International
Comment: Write off troubled Barca at your peril
IF this season's four Champions
League semi-finalists resemble
a dysfunctional family unit,
then Barcelona are surely the
stroppy teenage son.
Talented, unquestionably. But
also possessed of a dreadful
attitude problem and
experiencing countless
emotional crises which sees
them pushed and pulled in
various directions at once. If
there's a door on the Nou Camp
dressing room, you can bet your
bottom dollar it'll be slammed
two or three times tonight.
The club have turned
instability into an art form, and
much of the blame can be laid
squarely at the door of manager
Frank Rijkaard.
In the past, Rijkaard's laissezfaire
attitude has dove-tailed
perfectly with a squad that
oozes expressionism but, as
results have tailed off in the
last nine months, his laid-back
approach has merely
encouraged exploitation on a
grand scale.
Xavier Sala Martin, president
of Barca's economic
commission, recently claimed
the club had fabricated injuries
to remove ill-disciplined players
from the squad, an admission
that was widely interpreted as
an attack on Deco and
Ronaldinho, players
whose alleged nightclub
excesses led to the
imposition of a
"discipline rulebook"
earlier this season.
Neither midfielder is
expected to participate
in this evening's semifinal
first leg with
Manchester United, but
despite their exalted
reputations, they will
hardly be missed. The
same could be said of the
injured Thierry Henry
following a dreadful debut
campaign that has seen
the former Arsenal striker
in a perpetual sulk on
Barcelona's left wing.
The omens hardly look
good ahead of tonight's
first leg in the Nou Camp,
but Barca are not Barca
for nothing. A run of one
win from eight domestic
games might scream
crisis, but then it could
also suggest that the
Spaniards have been saving
themselves.
For every Henry and
Deco, there is a Bojan
Krkic, the 17-year-old
striker who became
Barca's youngest
La Liga
goalscorer
earlier this
season, and a
Samuel
Eto'o, still
one of the
most
formidable
forwards in the
world.
Beating
Barcelona will not
be an easy task, a
fact that was
acknowledged by
Sir Alex Ferguson
earlier this week
when he laughed off
suggestions that his
side were strong
favourites to make the
final.
United's Champions
League destiny has
seemed set in stone from
the moment Old Trafford
fell silent to commemorate
the 40th anniversary of the
air crash that killed the
Busby Babes, but
complacency could yet be
their downfall. Arguably, it is
the only thing that could
prevent them from appearing in
Moscow next month.
In Cristiano Ronaldo, United
boast the best attacker in the
Champions League and, in Rio
Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic,
they can also lay claim to a
central defensive partnership
that is the match of anything
the rest of the continent can
offer.
Throw in Wayne Rooney,
Carlos Tevez, the muchimproved
Michael Carrick and
the criminally-underrated
Patrice Evra, and you have the
makings of a squad that would
be worthy Champions League
winners.
United also boast a unity of
spirit and purpose that is
lacking in all three of their
remaining European rivals and,
if prizes were awarded for the
successful running of a football
club, the hierarchy at Old
Trafford would sweep the
board.
Unfortunately, for the likely
Premier League champions,
football is not that simple.
Chaos can sometimes bring
cohesion. For all of their
problems, Barcelona are not
beaten yet.
9:48am Wednesday 23rd April 2008
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