There is nothing worse in life but a bad loser, but then there is nothing better than a productive love match.
Wenger continues to cry foul over the match at the Nou Camp, thus in denial about the extent to which Arsenal were systematically out played on all fronts. Not only were they pressed successfully by Barca everytime they tried to hold the ball, but struggled throughout the game to contain every avalanche of attack from the opposing side, not to mention their inability to destroy a skilled game of possession and passing through the resort to brutal tactics. On every conceivable statistic, Arsenal lost to Barca , outpassed, outcarded, and finally earning the dubious distinction of failing to aim one successful shot at goal.
Meanwhile I am delighted to see that Pique’s love affair with Shakira is now well and truly out in the open, with photographs in this week’s Hola magazine showing player and singer tenderly holding hands and sharing a car together.
As I have reported before, this star-studded match, not only in terms of the popular international coverage it fuels among the young and old, but also in terms of the club’s strategic relationship with the world of philanthropy should perhaps be seen only in the best of light. Shakira not only is a great dancer with a good voice but also aspires to have a noble personality. She sponsors programmes for underprivileged kids in Colombia. What with this week’s further announcement of Barca’s promotional agreement with Latin America’s development bank, and the continuing success of the club’s young Latin American-born players, this is the biggest and potentially most lucrative Hispanic-American movida since Columbus set sail from Palos and left us with his eternal statue near the port of Barcelona.
I suspect that privately Barca’s high command must be hoping that Pique will not be excessively distracted by the demands of his relationship. Pep Guardiola will need his whole first team firing on all cylinders over the coming testing months as the club faces the demands of La Liga , the King’s Cup, and the Champions League with the weight of its reputation as the world’s best on its shoulders. Let’s hope , for his team’s sake, that Pique’s heart and soul is in the right place. Fingers crossed.
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