Narratives. Quite a lot happened in the match today, an event that pundits and ancillary critters have weighed in on and found wanting. Not surprisingly, I think they are dead wrong, and not just because I am a culer. Today’s match for me, the first time the teams have met in 8 months (as opposed to the frustrating regularity that defined the rivalry in recent seasons), signified that our sprites have grown up.

This was a man’s match, a calm, pragmatic thing that was exactly what it had to be when it had to be, a match in which one team in effect, put away childish things to potentially reach that next level. That alone made it fascinating to watch.
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“Who’s thirsty? I am! What are you thirsty for? Three guesses …”

Yikes. Portents, anguish, violence, history, independence chants, the Best Player in the World vs the Best Player in the Galaxy … it’s the end of the world as we know it.

The Liga is in the balance, don’t ya know, as our beloved sprites stagger into this match off the heels of two … count ‘em … TWO draws, as RM roll into the Camp Nou having won its last two matches. Oh, lawd, hide the Catalan women and children (never mind, they can’t get in anyhow), because it’s going to be ugly. Our defense can’t stop a schoolboy team from scoring, and legend has it that RM has a pair of colossi that doth bestride the earth, clearing countries at a single bound.

It’s so daunting that I am not even going to watch, preferring instead to cower in a corner, bleating in the hopes my mommy’s sixth mama sense will kick off and make her rush to my side to rescue me.

“Son! What’s the matter, son!”
“It’s those things in the white. Why are they killing my little ones? Make it stop! (whimper)”

Or maybe not. Maybe, what if this is just a football match, portents, weight and zillions of Euros in transfer fees and salaries aside. What if this is just the two of the best teams in the world, knocking heads in an early-season encounter that will decide about feck all.
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Yikes. It isn’t often that an opinion piece sparks a post outta me, but this one has done it. But it hasn’t done it out of sheer boneheadedness, which I think the post has in spades. It’s also a question of right questions, wrong conclusions that have their roots in devotion to a player, rather than to a club. It is still FC Barcelona, rather than FC Messi, something a lot of culers, including the abovementioned piece’s author, forget.

But let’s get to it. We have a lot of ground to cover.

The author asks the question, what if the team’s biggest problem is the decline of Iniesta? Good question, and one that I agree with in parts, even as I don’t think the question is framed properly. For me, the question is a more difficult one:

Is Andres Iniesta in his present state, fully compatible with Barça any longer?
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Neymar is a diver. Come on, right? We all know it, and we knew it when we bought him. Diver. Shameful. Right?

Wrong. Further, the campaign to label him one is disgusting. It’s an effort to cover a player with crap before he even has a chance to develop ANY sort of image or reputation at all. Mourinho claimed that he dived against Celtic. Culers who should know better are saying that he is a diver. It’s all rather shameful.

HAS Neymar dived? Yep. Name me an attacker who hasn’t. On more than one occasion. Rooney? Yup. Suarez? Please. Iniesta? Yep. Pedro? Yep. Cuenca? Yep. Drogba, Torres, Cole? Yep, yep and you betcha.

Are they divers? Be careful how you answer that one.
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Another day, another moving target for our wee ones.

Levante wasn’t fit to be in the Liga. Wait til Malaga.
Malaga was down on its luck. Wait til Rayo.
Rayo had more possession, we got lucky. Wait til La Real.
Yeah, whatever. La Real are playing like crap. Wait to see what happens against Celtic. And without Messi!
We won, but now Celtic isn’t good enough. So we’ll see who’s next.

This was a very interesting match, because it isn’t often that you get to see a new coach against the same European opponent. And boy, was today fascinating.
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Can little people run hurdles? If so, yet another one was leapt today as FC Barcelona has gotten off to the best start in club history.

– Better than last season, in which the club won a Liga in record-settings style
– Better than any of the Guardiola years
– Just plain better

And on a day when Chelsea drew and both Manchesters lost, our club went about its business-as-usual with high style at times, but with more than enough effectiveness to get the job done. Another win, another three points, another clean sheet.
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