Quick! Get me more relatives cousins!

Wow! Our Man of the Match, Lionel Messi, should decicate more goals to the daughter of his cousin. What a knockout match by our little wizard (eventually), and what a display by our team (again, eventually).

Believe it or not MOTM wasn’t easy. Could it have been Victor Valdes, for his three goal-saving efforts, including an absolutely massive 1-v-1 stop against Nicola Zigic? Yes. Could it have been Thierry Henry, for his injection of whatever in the hell it was that made the difference in the second half? Sure. Could we have broken precedent, and given MOTM to a non-player in Tito Vilanova, who either read the players the riot act, or put Guardiola on speakerphone in the locker room? Why not?
Continue Reading

What IS this thing?

Liga Preview: Barça-Valencia, Sunday 2pm ESPN2HD/ESPN360

I have a thing against teams represented by oranges. Bitter, horrible memories associated with 2003 and the Syracuse-Kansas NCAA Men’s Division 1 basketball tournament championship game are really what keeps my hatred rolling. And the thing is, I kind of like Valencia in that secondary team sort of way. They’re fun to watch, generally play an open, flowing game. But I hate them. They are orange, after all.

And sure, they’re associated with bats, which Kevin discussed before, but that association is just a sleight of hand: los che are oranges and we all know it. They’re also an incredibly dangerous team that drew us at zeroes when we visited the Mestalla earlier this season—and yes, I recognize how funny it is that, as I discuss their scoring prowess, two of the most dangerous teams in the Primera had a scoreless draw. Anyone who watched that match, though, should know that it was surprising that no one scored and especially surprising that Valencia didn’t score.

Despite Barça’s upcoming Wednesday date with Stuttgart, this match isn’t until Sunday because Valencia had a Europa League match with Werder Bremen yesterday (Thursday),* which necessitates a non-Saturday date. So hopefully the snow that has inundated Barcelona is gone by then or, at the very least, the Camp Nou field is in good enough condition to facilitate some serious pass-and-move triangles.

Continue Reading

It’s Thursday, and I’m already pumped about this match. Let’s GO!!!!

La Diada de Sant Jordi, in Catalan culture, usually comes on April 23. Women are given a gift of roses, and respected men are given books.

In an early variant, we gave Almeria a draw. Rather nice (and charitable) of us, don’t you think? People can chatter all they want about officiating, and dives, and unfair red cards all they like, but the fact of the matter is that we played like crap for most of that match, and still came away with a draw.

Which means what? Lord only knows, from our team that doesn’t seem to be able to find a consistent groove.
Continue Reading

Before we get started here, take the time, if you haven’t already, to check out the post about our new background design. We’re building a nice little collection, but please submit your photos  to bfbackground@gmail.com soon if you haven’t. Thanks!

Sport is a strange creature at times. It intermingles, interweaves, and, ultimately, lets you draw your own conclusions about destiny or coincidence. Take, for instance this man: he is from the northern reaches of Euskadi, more commonly known in English as Basque Country, and began his managing career at the age of 16. He rose quickly through the ranks to become the youngest ever first division manager in Spain at the age of 29 and then, ever-so-quickly became a journeyman manager, taking the occasional break to do broadcasting. He even ended up in Mexico for a year before returning to Spain. Take, then, this man: he is from the eastern coast of Spain, where he joined his hometown club, was spotted a man named Johan Cruyff, turned into one of the greatest midfielders in history, and became a hero to an entire region. His time at the club wound down quickly and he too became a journeyman of sorts, moving to Italy and Qatar before retiring.

Continue Reading

I did it again. Sweet!

This game, this beautiful game of ours that we play oh, so well, is about doing the right things with the ball. Seems simple, right?

It certainly should be, given that we have so many players with such incomparable skill on the ball.

But we spent much of our well-deserved win today doing the wrong things with the ball. And it was easy to tell when we did the right things, because the ball went into the net in a match in which Maulaga didn’t stop us from scoring, as much as we stopped ourselves from scoring. Despite all of the exquisite football that was so much fun to watch, too much of the time it was like noshing on one of the best meals of your life, only to break a tooth on the last bite.
Continue Reading

Dear Malaga,

Welcome to my home. You’re a thousand kilometers from your own warm and wonderful home, so please make yourselves as comfortable as possible here in the Ciudad Condal. I know you’re used to beaches and sun, but perhaps you’ll be able to enjoy yourself at our humble waterfront or in one of our many delectable dining venues throughout the Gothic quarter. Perhaps you will partake in a little bit of the nightlife later off Las Ramblas? Regardless of your personal tastes, there’s certainly something for you here. I’m sure we’ll get along just fine.

Wait, why are you angry? What have I don’t to disturb you? I apologize for whatever it was. I’m sorry to have offended you. Please calm down. Good, sir, I must protest! This is uncalled for. Please calm down. Let me just dribble through here real fast and we’ll get back to–why did you just do that? This is outrageous and now, sir, my friend, compatriot of the league, you must die. Release the BANGS!

Continue Reading

This one just HAS to go in ....

Here he is, our Man of the Match, scoring his first goal since the Iniestazo against Chelsea, Andres Iniesta. And truth be told, it was a shot that was far, far more difficult than it appeared on the screen. It needed to apply control, accuracy and body control to take advantage of the open net created by having a French wolf at the doorstep, looking to take advantage of a pretty darned perfect pass from Rafa Marquez.

It was also the early goal that is such a crucial part of our success, because when we score early, the other side has to come out and play. And if we are at all on form, it’s all over but the shouting.
Continue Reading

Sorry, but no liveblog today as the blog squad is out of the house for this one.

Barça: Valdes, Puyol, Piqué, Márquez, Maxwell, Yaya, Busi, Iniesta, Messi, Bojan, Henry
Bench: Pinto, Milito, Chygrynskiy, Jonathan, Thiago, Pedro, Jeffren

Racing: Coltorti, Crespo, Henrique, Torrejón, Oriol, Lacen, Diop, Toni Moral, Óscar Serrano, Canales, Xisco
Bench: M. Fernandez, Luis Garcia,  Luisma, Moraton, Espolita, Arana, Pinillos

Take it away, folks.

Liga Preview: Barça – Racing Santander, Saturday 2pmEST, GolTV

There will always be tough moments in a campaign, when things look dismal and darkened, the storm clouds seemingly gathering overhead to unleash hell. But let me ask you this: Did Lot’s wife ever falter in her step? Should Vizzini have been more prudent? Was Homer wrong to question the power of gravity over daredevilry? Er, right…ahem! Like Galileo questioning the foundations of science and faith, we too must forge ahead mercilessly in the face of criticism and misfortune, never release our hold on what we know to be true, and get false credit from future generations for throwing weighted stones off badly built towers.

So, yeah, basically I’m calling for Busi’s inclusion in the starting lineup. More on that later.

Continue Reading