Rumour has it that Guardiola and Mourinho share one thing in common at present: they want to qualify for the next round of the Champion’s League as quickly as possible so as to focus their efforts when the battle for La Liga really gets underway early in the New Year- and when you have to draw on all your resources to compete in the early Spring with the other big guns in Europe.
While not just Real Madrid but Chelsea and Arsenal seemed to be firing on all cylinders this week, last night Barca struggled to up their game against lesser mortals at the Camp Nou.
Sure Guardiola’s men gave us their usual mix of glorious fluid passing, and there were moments to relish from Iniesta and Messi in particular- but I lost count of the goals that should have been scored but were not. What should have been a duck shoot turned into a series of blank shots. The final 2-0 scoreline was pretty pathetic really given the nature of the opposition- Champions League freshmen who trail fifth in their own first division.
Last night Barca once again overplayed on too many occasions, when less elaborate moves , fed by a more self-evident killer instinct, might have led to a goal. Creativity without goals is self-indulgent exhibitionism, and it could cost Barca dearly late on in the season.
