Five months is evidently a long-time in La Liga. Those of us who watched FC Barcelona’s 5-0 victory over Real Madrid last November could be forgiven for wondering last night at the Mestalla whether it had really just been an illusion.
Let’s be blunt. The Barca that played the first half of the King’s Cup put on probably one of the worst exhibitions under Pep Guardiola’s governance since his infamous first league match as boss when they lost against Hercules. This was a team that seemed to have lost the will to play, let alone win. They seemed to have no rhythm or strategy, while their vision and energy resembled that of a group of individuals suffering from bad hang overs. Only Pique seemed fired up from the outset, and that was probably because Shakira was watching him from the VIP box.
Mourinho’s men meanwhile did as they were instructed- playing rough and tough, they defended and disrupted, and occasionally counter-attacked, with lightning speed and ever threatening, in a way that showed up, by comparison, the woeful shortcomings of their opponents when it comes to scoring options, and the extent that Pujol’s inspiration in defence is missed. This was no Clasico but a scrappy duel between a deflated genius and a thug.
God knows what Pep told his players in the dressing room, but Barca came out in the second half and began to play- well, up to a point. But then the longer the scoreline stayed at 0-0 the more likely it seemed that Real Madrid would end up winning. One just had to look at the subs bench to understand why.
Some images will endure from this lacklustre final. The squabbling that broke out at one point between Barca’s front three –Pedro, Messi, and Villa; the ruthlessness of Pepe all over the pitch- Mourinho’s special emissary; the way that the Barca fans failed to rally round their team after Real Madrid scored their goal; and the contrast between the whistling of the National Anthem by the more fanatical Catalanistas and the extended embrace Casillas and King Juan Carlos gave each other just before the Spanish international raised his first major trophy since the World Cup.
This was a night when FC Barcelona showed rather less nobility than it could have done, on or off the pitch, as if it had been corrupted by a Mourinho bug. On this form card, Barca this season may just clinch la Liga but they won’t return to Wembley. Magic and goal scoring ability needs to return to the Guardiola camp, as a matter of urgency.
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