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Rough game yesterday, but Barca escaped with 3 points. The biggest takeaways were 1) Dani Alves may be injured with a groin strain although it looks like Sergio will be OK, 2) Sergi Roberto looked surprisingly good filling in for Dani and probably just got himself some PT, and 3) Barca needs to weather an early season injury bug. Vermaelen looked pedestrian alongside Mascherano at the back. I was surprised to see him in there instead of Bartra, but one of them will probably be sold loaned next summer if not sooner. Alba stayed home much more than usual, either because he's still working his way back, or Barca wanted to keep some more defenders back. Rafinha does not look ready to step into a starter role. He's a good plug right now, but when he plays at LW, he's asked to play a lot more defense than Neymar and it seems to be throwing Barca's tactics for a loop ATM. I'm not too concerned though, as Neymar's expected to return on Saturday, Mathieu was sick and Adriano was unavailable for some reason (don't know exactly about those latter two), but Barca just needs to keep the boat from rocking early in the season. Once Vidal and Turan become available in January, things should be a lot smoother. Also, Bravo >>>>>>> Ter Stegen.
 

bosox4283

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Rafinha is out for the year with a torn ACL, thanks to a rough tackle just a minute after he came onto the pitch in last night's match against Roma.
 

Zososoxfan

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I rest my case with Ter Stegen. I've just about had enough of him, and I wonder if Barca will consider selling him before next August. The Rafinha injury hurts, especially before January when Turan can take over a lot of the same duties. When Adriano or Alves comes back, I expect to see Sergi Roberto to get more run at MF. They could also push Mathieu out wide if Sergi needs to be pushed upfield. He's done very well for himself at FB, and he clearly has a lot of foot skills. Playing at FB has also provided him a chance to understand Messi's positioning and style of play better, not to mention getting more comfortable as a starter. While Barca should've finished better in the first half especially, a draw on the road to Roma isn't really a bad result. Fortunately, Barca play on Sunday and not Saturday, at home against Levante.
 

Zososoxfan

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Messi out injured with an MCL strain. Early reports said about 2 months, but others indicating it will be less. If, and this is a BIG if, Messi can return to 100%, I actually think this will be hugely beneficial for him (potentially for Barca too, provided they can tread in La Liga and UCL). Messi has played an ungodly amount of futbol over the past two years between Barca's long campaigns, the World Cup, and Copa America. If he can come back in 2016 fresh, I think that this "break" may be good for him. Now, if Barca starts dropping points and looks shaky in UCL (that draw in Rome is looking less good now), it may be tempting to rush him back (Messi himself is known to want to come back early from injuries).
 
Messi will be missing some big matches:
 
9/29 vs. Leverkusen
10/3 vs. Sevilla
10/20 vs. BATE
11/4 vs. BATE
11/8 vs. Villareal
 
The very big one that may or may not be in reach, vs. Real Madrid on 11/22.
 
11/24 vs. Roma is potentially in jeopardy.
 
12/6 vs. Valencia and 12/9 vs. Leverkusen are the last big matches of the calendar year other than 2 Liga fixtures.
 
In the meantime, will be interesting to see how Lucho sets them up. Does he shift to a straightforward 4-3-3, with Munir/Sandro/Iniesta(?) playing on the wings? Does he play Suarez and Neymar as a striker-winger combo and pack the MF a bit? Something completely different? The first option is probably most likely, but I'd be interested to see what he could do with a 4-4-2.
 
Something like:
 
TS
FB-CB-CB-FB
Sergio
Rak-Sergi-Iniesta
Neymar-Suarez
 
The front 5 could press like crazy since Messi doesn't do much and Rak, Sergi, and Iniesta have high workrates. Suarez would work the center, while Neymar would be the width guy. Iniesta could be on the opposite side and give width, or have the FB on that side play aggressively. Sergi and Rak could take turns helping Sergio hold the middle and join attacks. It would be a very fluid center of the pitch, but probably is too hard to work out on the fly. Combine that with the fact that it's probably a good idea to get Munir and Sandro some minutes, and you probably just have a straight swap with those 2 for Messi. Although, Messi does so many different things, that you can't really do a straight swap. The FBs are likely going to be asked to push up more and get involved with the attack. Interesting times ahead no matter how they choose to lineup.
 

Zososoxfan

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This thread is in bad need of a bump. After a 2-0 win at Getafe over the weekend, Barca seems to be weathering the no-Messi storm OK. Getting Sergi Roberto back was huge. He was instrumental on both goals, playing the assists. Messi likely wont be back before December, including the Clasico, so the team needs to keep improving for this month to go well. Next week's game against Villareal and the UCL matchup against Roma loom large, although the latter would be mitigated a bit if Barca take care of BATE at home this week.
 

coremiller

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Barcelona were brilliant, especially Iniesta, but holy hell were Madrid awful. I think that game was a lot more about how bad Madrid were than how good Barca were.
 

Zososoxfan

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Not disagreeing with you, but Iniesta had an amazing game, Neymar put pressure on Real all game, and Suarez finished with pure class. Rakitic being able to play was very important, and Sergi Roberto had an awesome game too. Bravo made some solid saves to keep everything calm. But yeah, Real were terrible. My Madrid friends all said that Casemiro was a game changer in the center of the field and helped Real win the ball back, but he didn't play at all. Real headscratcher. Against most teams, Kroos/Modric can handle DMF duties, but against elite teams, they cannot get it done (Galacticos anyone).
 

coremiller

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Madrid basically played 4-2-4. Their front 4 pressed ok when Barca had the ball deep in their own end but once the ball got past them into midfield none of them tracked back at all. The gap between the front 4 and the back 4 was huge and Modric/Kroos were outnumbered 4-2 in midfield, with predictable results. Modric and Kroos weren't very good but they were given impossible jobs. Iniesta was amazing but he had a ridiculous amount of time and space on the ball.

That was the worst tactical plan in a big match I've seen since Brazil in the 7-1 semifinal. This wasn't like the 5-0 a few years ago where it seemed like it didn't matter what Madrid did. Sending out a team set up like that in a Classico should be a fireable offense.
 

Dummy Hoy

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I thought Syd Lowe had an interesting thought on FW where he suggested this may have been a bit of Rafa saying "you wanted all your stars on the field, well here you go" just to show how ill suited they are to play a complete game.

I'm not the best at recognizing tactics as they occur during a game unless I know all the players well (so basically Wednesday or the USMNT), but the gaps that were open in the middle of the Madrid squad were painfully obvious. That game could have been 6 or 7 to nil.
 

coremiller

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Barca destroy Roma 6-1. The second goal was really something, Messi finishing off a sensational passing move with a wonderful chipped finish.

One of the few achievements that has eluded Barca in the Messi era is back-to-back European Cups, which has never been done in the Champions League era. They look pretty strong favorites (along with Bayern) to do it this year. The Barca-Bayern semi first leg was the best match I saw last year, I wouldn't be surprised if any meeting between the two sides this year would again be the best game of the season.
 

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Also worth noting that Roma is currently third in the Calcio. Barca UNDRESSED them in the match yesterday. I mean, players were giggling, laughing, and obviously trying to get certain players goals (namely, Messi and Pique). This team is really something else right now. Hopefully Sergi Roberto is OK and doesn't have to miss much time. Right now, the team looks just fine, but getting thru December and getting Vidal and Turan into the squad will be huge.
 

Zososoxfan

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Barca have won their last 2 games by an aggregate score of 8-1. Turan and Vidal have both figured prominently in those matchups and seem to have integrated very well with Turan hitting Messi on an assist this past Saturday. Vidal looks able to run the touchline very well and is a tremendous third option at fullback. Thinking about it, Barca's 2-deep is insanely good up and down the roster. The most indispensable player at this point may be Suarez, since no one can provide his combination of skills in the middle. But at every other position, Barca has multiple world class options.
 
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Who's Rakitic's backup? Sergi Roberto is already out there, maybe he could slide over but they basically play as two central midfielders anyway. Pique is pretty indispensable too, you'd have quite a dropoff if he suddenly went down.

If you lose Suarez, though, how would you shift around the lineup? Just drop in Munir and hope for the best? Slide Neymar over? Haven't really thought about it in these terms.
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

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Barca have won their last 2 games by an aggregate score of 8-1. Turan and Vidal have both figured prominently in those matchups and seem to have integrated very well with Turan hitting Messi on an assist this past Saturday. Vidal looks able to run the touchline very well and is a tremendous third option at fullback. Thinking about it, Barca's 2-deep is insanely good up and down the roster. The most indispensable player at this point may be Suarez, since no one can provide his combination of skills in the middle. But at every other position, Barca has multiple world class options.
Massive exaggeration IMO.
 

Zososoxfan

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Keeper - I consider Bravo the clear cut #1, but most teams don't have a player like Ter Stegen backing up, even though I'm not a big fan.
CB - Pique may be the best of the bunch, but I don't see any problem rolling out Masch along with 1 of Mathieu/Vermaelen/Bartra and Barca have done so in the past (e.g. when Pique was suspended).
FB - Behind Alba and Alves, there is Vidal, Adriano, and Sergi Roberto in a pinch.
DMF - Sergio is backed up by Masch and Roberto. Roberto was actually expected to play the pivot for Barca initially, but it took him awhile to get acclimated to the first team. He is now playing everywhere on the field and had a very good game there on Saturday.
MF (x2) - until further notice, Rak and Iniesta are the starters, but Turan is the backup.
Wing - having both Neymar and Messi allows Barca to shift their formation a bit when one of those two goes out (i.e. when Messi was out earlier this season) and the winger who comes in frequently has more defensive responsibility. Now that Turan is on the squad, I would expect to see him get some opportunities at the winger spot. If Suarez were to go down, I would expect Turan to replace him and have the 3 attacking MF (Turan, Iniesta, and Rak) fill in the middle and interchange with the wingers when they cut in.

So, yes MMS, I was exaggerating when I said that Barca has world class backup options at every position. At the very least, this is an incredibly deep squad, and at best I would argue that they could replace any player and pretty much not miss a beat other than potentially Suarez.
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

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So, yes MMS, I was exaggerating when I said that Barca has world class backup options at every position. At the very least, this is an incredibly deep squad, and at best I would argue that they could replace any player and pretty much not miss a beat other than potentially Suarez.
Are they really deeper than other top clubs? If you look at attacking midfielders, wingers, and forwards, Barca has essentially seven (Messi, Suarez, Neymar, Iniesta, Rakitic, Turan,Vidal) established players for five positions. Bayern has nine (Robben, Ribery, Muller, Lewandowski, Gotze, Vidal, Thiago, Costa, Coman), Manchester City has eight (Aguero, Silva, Sterling, De Bruyne, Toure, Navas, Bony, Nasri), etc.

IMO, what sets Barcelona apart from other top clubs is not depth but quality, especially the Messi-Neymar-Suarez trio, and health. If Barcelona sustained the number of simultaneous injuries that Manchester City has had this year, or Bayern had last spring, they would be totally boned. I think playing in La Liga helps quite a bit in this respect, vis-a-vis the Bundesliga or Premier League.
 

Zososoxfan

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Are they really deeper than other top clubs? If you look at attacking midfielders, wingers, and forwards, Barca has essentially seven (Messi, Suarez, Neymar, Iniesta, Rakitic, Turan,Vidal) established players for five positions. Bayern has nine (Robben, Ribery, Muller, Lewandowski, Gotze, Vidal, Thiago, Costa, Coman), Manchester City has eight (Aguero, Silva, Sterling, De Bruyne, Toure, Navas, Bony, Nasri), etc.

IMO, what sets Barcelona apart from other top clubs is not depth but quality, especially the Messi-Neymar-Suarez trio, and health. If Barcelona sustained the number of simultaneous injuries that Manchester City has had this year, or Bayern had last spring, they would be totally boned. I think playing in La Liga helps quite a bit in this respect, vis-a-vis the Bundesliga or Premier League.
You're making my point tangentially, which is that Barca is much more well-equipped to weather injuries this year than last. I think Bayern is at a similar level of quality and depth as Barca, but I don't know them as well. The one difference I see between the two is age of key players. The only Barca players of note over 30 are Alves, Iniesta, and Masch, whereas on Bayern it's Robben, Ribery, Alonso, and Lahm. Interesting question would be which team is best positioned to replace those guys in the next 1-2 years and from my perspective, Barca could lose all those players THIS year and be fine.

MANC is not on par with the other 2 teams IMHO. Looking at the age issue, Toure, Sagna, Silva, Fernandinho, Navas, Zabaleta, Kolarov, and Clichy are all 30+. While De Bruyne was an astute pickup, I don't think Bony, Nasri, or Sterling is on the same level as their other attacking players or those from Barca/Bayern.
 

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By my count, Barcelona have not lost in 27 matches, including tonight's current thrashing of Valencia. Barca last lost to Sevilla 2-1 on October 3, 2015. I think they might tie tonight--or surpass soon--Guardiola's record-long streak without a loss. Luis Enrique has found the perfect formula--both tactical and emotional--to get Neymar, Messi, and Suarez on the same page.
 

bosox4283

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Congrats to this version of Barcelona for eclipsing Guardiola's squad's record of 28 matches in a row without a defeat. Is Barcelona the best team in Europe right now? I ask with all due apologies to Leicester, of course.
 
Dec 21, 2015
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I dunno, every time I watch Bayern they look like they could score 10 goals a game, now that they have Robben back to go with Muller and Lewandowski. Would be a shame if we only got to watch Barca & Bayern play one game this year instead of two.
 

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Congrats to this version of Barcelona for eclipsing Guardiola's squad's record of 28 matches in a row without a defeat. Is Barcelona the best team in Europe right now? I ask with all due apologies to Leicester, of course.
I think it's Barca and Bayern with no one else really close. Juve has retooled pretty well, Napoli is making it a race in Serie A (these two play each other this weekend), PSG plays drek in Ligue 1 every week, and I see flaws in every EPL team. Real have enough talent to hang, but playing Kroos and Modric as holding MF is not a real lineup. At least Zizou has James, CRonaldo, and Bale playing some D. Simeone will always keep Atleti competitive and they are a top 10 squad.

1. Barca
2. Bayern
3. Juve
4. Atelti
5. Real
6. PSG
7. MANC
8. Arse
9. Napoli
10. Villareal? Spurs?? Leicester???
 
Dec 21, 2015
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Yeah, anyone who loves football and isn't a Madrid fan should watch the 2nd half of that game. In the 1H, Celta had basically fought Barca to a draw, and arguably were unlucky to even be tied 1-1. In the 2H, Barca truly let slip the dogs of war. Celta had a few chances from 65' to ~75', but the rest of the second half was MSN being over-the-top ridiculous. In terms of "players enjoying the fuck out of playing the game they love", it was up there with anything I've ever seen from Manny Ramirez.

edit: also, needless to say, Arsenal is well and truly fucked next Wednesday. At least they won't have to fly home afterwards with little but a Jeterian gift basket to warm their spirits.
 

coremiller

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When Messi plays like that Barca are unbeatable. The 30-yard free kick, the scooped pass for Suarez's first, the dribble+through ball that set up Suarez's second, the dribble to win the penalty+the cheeky pen assist ... that was a season's worth of highlights in one match. The rest of the side aren't too shabby either, but Messi is just on another planet.
 

Zososoxfan

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As Price said, the first 75 minutes of the game was a tightly contested match, but after that, the floodgates opened. One thing about the Messi free kick, if you saw the play leading to the foul, Suarez was contacted maybe 5-10 meters away from the center circle. When the ball was placed for Messi, it was where Suarez ended up after rolling, likely another 5-10 meters closer to goal and making an attempt a real option. Would definitely be a bone to pick if I were a Celta fan. Anyway, yeah I think Arse are in for a world of hurt.
 

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I don't thnk Messi knows what he's doing half the time. A lot of the time I don't think he's thinking, he just does. He makes the unthinkable seem rudimentary. I sometimes get a bit emotional watching him, I dunno quite why. I think it's simply witnessing a true genius doing great things time and time again and every so often you reflect and realize you're lucky to be able to watch this kind of thing and he won't be around forever.
 
Dec 21, 2015
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Yeah, he's a bit like Pedro in that way, isn't he? Ordinary people take common habits or quick decisions and internalize them into subconscious reactions, but he has somehow done that with a set of much, much more complex operations - moving in space with a bunch of world-class athletes moving around him trying to stop him, and knowing exactly which angles he can use in 3 dimensions. It's not just execution (precision & reliability), it's also anticipating opponents' likely reactions and next steps, as well as his teammates'. Everything he does is both precise and improvised, and it has the feel of an instinct, only, it's a depth and complexity of instinct that other top pros simply don't have.
 

coremiller

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Pedro is different because baseball does not have fluid gameplay. Pedro had time to think about what he wanted to do with each pitch.

The best modern analogue is probably Roger Federer. The "Federer as religious experience" phenomenon applies more obviously to Messi than any athlete I've ever watched.
 
Dec 21, 2015
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Yeah, I like your example better. For all his manifest physical skills, Novak Djokovic just doesn't have the fluid creativity of Federer, which is part of the reason the latter has so many more fans. What stood out as unique about Pedro to me was the intelligence with which he perceived subtle ways in which a batter was vulnerable, or how to manipulate him. But I guess he did get a few seconds to think about that before executing. In tennis or football (or basketball, or martial arts, or or or...) you have to perceive that and just act.
 

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Seems to me you could look a little closer to home--Larry Bird. Not the fastest, tallest, or most athletic but he could somehow move and control a ball and seemingly be thinking 3 steps ahead of everyone.
 

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Bird, Magic, Gretzky-they were playing full speed, yet everyone else seemed to slow down around them. Unearthly vision and anticipation that allowed them to put the ball/puck not where teammates were, but where they would be. More than just great passing though, when needed, they would score themselves. Messi is on that same plane. Just a joy to watch.
 

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Barca wins, again, extending their streak to 32 matches without a loss. With Atletico and Real Madrid both tying this weekend, Barca is eight and nine points up on them, respectively. As a result, the league is Barcelona's to lose. No one has ever blown a lead this large this late in the game. Furthermore, given the team's unreal form, it's basically over.
 

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With Barca's win yesterday against Rayo, they are now 8 points clear of Atleti and 12 of 3rd place Real with 11 to play. They still have Real and Villareal to play, but this is getting close to a done deal. Rayo play a fun attacking style with a young squad, so it was an exciting match thru 20 minutes. Rayo's keeper made a goof on a good cross by Roberto and Rakitic pounced to get Barca on the board. A minute later, Barca was lethal on the counter and Neymar setup Messi for a very professional finish. After that, Rayo got a direct red for a tackle against Rak on a clearance. It was a reckless challenge, but the Rayo player did the get the ball first so I thought it was a bit harsh and maybe a yellow would've sufficed. In the second half, Rayo pulled one back and kept attacking, which eventually led to another Messi goal. Suarez had a pen blocked and then Lucho made some subs. Turan got on the board late with a nice header goal after another Rayo player was sent off.

Messi has also stormed back into the Pichichi race, which currently stands at Suarez with 25, CRon with 23, Benz and Messi with 19, and Neymar with 18.
 
Dec 21, 2015
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Yeah, Barca playing 11-on-9 against a team just wasn't fair. That first red was definitely an over-call, and Rakitic kinda hammed it up for the ref. Someone else (Neymar? Busquets?) also really sold a call hard later on, when they were already up 3-1 or so.

You'd think if you're the best team in the world, you'd probably decide that just playing with honor and not taking dives would probably be the long-term best value play. I mean, Messi has unbelievable credibility with refs at this point - if he hits the turf, it's because he was fouled, and probably hard, and probably more than once. Wouldn't Suarez or Turan like to have that in their back pocket for when they need it?

It's also disappointing because Rayo is a really young exciting team in La Liga - they scored against Barca while down a player for cryin' out loud - and we didn't get a chance to see what they could do at full throttle.
 

Zososoxfan

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I didn't think the second red had anything to do with Sergio - it was a tackle from behind in the penalty area after a failed clearance.

Anyway, Barca played a fun match at mighty Eibar (Ray!). Munir started off the scoring early after an insane long pass by Messi and nice cross from Suarez. Eibar played the rest of the first half pretty well before Messi went all Messi on their team, picking the ball up near midfield, fending off a defender and splitting another defender before finishing nicely. Messi added a penalty later, but then Suarez scored a goal that perfectly captures his unique set of skills. He beats a defender in a tight space with a nutmeg, fends off another defender with impressive strength and balance, then lethally finishes to the far post. The only players that consistently do stuff like that are ZLATAN and a younger Drogba. There are some other guys that can do that with less consistency, like Lukaku for example, but Suarez does this all the time and he truly is one of the top 5 bona fide CF in the game.
 

Zososoxfan

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Barca were fortunate to have drawn with Villareal on Sunday. Pique could've been showed a second yellow in the first (although the first one was soft, so there was some justice) and more fortunate still, Neymar drew a penalty on the Villareal keeper on what seemed like a clean breakaway stop. Neymar converted the PK and Rak cleaned up a cross flubbed by the keeper to go into half time up 2-0. Lucho decided to take Pique off for Mathieu and also removed Rak for Alves, who pushed Sergi Roberto into the MF. I know that in this day in age we are challenging all conventional wisdom in sport, but the adage of not subbing defenders out earned a point today. I am a Mathieu fanboy, but there is no doubt he crapped himself today. He was nervous on the ball all day and poor defending on a cross (off a corner?) led to an own goal. While I think Lucho treats la Liga as an opportunity to tinker with his best XI, against a strong Villareal team and a week off before UCL resumes, this was not the time. All credit goes to Villareal though as they are a pleasure to watch and did not back down from the Barca challenge.
 
Dec 21, 2015
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At this point, tying Barca is as difficult a proposition as beating most other top teams.

Since taking their 2nd loss of the season on Oct 3rd at Sevilla, the blaugrana are 19-4-0 in La Liga (24-4-2 overall). Before Villarreal, their last failure to win was Jan 2nd, a run of 12 wins in a row. They are also:

6-2-0 in the Copa del Rey, taking draws with a B-team lineup at second-division Villanovense, and at Valencia after a 7-0 home blowout in the first leg
6-2-0 in the Champions League, drawing at Roma, and at Leverkusen in december with a B-team after they'd clinched the group (no Suarez, Neymar, Masch, Pique, Sergi Roberto, Busquets...)
2-0-0 in the Club World Cup, with two 3-0 blowouts vs Guangzhou and River Plate, for which they rolled out their big guns for some reason

If you throw out the games they weren't taking seriously, then of 45 competitive matches since the start of the league season, they have won 38, drawn 5, and took 2 losses in late Sept / early Oct. It's an unbelievable run, worthy of the '27 Yankees or '96 Bulls, with likely the same ending.
 

coremiller

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Also, they finished last year P60 W50 D4 L6, and of those six losses, one was the 2nd leg against Bayern when they scored first to go up 4-0 on aggregate and ultimately lost 3-2 (winning 5-3 on aggregate), and 4 of the other 5 losses were in the first part of the season. They lost away to Rayo on Jan 4 2015; besides the Bayern second leg, they would lose only one more match the rest of the season (at home to Malaga in February), finishing the season on a 31-2-2 run (with again, one of the "losses" not really being a loss).

If you add that to the numbers above, and then add the UEFA and Spanish Super Cups (1-1-1), then in their last 83 meaningful games (yes, selective endpoints) they are W70 D8 L5.
 
Dec 21, 2015
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I view the supercups (and the international champions cup) as more of a preseason showcase or tune-up, like the MLS all-star game, and less an indication of how good a team is when playing other top teams at full strength.

Their two losses earlier this season were definitely legit, in that every La Liga match counts the same as every other and Luis Enrique takes them all seriously, with best or near-best starting XIs every time (accounting for injury and rest rotations). But unlike last year, it looks as if they worked out the kinks in their tactics far earlier in the fall, and as a result, this year they're chasing history. Here are the all-time records for points for a La Liga winner (even in the era of 22 teams / 42 games):

2012-13 Barcelona: 100 (32-4-2)
2011-12 Real Madrid: 100 (32-4-2)
2009-10 Barcelona: 99 (31-6-1)
2010-11 Barcelona: 96 (30-6-2)
2014-15 Barcelona: 94 (30-4-4)
1996-97 Real Madrid: 92 (27-11-4)

This year they're 24-4-2 of course, so even if they win out in their last 8 matches (including home vs Real on Apr 2nd), they can only tie the record. But they're in that ballpark.