Euro Sports Events

FC Barcelona’s defeat by Real Madrid on Wednesday night proved to be the catalyst for what many had seen as being inevitable. With the board of Barça convening a meeting to discuss the crisis in the club on Thusday,  Joan Laporta announced at the following press conference that Frank Rijkaard was to leave the club at the end of June, with B Team manager Pep Guardiola taking over for next season.

While Guardiola is seen by many to be the perfect choice for Barcelona- Catalan though and through, ex-Barça player, and already part of the family - others are not so sure that he is the right choice for Barça’s style of play.

Just when it looked like FC Barcelona was not capable of producing a good result, they go and beat slaughter Valencia 6-0.

That’s right, when I first saw it I thought it must be a mistake, but despite the crisis at Barça, with Real Madrid winning the league, with Manchester United going through to the Champions League final and Valencia knocking them out of the Copa del Rey AND then going on to win it against Getafe, they managed to put everything together against Valencia last night.

Despite that 10 players will be given the boot transferred this summer, that must give the players some morale. On Wednesday they play Real Madrid, so perhaps Barcelona will be able to do it all again and salvage their honour, bruised from a defeat in the Nou Camp leg back in December.

Barcelona’s squad was stripped of some of its top talent on Saturday night, clearly a sign that they have given up the fight for the league and going after the Champions League instead. The result was a 2-0 win to Deportivo, leaving players such as Leo Messi and the all important Victor Valdes to rest in time for Manchester United on Tuesday. Barça is still fighting for the second league position, but it is far from clear whether they’ll be able to take it. With just a handfull fo league games still to play, this one could go to the wire.

While Barça managed to hold possession for most of last night’s 90 minutes, they demonstrated once again the reason that their fans remain so frustrated. While keeping possession is important in a match, it isn’t as important as actually doing something with the ball, and despite attacking Manchester’s goal on numerous occassions, they seemed once again to lack the stamina to take it all the way.

Despite missing an early penalty, Man Utd must be relatively pleased; holding their own at the Nou Camp means that Barcelona will be on their back foot when they arrive at Old Trafford, but it could still go either way. If Barcelona make it through it is more for luck that a high degree of footballing skill.

One of the highlights of the football calender in Barcelona is the derby, played against the city’s second team RCD Espanyol. However, with both teams apparently in meltdown, Saturday’s match was never going to be a match to remember.

Despite having plenty of opportunities to score, especially in the second half, Barça failed to score. One of their great weaknesses at the moment is the attack, rather worrying with Manchester Utd visiting the Nou Camp on Wednesday for the Champions League.

Samuel Eto’o seemed to be putting his support by Frank Rijkaard with an on pitch display of solidity after scoring on Saturday night. The Cameroon player scored both of Barcelona’s goals at Recreativo de Huelva, and despite scoring in the 2nd minute the score ended in a 2 all draw.

Recreativo are theoretically a much weaker side, just one point above the relegation zone, and were lucky in having their first goal allowed; the replay showed that Victor Valdes had stopped the ball on the line.

With Espanyol visiting the Nou Camp on Saturday and Manchester United coming over next week, the team is clearly just about treading water and in danger of drowning.

Barcelona visits Recreativo de Huelva on Saturday in the return match for the Spanish League. In November Barcelona beat Recreativo 3-0 at the Nou Camp, it remains to be seen how they will do with their spirits apparently down.

Ather news is that Milan and Barça are talking about a move by Ronaldinho. It is clear he is unhappy at Barcelona so a move looks like it will be good for him. Also, with a cash burning salary off the books the club will be free to pursue someone who may be more effective.

While Ronaldinho has always been a pleasure to watch, it is hard to justify his pay on the 2007-2008 season.

Although providing a dismal performance at the Nou Camp last night, Barcelona managed to hold on to their one goal advantage against Schalke and even improve on it with a 43rd minute goal from Yaya Toure. That wasn’t enough for the supporters though, who were vocal in their condemnation of the teams under performance to the extent that they cheered Schalke.

The visitors, in truth, were unlucky, as they had been in the first leg of the quarter final. However, sometimes luck is all that counts, as was clearly the case for Barça last night. They go on to play Manchester United in the semi-finals, although it is hard to imagine that they will progress to the final on current form.

Despite numerous occasions to score on Sunday night, Barcelona’s match against Getafe ended in a goalless draw with supporters showing their displeasure and the current lack of form. With Real Madrid drawing against Mallorca on Saturday night it was hoped that Barça could narrow the gap again, but at least they were able to close the gap with Villarreal, currently in second place. They were beaten by Sevilla and are now drawing with Barcelona on points.

Frank Rijkaard’s problems are far from over despite a win against Schalke last night. Bojan’s goal in the 12th minute put Barça ahead at the start, but sloppy playing and lack of passion or energy meant they were barely able to hold on to their winning position.

The second half was particularly poor, with Schalke clearly outplaying Barcelona. Although their supporters were vocal in their view that Schalke scored throughout, they failed to give enough encouragement to the home team to score. However, during the final few minutes it looked as though a goal was inevitable, with Schalke attacking Barcelona’s goal again and again, and with Barça players clearly time wasting, it must have been a huge relief when the final whistle went.

Although they have limped past this leg of the Champions League, the return is next week. And with Barcelona’s dismal performance over the last month have ensured that some big changes are sure to happen at the club at the end of the season.