Real Madrid 4 Barcelona 1. That was the result from the latest El Classico this morning (Brisbane time) at Real's home, the Bernabeu. With it, Madrid have beaten Barcelona home & away during this La Liga season. The result confirms that they deserve to be champions of Spain. For Barcelona, it totally humiliating & embarassing. I'd even argue that it's beyond humiliating & embarassing. Yeah, it's really that bad. I never got to see the match, & perhaps just as well.Real Madrid had won the La Liga championship during the weekend. So, that meant that the Barcelona players had to form a guard of honour & applauding their bitter rivals onto the pitch to commemorate their championship success. Sporting gesture. And as if that ignominy was not enough, it got even worse once the match kicked off.
One thing I don't understand - how can Barcelona go from winning 6-0 against Valencia during the weekend to losing 4-1 to their bitter rivals just days later? True, Valencia are having an even worse season than Barcelona. But to have such extreme results in a short space of time is simply bewildering beyond belief.
According to reports, Real played very well, & Barcelona played very poorly. Real reportedly played with skill, confidence & assurance of champions. A superb team performance from them. Barcelona? Goodness gracious, I wonder if they actually played any football during the match. I was fuming at Barcelona when I learned of the result & continued to internalise my fury for much of today. By now, I've run out of insults & bad things to say about Barcelona. So I'll try not to rant & rave in a hysterical manner. I heard 1 or 2 of the Real goals happened in "questionable" circumstances, with the referee's performance (which went heavly against Barcelona) being blamed for contributing to the result. Well, even if true, the fact remains that Barcelona were abysmal. Yes, Real Madrid are currently better, but by that scoreline? Come on. Barcelona should never lose heavily like that to Real or any other side. Never.
No finger pointing at specific players right now. True, some will have to go during the off-season & replaced by better players. But right now, no finger pointing at certain players. It's a team game - win as a team, lose as a team. On the whole, it was a collective failure against Real, a very bad day at the office. They got to take the result on the chin, move on & buck up. Hopefully, with what's left of the remainder of the season, they will pick things up somewhat.
As for the manager Rijkaard, well, looks like his time is up. Rijkaard is a nice guy & have achieved success at the club - up until last season, when things seem to start going downhill. So perhaps things have gone stale. And what do u do when the bread goes stale? You get a new loaf. Thanks for your efforts, Rijkaard. But it's time we part ways, & Barcelona will have lots of planning to do, both to find a new manager & also new players. A big rebuilding job is due, & if the Barcelona board are in any doubts as to the need for rebuilding, they would surely have been emphatically dispelled by this morning's debacle at the Bernabeu.
I should commend Real for their achievements this season. Reports say that Real's Argentinian players did very well against Barcelona - Gago was superb in midfield, young forward Higuain scored barely a minute after coming on as a substitute, while defender Heinze had a solid game. Speaking as someone very fond of Argentinian football, I'm glad to hear that these players are doing well, even if it comes at Barcelona's expense. Real had 3 Argentinians involved in the game. Barcelona had only 1 (the whizzkid Messi, of course). It might sound simplistic, but there might be a message there for Barcelona - look to Argentina if you want to sign players.
The crushing result means that Barcelona cannot even finish second in La Liga - third is the best they can hope for. For a club like FC Barcelona, going 2 consecutive seasons without winning any silverware is considered a failure. So yeah, big rebuilding needed. The wheels must be set in motion, sooner rather than later. The one silver lining is that the only way is up, so I'll try to enjoy the upward ride. Things surely cannot get any worse for Barcelona. Or can it? If worse is to come, then I'd shudder to even think about it. Time for me to head off now....
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