Sevilla 1-1 Barcelona: Sevilla recover from poor first half to hold Barcelona to a draw
The line-ups after Bojan replaced Pedro through injury
Barcelona failed to win for only the fourth time this season in La Liga.
Having favoured a 4-3-1-2 formation in recent weeks, Gregorio Manzano returned to a 4-2-3-1 system here. Didier Zokora came into the centre of midfield, and Diego Capel started over Diego Perotti on the right, so Jesus Navas was on the left.
Pep Guardiola welcomed back Gerard Pique, which meant Sergio Busquets returned to midfield, and Javier Mascherano dropped to the bench. Pedro Rodriguez started, but was injured in the first few minutes, and was replaced by Bojan.
Praising Sevilla’s tactics blindly on the sole basis that they picked up a point here would be foolish – they endured plenty of nervous moments and could have lost heavily. Barcelona hit the bar twice, had a goal controversially disallowed, and also had a shot cleared off the line. Regardless, the different strategy used by Manzano in the two halves was certainly a point of interest, and Sevilla were very good after the break.
Pressing…
Sevilla started the match reasonably well. They kept a high line and pressed in the midfield, with 3 v 3 in the centre, the wingers tracking the full-backs, and the centre-backs remaining in position, letting Lionel Messi drift into the midfield zone.
The more obvious their relaxed attitude to Messi was, the more he started to wander, to the point where he was playing extremely deep – deeper than a number ten, at the tip of a fairly compact diamond rather than as a forward. He often became involved in build-up play, though when Xavi Hernandez or Andres Iniesta got the ball in space, Messi would sprint forward from a deep position to attempt to reach balls over the top.
…but not for long
This became increasingly easy when Sevilla’s pressing dropped alarmingly around the 20 minutes mark. There was no pressure on the ball in midfield, but the original high defensive line was still in tact. This meant that Barcelona found it simple to put through the defence – Messi had two chances from chips over the top (one he miscontrolled, the other he headed against the bar) and Dani Alves burst through with one of his classic runs to square for Bojan for the opener.
Sevilla offered so little threat in the first half that it’s barely possible to comment on their attacking tactics. Ivan Rakitic was the closest support to Alvaro Negredo upfront, but even he spent most of the half in his own third of the pitch. The wingers were too concerned with the threat of Barca’s full-backs to venture forward.
Just before half time, Messi collided with Javi Varas and seemed to be seriously hurt, but was able to continue in the second half.
Second half
The second half line-ups
The second period of was a completely different contest. Sevilla made a change – taking off the deepest midfielder, Zokora, and introducing Freddie Kanoute in the deep role he’s mastered in recent months. That gave the Sevilla midfield a different tilt – Rakitic dropped in alongside Gary Medel, who played solidly ahead of the back four.
More important than a change in personnel was the change in mentality, however. Sevilla actually attacked in the second half, and Barcelona seemed surprised by the contrast – they looked sluggish at the start of the second period. Messi was clearly not 100% fit following his knock in the first half, and pulled out of a tackle in the lead-up to Sevilla’s goal. Kanoute also played a key part with good link-up play between the lines – the goal wouldn’t have happened in the first half – and Navas nodded in to complete an excellent move.
Barcelona push forward
After that, Barcelona stepped it up, but (as against Arsenal in midweek) they were wasteful in the final third. Adriano’s crossing from the left was terrible, whilst David Villa’s movement was poor on the right.
Despite his injury, Messi was the main man – going on a couple of tremendous runs before being halted at the last moment. Sevilla sat deeper as the second half went on, and played on the counter-attack. It was fairly successful strategy – Barcelona couldn’t play through them, and at the other end they had chances on the break. The more attacking approach also limited the percentage of possession Barca had in the second period – it dropped from 75% in the first half to 67% in the second.
Battle
Another key factor was Sevilla’s physicality. Messi’s injury was simply a 50-50 challenge with the goalkeeper, but in the second half Sevilla were fired up and made hard tackles on various players. Barca were unquestionably unsettled by these tactics, and even the normally calm Xavi squared up to Medel. The final 20 minutes of the game was fast-paced and played in a fierce manner.
Guardiola only made one change in the second half – very late on, with Seydou Keita replacing the disappointing Villa. There was no obvious ‘plan B’ from Guardiola in terms of formation or strategy – he remained confident Barcelona could unlock Sevilla, though it might have been interesting to see Ibrahim Afellay on to provide another option on the ball.
Manzano also kept the same formation and strategy – although Sevilla didn’t turn down chances to break at speed, they were happy with a draw. Perotti replaced Capel, which meant Navas went to the right, and Perotti’s fresh legs were welcome against the threat of Alves.
Conclusion
Barcelona have played worse than this and still picked up wins this season. Their problem at the moment, amazingly, is in front of goal. They have scored only one goal in each of their last three La Liga matches, and have started to overplay and become wasteful when they get into the penalty area. Villa hasn’t looked sharp enough in recent matches, and the loss of Pedro – who offers great movement in from the flanks – would be a big blow.
Sevilla’s first half approach was completely different from their second half approach. Attacking Barcelona after the break caused them difficulties, although it was arguably the ’surprise’ aspect rather than the tactic itself which caught Barca out at the start of the second period.
Sevilla 1-1 Barcelona: Sevilla recover from poor first half to hold Barcelona to a draw
bojan is still rubbish.
But he scored that cracking goal…
That touch wasn’t meant to be a shot, he wanted to control the ball. When he realised the defender might clear it off, he barely managed to block the ball with his own legs. He was lucky, that his touch was a bit stronger than he had intended.
I’m thinking that was sarcasm from ZM.
He may not be on the same level as Pedro but he’s hardly rubbish. So close to setting up Messi and was hacked down by Navas also. Belter of a second half. The next revelation in football is going to be an insanely attacking fullback who can cross well every time. Barca’s profligacy can be staggering at times!
I don’t think he was “hacked” down (I presume you are referring to the penalty shout which wasn’t given) as such, I do think that he could have stayed on his feet there if he wanted to, but threw himself over to try to win the penalty. To be fair, the Sevilla defender definitely clipped him, and the ref wouldn’t have been wrong if he’d given a penalty……as he didn’t, should he have then booked Bojan for diving? I think the ref probably saw the incident as I’ve just explained above – that he definitely saw the Sevilla defender clip Bojan, but also felt that Bojan tried to make the most of it by throwing himself to the ground, and subsequently decided to award nothing whatsoever. If he did see it this way then I think thats great refereeing…..but we’ll never know exactly what went through the refs mind at that moment…..
He’s still young and perhaps falls into “immature” mistakes at times, but he has made some great performances in the Catalan National Team, and he has always answered well when he’s needed at Barça.
How were you at 20 … at anything for that matter?
20.
hes one of the best young players…in Spanish league…dont forget hes only 19…
What do you make of Manzano’s decision to switch Capel and Navas around and take them out of their natural position? Since they are similar players and natural out and out players I was surprised to see them play on their weak foot.
I thought Navas looked uncomfortable out-left, but it was logical to try him there, perhaps to exploit the space behind Alves and have a run at Pique.
Last time (5-0 at the Camp Nou), Alves tore Capel apart. Manzano needed to avoid a repeat performance
I disagree with you about Barca not having a plan B. After the break, it became clear to me that Villa had been moved to a fairly standard central forward position ahead of Messi, between the two Sevilla centre-backs, with Alves covering the whole right flank, just as he did in Barcelona. Iniesta and Xavi also swapped roles, Don Andrés becoming the more deeper-lying, and in this role he became more dangerous, because he had more space to pull off a shot (which hit the bar) or to follow the Barca attack late, to a position he should have scored from, with no one to defend him, but Medel (I think) made a great clearance off the line.
I think you are talking about a Plan A.2 or something. I have to agree with ZM here, and I did actually see it, that Barcelona was playing the same tactic the whole game, yes, the players switch roles but still the tactics were the same, calm build up and find the perfect pass for the goal.
I did ask myself if Afellay was going to come in in the second half to give a more direct threat but i guessed wrong.
I think that Barcelona really needs to start making a Plan B, find a more direct attack because lately they’ve encountered teams that defend narrow and blocking space to exploit.
It is true what you said. Still, I guess their “philosophy” makes them want to win by staying with their tactics, avoiding, at all means, a plan B.
Or that they couldn’t make a plan B even if they wanted to, which they obviously do and have tried. This was the whole $60+ million Euro disaster which was Ibra, a failed attempt at a “plan B.” It has nothing to do with philosophy, despite fans like yourself wanting it to be such. It has more to do with being practical, the Barca team is created to play the way they play, and a plan B would be worse than however bad their plan A is working. Even if the plan A is not working very well. Because they have tried to form a plan B, spent millions upon millions on its formation, and failed every time.
that’s a good point. Barca could maybe use a direct approach, but they don’t exactly have a forward who is good in the air. The tallest is Villa at 1.75 m… I think the problem is, it’s hard to find a striker who is good in the air but also good enough technically to fit in Barca’s plan A as well. Ibra was obviously good enough, but that didn’t work out. I’ve heard rumors that Barca want van Persie, which makes sense. He’s surprisingly good in the air and, obviously, an excellent player with the ball at his feet. He can also play as a winger or even attacking midfielder (i.e. Messi’s position). The problem, obviously, is his injuries.
And of course, right now, they don’t have a striker like that and can’t sign one, so obviously that can’t be their plan B.
Plan B is lob the ball in Penalty Area for headers
Messi hit the cross bar with it.
Puyol is out.
Pique is better with his feet than his head imo.
They employed Plan B and do so in other matches as well,
its just rare and so quickly forgotten by people.
Dear ZM, Just a couple of minutes to the match there was power failure and I missed the whole match. Die hard Barca fans are going crazy about the disallowed goal and surprisingly they are not even happy with Messi. But here you seem to say the opposite. If you dont mind, could you enlighten what was wrong with the free kick, please.
Sevilla away match has always been a tough fixture for Barca and Pep is sometimes not brilliant with his substitutions.
Asking Villa to play in the right might have caused his off form, may be.
Messi bent the free kick in at Varas’ right-hand post. The ref blew for a foul by Barca, and the only possible cause seen in replays was some very minor contact between Busquets and a Sevilla player behind the wall and at the opposite end from where Messi’s shot went by.
Barca players took it with surprising calmness. It looked like a serious refereeing error to me, but they no doubt assumed they would score again, and in fact did create lots of good chances afterward, hitting the bar twice.
Thanks boss
Of course there were calls which went against Seville, like the most obvious of penalty calls on Alves when the Seville player was clear to have a header on goal from about 5 yards out, and Alves first attempted to grab to player from behind, when that failed he clips the players heels from behind and the player fell right before he could get to the header. An obvious penalty denied.
As usually, bad calls go both ways, just like most Barca fans were telling Arsenal fans not too long ago.
What a great post. And what a great blog you have here! Congratulations.
Yesterday, against almost all predictions fell Barcelona, equalized and Real approached. To give a little excitement to the league.
I invite you to visit my blog. You can use the translator;)
http://thebluefactoryofdreams.blogspot.com
Your blog is already there I shall be referenced and visit often.
A big hug
It’s hardly against almost all predictions for Barca to draw against Sevilla away. That’s a pretty tough match regardless of their league position. Interesting how Barca don’t do so well after Champions League or International breaks. Also their Champions League form is in marked contrast with their league form (Rubin Kazan, no away knock-out wins etc). I heard that Real Madrid intend to request tighter doping control in the Spanish league. Amazingly they only test for stimulants and recreational drugs but not things like EPO. A good point was made that cycling is considered riddled with drugs (where they test for virtually everything) and football is considered clean (but it seems in Spain at least they test for nothing). The numbers of players tested is also shockingly low. The feats of Ronaldo and Messi are just superhuman, there is no doubt. I would not be surprised if Spanish football was riddled with drugs – like their athletics and cycling. Not just Barca, look at the points totals, look at the goals per game – Real Madrid are just as guilty.
Yes, I’m sure Iniesta’s insane dribbling ability and Xavi’s magnificent passing range is all down to taking drugs.
I agree they are both fantastic players but I’m guessing it could help with their relentless pressing game and the fact that they have a very small squad with little rotation. It would be terribly naive to think that football is completely clean. Only the other day Kolo Toure was found out (a mistake of course). Messi versus Ronaldo looks like Mark McGwire versus Sammy Sosa.
It’s not either clean or dirty. Some people will be doping in most sports. For God’s sake, look at Van Persie and his placenta treatment: people will try anything.
It’s just that in football, there isn’t that much to gain. Fitness, sure. Pressing is about more than that though. And Xavi’s passing is completely unobtainable through drugs…
I dont think Barca are on drugs to be honest. I think the fact that they have the ball for 60-70 percent of the match is a big factor in their pressing. They only have to press on the few occasions when they lose the ball and basically they have the ball for long periods of time which allows them to recuperate. I dont know maybe i am naive but i cant see a Barca player taking any kind of drug. Aside from medicine they have such high standards.
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It seems the most obvious to me that Iniesta or Xavi’s ability, or, in fact, of anyone else’s in Barça is just the result of a hardworking young group of people. If we can’t play like them, it does not mean they take the drugs we avoid. As Hugo here said, dopping will not give us the footballing ability of Xavi or Iniesta, saddly for us.
Uhm, what drugs are you thinking of? You can obviously appreciate the difference between stamina/strength related sports and doping, and skill/tactics related ones. Do you think EPO will have any effect on their finishing? Please.
I’d test the odd one who recovers really quickly after injury. But there are few performance enhancing drugs that will make a big impact on, say, Messi’s game. Perhaps some psychotropics if he can’t concentrate.
Little ADHD kid that he is.
Drugs wont definitely improve technical quality. In Football the only gain from drugs should be stamina. In that case, you might find more users in EPL than Spain. Isnt it, its just running running and again running. Even at 95th minute, the stamina looks awesome in EPL.
Doping also allows players to recover more quickly from injuries.
Look, kid… Ill explain it for you in a very simple way so you understand, as you dont seem to have too much analysis capability if you say they need drugs for their impressive performances.
Barcelona has usually 70% possesion. That means they have to press only 30% of the time or less. The other team has to defend and concentrate 70% of the time, which means they get exhausted physically and psychologically, while Barcelona is still fresh, because while they have the ball they are not spending much energy and only press hard the rare times they lose the ball.
They are extremely good at administrating their energy, its the reward for being always in control of games.
cruyff said that once didn’t he?
it’s something like ‘when you’re defending, you would have spent more time chasing and running, therefore it is more tiring…’
With 75% possesion per game, you don’t need drugs to operate in the highest level. Maybe we should look out in Mourinho’s teams if we want to find doped players.
As for the match: We could say it was a lucky result, but i’d like to point out Bojan’s inability in physical play. He will easily tacked out of his run with a single knock.
Also, he didn’t gave any width yesterday, as he was playing centrally, obviously waiting for through balls from the middle.
The RFEF is a generation behind the rest of Europe’s elite in so many ways and this is certainly one of them. We need an end to lacks doping control, cronyism and their gross incompetance. The Spanish league cannot thrive with such lack of vision and professionalism. I would not be surprised if every team in Spain were indulging in this practice. If they don’t test for blood doping, why wouldn’t you use it? Puerta? De la Red? Jarque? Miguel Garcia?
This was a really compelling game to watch, at least from halftime on. (Atletico-Almeria was a fun game as well) And I think Sevilla provided a blueprint in the second half for teams to follow if one hopes to be successful against Barcelona…
I agree that Kanoute was the key factor in turning the game around for Sevilla, not just the fact that he was linking play on the counter attack but also the speed and precision with which he (and Sevilla) countered. Many teams SAY they will defend and play on the counter against Barca, but in reality when they win the ball they are too deliberate and/or too sloppy in starting the attack and Barcelona has time to press and win the ball back (I’m looking at you Arsenal). Sevilla was willing to make one-touch quick moves as soon as they won the ball and this is how they created their opportunities.
I wouldn’t read too much into this game. Barcelona had a goal wrongly disallowed. Bojan should have been awarded a penalty, but perhaps Sevilla should have been given a penalty as well. With that many errors, all of which could have changed the game, it’s difficult to draw conclusions, especially when Messi played through his injury and wasn’t 100% fit.
Some days, Barcelona capitalizes on nearly every opportunity and they score 5 goals. Other days, they scrape by with “only” 1 or 2 goals. I have a hard time believing that Real Madrid is going to beat Barca at home, see Barca lose one additional game, AND Real Madrid will win 100% of the rest of their games. The title race is back on, but expect both Barcelona and Real Madrid to each drop at least two more points here and there, and Barcelona still having enough at the end of the year to win the title.
Only in La Liga is an away draw to a very talented club in a hostile stadium seen as a major
“defeat.”
That’s great that you think such, but then why play the games? Why even play the season. Instead of a football season, we can make use of our time better and go play with friends and family, and then come to Raul and ask you, hey, who would have won LaLiga this year? Then you say, well, I think Barca would have won. They we just give the title to Barca. A lot easier, don’t you think?
Re: barca players doping.
For those saying they rest when they have the ball, isn’t Xavi one of the players that covered more ground at the world cup? You have to run and get into position for pass, barca players don’t pass the ball around while they’re standing still.
Someone needs to do a detailed and scientific analysis of this.
In a few years doping will be a huge part of football. Biotechnology is advancing rapidly and in a decade kids will break olympic records. Football isn’t all about fitness but if you can run at superhuman speed and have superhuman stamina the game changes completely. Nobody would ever be able to have the ball and string more than a few passes. Will be very interesting to see how the game evolves and how FIFA deals with this.
Xavi always covers more ground than almost anybody at any given match, but the difference is that he never sprints, which is what really exhausts people. He almost always jogs, he only ever takes full strides when the opposition gets behind Barca’s midfield and he needs to catch up to the ball, which frankly doesn’t happen a lot of times. That’s why Barca doesn’t use counter-attacks, to conserve energy. When they possess the ball, they prefer the ball do the running, and the players only have run just enough to get open for a pass. The only time they sprint during an attack if a through ball is played.
exactly. barcelona literally tells their players to “let the ball do the running” from an early age. this doping talk is nonsense. xavi/ the rest of the barça midfield cover a lot of ground by following the barça midfielders mantra “receive, pass offer, receive, pass, offer”. xavi covers the most ground because he’s the best at it, he is always available for a pass.. that doesn’t come through drugs so you can run around. he never sprints. that comes through years and years of playing within the movement based barça system.
i think i just came reading this.
Actually Barca made another sub in 75th minute with Maxwell replacing Adriano. Keita came on later. Great analysis, i thought Perroti was brilliant along with Kanoute.
Thanks, fantastic writeup! Reading feels like watching in fast forward, really good stuff! Only managed to watch the last ~20mins where Sevilla sat deep. Thrilling battle there indeed. Reads like I should have watched the whole match
Kanoute and Sevilla’s change in intent were instrumental to their markedly improved play the second half.
In line with that however was a significant drop off in the Barcelona press the second half. This repeatedly left the backline open to dangerous chances.
Villa had a very poor game. His work rate was uncharacteristically minimal both in possession and on defense.
Once Messi picked up that injury he was not moving normally and in turn his pressing fell off as well. There was a significant drop off in his defense after the injury.
Messi is a strong defensive player. As an example, in the first half he tracked all the way back to the nominal left full back position to dispossess Sevilla of the ball. After the injury he just wasn’t able to do that. This was a critical ingredient to Sevilla’s goal.
With Messi workrate down on defense and Villa’s poor game, Barca only had one forward pressing effectively up the pitch the second half. And while Bojan provided effort he is not nearly the defensive force on the press that Pedro is.
The Barca system is not going to readily tolerate defending with only 8 outfield players. Once that happened against Sevilla it left their high back line particularly exposed. In turn they lost significant defensive solidity and were exposed on several occasions.
Credit to Sevilla for changing styles of play and for taking advantage of Barcelona’s fall off in play.
Tactically I thought this match was interesting in demonstrating the vital importance of Barca’s forward line in defense.
As brilliant as Messi is in attack, the biggest difference between him and many of the other great footballers in the game is perhaps his defense. Where other players often primarily participate in one phase of the game he is intimately involved with how Barca attack and defend as a team.
The loss of his defending against Sevilla was a significant alteration in how effectively Barca could play particularly given Villa’s off day and the absence of Pedro.
The idea that Barca players on drugs shows signs of jealousy from rival fans. The reason why they can play this kind of football is”
1) Intelligence: They don’t run aimlessly like the english, only when there is a chance of a thru ball, hence conserve energy
2) Pressing: All the 10 outfield players press as a unit. They press both opponent players with the ball and without the ball, hence opponents cannot string any passes or dribble, and barca get the ball back easily, hence also help conserve energy.
3) Tiki Taka: They pass the ball a lot, unsettle the opponent without too much running, also helps conserve energy.
BUT….
Their pressing is insanely intense. I notice that they always fade off in the second half, due to their tiredness. Opponents should take note, spend the first half to tire out the barca players without tiring themselves first, then in second half, use very fast counter attacks to score goals against barca, like what sevilla did.
Barca peak 2 times in a season.
Nov-Dec & then End of the season.
Hence the current slight slump in dras less goals, etc etc.
AND whats with this drugs things, i mean “ARE THESE GUYS ON DRUGS THEMSELVES”… jeez
Has anyone noticed Dani Alves, sprinting to the opposition player with the ball (that was standing 20m away), leaving Pique alone with a Sevilla player (Perotti?) on several occasions in the second half? I don’t have to mention that it was completely wasteful, because the ball would venture around Alves to that player that Pique couldn’t quite cope with? That was very foolish from Dani.
I knew sooner or later the question of doping in Spanish football would rear it’s head. Spain has suffered a number of doping scandals recently, it’s successful athletics and cycling teams disgraced (Contador, Dominguez…). So at a time when they win the World Cup for the first time, have two teams set record points totals in the same season! and this season that record is on track to be broken, have two guys scoring a goal-a-game, record breaking consective wins etc I think it is reasonably for people to wonder about doping.
From reading the comments here I think some good points were made:- 1)that Barca dominate possession and so press for less time than other teams, 2) that no pill can impart the skills of Xavi and co and 3) that they have tired in some games where they failed to get a big lead and were pegged back. On the other side I think it is interesting that people have noted 1) the number of heart-related deaths and scares in the Spanish leagues in recent years (I remember reading the figure was about 14 or so and that was before Sergio Sanchez, I think). No other league has those kinds of numbers, 2) that Barcelona don’t show the same dominance in European games (several group stage losses, no away knock-out wins and 3-1 v 10-man Arsenal is not the same as 5-0 Real Madrid, for example) – of course they won the Champions League two years ago so no-one is saying they’re a bad team. And 3) that the doping control in Spain does not test for a host of drugs and techniques which have widespread use in other sports. That seems incredible to me because everyone knows that doping is a fast moving game and the cheaters are always a step ahead, so to work from a list 15 years old is asking for trouble.
I would like to see tighter doping control in Spain and for Barca to go on winning in their amazing way because it would be terrible for 1) doping controls to remain as they are and the suspicion to remain or 2) doping controls to improve and Barca to fall back to a more ordinary level or Messi and Ronaldo to go to a goal every two games, for example. That would do a lot of damage to football, especially with Spain winning the World Cup.
I am a Contador supporter and many people just aren’t aware of the details of the case. All in all bottom line being his Tour de France victory wasn’t due to doping and that is a fact so far.
And about the suspicion you talk about, i can turn the discussion the other way as well, that there seems to be more doping in the Premier League, with recent case of Toure, and previously as well famously Rio Ferdinand as well and also taking into account the type of game being played with
Hard tackling, fast relentless paced and on top of this 38 games with no break a season and fast recoveries relative to such a game type.
LaLiga is comparatively played a conservative pace.
Barca and RMadrid’s dominance is because they own 50% of the money in the league, they don’t need dope to get advantage over others, its simple $$ math.
I am not convinced by the Deaths in recent years argument, i have not seen any study or source on it, besides it could very well be down to poor medical first-aid facilities and higher work load in bad conditions with flawed work out techniques being used as well, lot of reasons.
FIFA tests players in their competition last i read, Spain was tested i think in SA.
As one said above in comments, Fears about drug use stems from jealously( on a sub conscience level perhaps) and an inability to comprehend that the other side is genuinely of era defining quality.
Besides, drug use is also very specific, even if drugs were used a strikers would not be using the same dope as a defender, for such thing to exist it would have to be so systemic that it would already have been out considering how intrusive & sensationalist the tabloid media in Spain is, MUCH MUCH more than in England.
Just go to Sport.es to check on this development.
http://sport.es/default.asp?idpublicacio_PK=44&idioma=CAS&idtipusrecurs_PK=7&idnoticia_PK=739046
Barca players are tested enough. Even by Uefa.
Just as everyone else in Europe.
Hence…. i rather not say ‘coz then it would considered as abusive.
I am sticking to my jealously theory unless something new comes up.
I support Bayer 04 Leverkusen. What I say is not about jealousy or about one league against another. I agree the disparity of the television deals is a major competitive advantage for Real Madrid and Barcelona (as is their big stadiums and marketing income too) but this is nothing new and last year both Real Madrid and Barcelona broke the points record in the same season. How utterly incredible. This season it may be broken again. We can throw laurels at Barcelona but was last season’s Real Madrid the best of all time? Far from it. In Europe they went out on a whimper but in the league they won and won. I agree that there is doping in all football, some is found out like Kolo Toure but the majority is not. It is a fact that the more checks are put in place the more is found and Spain have fewer checks than they should. They have zero chance of finding what they are not looking for. If I were playing for Osasuna why wouldn’t I use a drug that would improve my performance and that I wasn’t going to be tested for? Even if it just made me jump higher or 1% faster in the last 10 minutes – why not take it?
I also agree that there is no proper study into the chain of deaths and heart problems (let’s not forget the close calls – de la Red, Sergio Sanchez..) but it is clear that it is happening in Spain – not Germany, not Austria, not Bulgaria. Only Foe was in England. Why isn’t there a study? If a player was doping and died of a heart attack, isn’t it more likely he was one of a group rather than it being something he just did himself? And do they ever find a reason for the death? No. They just say ‘it must’ve been a congenital heart defect’ but as the patient is dead it is impossible to diagnose the majority of heart defects. This explains why De la Red underwent a raft of tests but they never found anything. Had he died, I guess they would’ve just said ‘another congenital heart defect’.
I also agree FIFA and UEFA testing is superior (though still not good enough IMO, the fact that so few violations found points to poor testing rather that well behaved athletes and doctors – does football naturally attract sporting people and cycling and athletics attract cheats? The difference is simply the testing), I think the Spain win at the World Cup was as clean as any team (but then they didn’t press like lunatics) and Barca’s Champions League exploits too (but they are not breaking records every day in the CL like they are in La Liga). I don’t deny the talent of players like Xavi, Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo but I’d rather watch them play knowing they were clean than being asked to have blind faith in them. I don’t support either team so maybe it’s easier for some here to do it than for me.
Finally, what was Kolo Toure using? Something cooked up in a cutting edge facility to give him a very specific improvement in a key attribute? Or his wife’s slimming pills? They take whatever works for them, doesn’t have to be specific. Everything on the WADA banned substances list should be tested for and frequently else the cheats will keep getting away with it.
Who knows what Kolo took, maybe hes innocent afterall.
You say you would like “I’d rather watch them play knowing they were clean than being asked to have blind faith in them.”
Well then by that criteria no one is or will be EVER safe.
Take for e.g. you team Laverkusen, Prove to me that they did not dope in their 2001-02 season.
How can a team which isn’t/wasn’t a regular at the top of Bundesliga reach the Champions League final and almost won the League BUT only to nearly get relegated next season by finishing 1 place above relegation position.
I would call this clear doping wouldn’t you say? How else can they do what they did?
The point being.
Unless its proven beyond any reasonable doubt, any mention of it is slander.
Just look at what happening in Spain, Madrid Based COPE radio mentioned Valencia had possibly had dubious doctors in the past, this is unsubstantiated, biased and so loaded that the damage from such a statement is extreme.
There is enough testing as it is, Barcelona were tested 80 times in a year in Spain. 8 random checks by UEFA in last 2.5 years or so.
Cycling is the most tested of any sport, its the most doped sport on the planet as well.
Rules are the same for everyone, if a substance isn’t on the list in Spain, then its not on the list for everyone in Spain
(I don’t believe this is serious though as Spainish adhere to international rules on doping and do have a rules laid out hence enough substances are on banned list as would in another country)
Its not like A Drug is banned for 1 team and B drug banned for other team.
Besides Football isn’t like other sports like cycling, distance/speed running.
There is no need to have a similarly stringent banned-drugs list for it.
Because natural skill & talent form a greater part of football as well (more so than many others), hence a like for like from cycling,etc is just unreasonable.
Football is some regards is a more athletic event than many other sports, just because of the intensity and more importantly the volume of matches/training schedule, therefore certain recuperating medication and methods could very well be deemed illegal in other sports, but when u play 4 matches in a week a lot of times as many teams do, they need to be given some license. (This point is debatable i know and i am not the one making decisions. Rules & banned lists are already there.)
Coming back to my earlier point,
No proof, Don’t talk. Talk is cheap and its damage long-lasting even when ones innocent.
“Well then by that criteria no one is or will be EVER safe.”
Not every player needs to be tested after every game for every drug. Just enough to be reasonably sure, which is not done at the moment in Spain (the land of footballers in their 20s dropping stone dead from heart attacks for no reason). In fact, there isn’t a competition that wouldn’t benefit from tighter controls.
“Barcelona were tested 80 times in a year in Spain. 8 random checks by UEFA in last 2.5 years or so”
As has been said already, the Spanish aren’t checking for ’second generation doping’. You could test them a million times it wouldn’t matter. The point is not about Barcelona, it is about a major European league with a drugs checklist from 1988.
“Cycling is the most tested of any sport, its the most doped sport on the planet as well.”
Well, this is a completely ridiculous statement and makes me wonder if replying to it is a waste of my time. An adult human of average intelligence or above should see that you cannot say the latter without the former.
“No proof, Don’t talk”
It may not have occured to you but, funnily enough, you have no proof either since these tests are not carried out, which is kind of the point.
I can understand people saying they don’t believe these teams are doping – that’s fair enough, I believe they are but no-one can know for sure without the tests. But to argue about how there’s no need for them because football is a about skill and technique so it wouldn’t matter anyway – that is, to argue against having the tests performed, that is very strange. If I said I had a squirrel in a box and some said I had and some said I hadn’t – why not open the box and see? Why argue to keep the lid on?
“Madrid Based COPE radio mentioned Valencia had possibly had dubious doctors in the past, this is unsubstantiated, biased and so loaded that the damage from such a statement is extreme.”
Of course the way to cleat this up would be to publish the evidence seized during Operation Puerta but….
“Something cooked up in a cutting edge facility”
A facility like the one your favourite football team is sponsored by and even owes its very name to ? How utterly ironic !
Atletico Madrid improved considerably at the Camp Nou earlier this year when they introduced Forlan in the deep lying role to unsettle the midfield triangle. The problem for Atletico was introducing the change too late. Barca were up 2 or 3-0 at the time.
Aside from Barcelona botching the final third, there are clear ways to unsettle the tactics for those paying attention. Double pivote, unsettling force in the deep lying playmaker role (Forlan, Kanoute, Schneijder).
Barcelona needs Villa back on form very quickly. I think Messi needs to play more advanced and let Xavi and Iniesta run the show as before. I think Messi’s dropping deep is actually counter-productive in more ways than it helps. He needs to be an immediate threat to the back line at all times in my opinion.
Barca stop trying to score the goal of decade and just fire them in like you used too!!! Pride before the fall, remember that!!! Not every goal has to be a spinning backheel volley, or a diving scorpion kick. Keep it simple.
Both Messi as Barcelona were left with a bitter taste for not having achieved victory, but also peace of mind by looking for it with their resources so recognized: good game, combining, acceleration.