FOOTBALL FOCUS
John Dykes
No-one ever won the European Cup in November but some fans already have designs on it.
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| Barca boss Pep Guardiola |
We are still half a year from knowing who will lift the Champions League trophy in Rome but last weekend provided a couple of clues as to which clubs might consider following Chelsea's lead in booking hotel rooms in the Eternal City.
In a scene not unlike something from The Amazing Race, I spent last Saturday afternoon and evening watching three Champions League contenders in action over the course of 12 hours spent in two different European cities.
First, London and the Emirates Stadium where Arsenal and Manchester United played out a thrilling, incident-packed contest in pelting November rain. With the triumphant roars of Arsenal's fans still ringing in my ears, it was time for a dash by car across London to Heathrow Airport for a flight to Barcelona.
Four hours, one flight and another cab ride later, I was strolling down the hill that leads to Europe's biggest football stadium, the Nou Camp. On a cool Catalan evening, Barca's fans - young and old, male and female, left their homes and tapas bars and went in search of entertainment.
Pep Guardiola's team duly delivered an eighth straight Primera Division win, a 6-0 demolition of Valladolid. Unlike the almost unbearable tension that surrounded proceedings in north London a few hours earlier, there was a feel of after-dinner theatre about a Nou Camp show that kicked off at 10pm. The crowd swelled to an estimated 60,000 (still 40,000 short of capacity) as they sat back and waited for Guardiola's goal machine to get going.
It didn't take long. With Samuel Eto'o scoring four before half time and Eidur Gudjohnsen and Thierry Henry completing the rout, Barca moved on to 34 goals for the season, from 10 matches. No team has managed that since the great Real Madrid side of 1959-60.
"Barcelona are right now the best team in Europe," was La Liga commentator Gerry Armstrong's resounding verdict the following day.
Really?
Or should that be Europe's best attacking team? There were many contrasts between the two games I watched Saturday but the most obvious one was the difference in intensity.
Sure, Arsenal and United played "fantasy football, playground stuff" in the words of Sir Alex Ferguson, but they also closed down space, flew into tackles and ran like men possessed. At the Nou Camp, a staggering amount of time and space was made available to Barca's magnificent front five of Eto'o, Henry, Messi, Gudjohnsen and Xavi, as well as the rampaging Dani Alves.
Only the towering Yaya Toure put in a truly defensive midfield performance against a lightweight Valladolid. Despite that, the visitors could have scored at least twice against a defence featuring former Manchester United centre half Gerard Pique.
Based on that showing, Barca look likely to concede at least two goals every time they encounter Arsenal, United, Chelsea or Liverpool. The question is, could the EPL's Big Four resist Barca's remarkable attacking threat?
"It's been amazing recently," said Gudjohnsen two days later when I caught up with him and former Arsenal stars Henry and Alexander Hleb after training.
"We have been killing teams off so early in games and then going on and scoring more," said the in-form Icelander.
Henry's take on Barca's recent habit of running up high scores, was characteristically perceptive.
"This is not normal and I have to keep telling everyone this," insisted the Frenchman, who seems a more intense character these days.
"To win by six, five, four, six again, it is not normal. Of course it's fun but it won't mean anything unless we win a trophy."
Henry is adamant that Barcelona, and La Liga, should not be dismissed out of hand as being all flair and no substance in comparison to the EPL's elite.
"Did you see the running I did out there? I am doing more than I ever did at Arsenal because of the space I get. Did you see what we did against them (Valladolid)? We don't relax, we keep going. Look at Gudi's goal - we were already four up but we didn't stop playing, didn't stop putting pressure on their goalkeeper.
"And I absolutely disagree that there is more strength in depth in the English league. It is not true because I can safely say that at Arsenal we were never once outplayed by a team below us. Not once. We might have been bettered physically, in aggression or whatever you want to call it, but never outplayed. Here, if a team gets the ball off you they will play it around. We went to Getafe last year and didn't get a kick."
Gudjohnsen is all too aware that his former club, Chelsea, and their Big Four rivals look likely to stand between Barca and Europe's top honour this season, but he too demonstrates an intensity and clarity of purpose.
"I'm not going to sit here at Barcelona and say we can't compete with the English clubs. Just look around you. I honestly think I am at the biggest football club anywhere in the world. I am playing football at the highest level of my life."
Of course a lot can happen between now and the business end of the Champions League season, but right now it is reasonable to anticipate something truly magical when the world's best attacking outfit meets one of the English giants.
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