Well, wasn’t that one heck of a stoush? On one side was a team representing the dark forces of football, a bunch of preening, self-absorbed whiners hell-bent on sucking all the joy out our great game. And on the other side was Real Madrid.
Seriously, though, any moral superiority Barcelona thought they had over their hated rivals surely drifted high into the Madrid night sky as the Catalan standard-bearers stooped to disappointing new lows in their 2-0 win Champions League semi-final win yesterday.
Sure, Barça fully deserved their victory and were certainly the only team that came out to play.
But when Dani Alves disintegrates like a dandelion in a stiff breeze whenever an opponent so much as looks at him and the increasingly ugly Carles Puyol spends as much time coaching referees as he does organising the back four, it gets tiresome to revisit the platitudes lavished on Barcelona for their style of football.
More than a club?
Holier-than-thou more like it, although the Catalan giants showed they weren’t afraid to bust out some shrill histrionics in response to Jose Mourinho’s park-the-bus-and-pray tactics.
Mourinho laughably suggested his three-stage game plan involved introducing a recognised striker late in the game – presumably the fourth would have seen pigs fly over the packed stands of the Bernabéu – and ‘O Pouty One’ was in venomous form in his traditional post-match meltdown.
“Sometimes I feel disgusted about this football world of ours,” said Mourinho as he wiped away tears, no doubt railing against the injustice of being paid vast sums of money to conceive such elaborate game plans as defending with ten men behind the ball.
“I just have one question: Why?” asked the mischievous Mourinho, hinting at the kind of refereeing conspiracy not seen since the days when General Franco rolled up his sleeves and got stuck into the messy business of rigging the Spanish championship in Real Madrid’s favour.
Had Mourinho been paying attention, he would have been aware that the correct answer to his question was obviously, “Lionel Messi.”
The little maestro once again showed that he is so far ahead of his contemporaries in terms of shaping a game, he will invariably be compared to Pele and Diego Maradona as the greatest of them all.
Messi’s second goal was majestic, scored as it was from the sort of slashing, high-octane run we’ve come to expect from the little master.
But it was his first which broke open the tie as the Argentine deftly got in front of his marker to prod home Ibrahim Afellay’s excellent right-wing cross.
Of course, both goals were helped by some diabolical defending: were the stewards who surrounded Marcelo at the end of the game trying to show the hapless Brazilian where to stand on the pitch?
At times the Madrid defence looked as though they’d signed up for a tanga class lead by Stevie Wonder, and there’s a wonderful sense of irony in the fact Mourinho’s ultra-defensive tactics came undone thanks to such shoddy individual defending.
The ranting racounteur at least got one thing right: without the suspended Sergio Ramos and Pepe, Madrid have no chance of reaching this year’s final, so we can all pencil in a Manchester United – Barcelona blockbuster at Wembley, thank you very much.
As for Mourinho, he’ll no doubt be dreaming up a succession of witty one-liners and practicing the most appropriate scowl for the next time he lines up against arch-nemesis Pep Guardiola.
He might as well start lining up a move back to Inter too, because there’s no way Mourinho will stay on as Real Madrid coach after being tactically out-thought and out-fought by his younger rival.
Barça have one foot in the final and the legend around Lionel Messi continues to grow, but it’s a shame their penchant for play-acting and haranguing referees continues to grow with it.
Axelv
Guest
Pedro was diving around in many other situations, the person you're talking about i think was Alves. He was fouled and it would still hurt what happened to him by Pepe. But the stretcher part is going over the top I agree.
Axelv
Guest
That's bordering racism. There were many latin players in this game, only 2 were divers. Sergio and Pedro were disgraceful and were cheating, and it's not the first time they've done it. The rest of the players including Cristiano Ronaldo were even well behaved and didn't go down unless fouled. Saying it's a cultural thing is racist.
Axelv
Guest
The plan of Mourinho was to defend for the first 60-70 minutes of the match to frustrate Barcelona, then hit them hard and attack in the final 20 minutes of the match by bringing on Kaka and having Madrid flood forward. It would have been a great plan as I don't think Pep would know what hit them, but that plan went down the drain after Pepe got sent off on what was never a straight red card, given what happened. I would have liked to see Barcelona win the game in a fair match rather than against 10 man, Real Madrid were not out classed. Just out manned.
Jupiter53
Guest
I would like to point out that if you read law 12 "Fouls and misconduct" a red card is to be given for any of seven offences. The relevant ones for Pepe would have been either "serious foul play" or "violent conduct". If the referee believed that Pepe was guilty of either of these offences then it is a mandatory red card. Yellow cards are given for seven different offences. The one that gets applied to repeated fouls is "persistent infringement of the laws of the game". There is no provision for a yellow card for "serious foul play" or "violent conduct". I would also point out that where law 12 outlines the offences for which a direct free kick is to be awarded it clearly states that commiting or attempting to commit the offence is equally punishable. So for Pepe to be sent off he did not have to actually connect with Alves. It was sufficient for the referee to believe that he intended to do so and that this action or intended action was serious foul play or violent conduct. In my view Pepe's studs up challenge was unbelievably stupid and asking for a send off. I sympathise with those who are infuriated by those Barcelona players who exaggerate when they are fouled. However I tend to the view expressed earlier by French Fries that if someone is trying to kick you off the park then it is sensible to make sure the referee notices. Personally I thought Real's approach was totally cynical and reaped the reward it deserved. Blaming Barcelona for Real's persistent fouling makes no sense. There are players I admire in the Real team and I hoped they would make a game of it. However my last shreds of sympathy for them disappeared when Marcelo jumped on Pedro's leg. My family were all cheering and jumping as the goals went in. It was pitiful to see such gifted players as C Ronaldo, Xabi Alonso and Casillas in such an awful display. Last year Inter needed a bad offside call to beat Barcelona but they deserved that bit of luck as their counter attacking was so deadly. Mourinho's claim to coaching excellence is tarnished not just by the result but because Real were hopelessly impotent in this game.
apaway
Guest
The question is: Would the red card have been shown if not for the theatrics. In this case, I think it would as Pepe committed a studs up challenge. If however, he completely missed his opponent (so sue me I don't even remember who it was) and video replays prove this conclusively, then the diver should be punished and Pepe's card rescinded, as happens in the A-League. I knew we'd be a world leader in something!
Colin N
Guest
"I think the play-acting (while disgusting) was Guardiola’s reply to the loss in the Copa del Rey." Not really, because they do it in every game they play.
Colin N
Guest
Man U may not have the same class of player as Madrid but I think they're a better unit. United were superb against Schalke on Tuesday. Also, we don't know what would have happened in the Spurs-Madrid tie had Crouch not got himself stupidly sent off.
Swampy
Guest
Barca are cheats of the highest order. Sure they might be the best side in the world but they are far from the fairest. A referee might see 40 fouls as play acting and make decisions accordingly but it only takes one time to believe the play actor to ruin a match as happened in this game. The ball was in the air and pepe had every right to try to win it. The fact that he tagged alves right in the middle of the tiny little shin pad he wears warranted a free kick only in my opinion. Perhaps a yellow for showing his studs but in no way was it a straight red. The fact that Alves jumped up off the stretcher and ran straight back on should be evidence enough that there was minimal impact in the tackle. It wasn't like pepe had a run up at him. They were standing still two meters apart when the ball came. Not a lot of momentum can be gained from two meters in my opinion. -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download The Roar's iPhone App in the App Store here.
gazz
Roar Pro
oh well, messi rules
Nathan
Guest
And poor referees stuck in the middle; heart went out to that ref!
dasilva
Guest
I agree I think people forget that play-acting/diving and over-physical and thuggish football are two sides of the same coin You can't get rid of one without the other.
French Fries
Guest
I think the play-acting (while disgusting) was Guardiola's reply to the loss in the Copa del Rey. He saw how Mourinho's tactic was to strong-arm the Barca tinkerbells and get them flustered then catch them on the break. Guardiola's idea was to go further down that track and cause Madrid to go down to 10 men. And then pounce more effectively than they did the week before. Ugly but smart, just like Mourinho's play often is.
maca
Guest
Red Card (correct) had two important effects on the game: 1. Xavi was no longer being shadowed all over the pitch and could now control the game better 2. Alonso had to move up from his holding position into the midfield allowing Messi to get in between the lines.
punter
Guest
Come on Whiskeymac, did you see what Real Madrid did to a Spurs side that demolished Inter in teh qualifying rounds. Have a look at both the Chelsea & Man U sides & how many of their players are in the class of Ronaldo. While I know Messi is a class above, this guy has also got 42 goals this year for RM (equal to that what he got for Man U, when we all proclaimed him the world best. He has been outstanding but in the shadows of one man MESSI. Neither of the English teams has the quality in midfileld as Ozil, Alonso, Kaka (hardly played), just not as good as Barcelona. No the final should have been RM v Barcelona, the best 2 sides in Europe, with Barcelona just the best by a long way.
whiskeymac
Guest
According to articles on The Guardian's website a large proportion of Real fans (over 70%) believed the red was correct and are more than a little miffed with Jose.... interesting times. Very Real Madrid -win some silverware, fire the coach. See http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/apr/28/spanish-press-real-madrid-barcelona "In an online poll more than 72% of Marca's readers disagreed with Mourinho's comments that referees favoured Barcelona. (Some 78% felt Pepe's red card was correct.)"
whiskeymac
Guest
i wld not put Real as one of the best 2. however you quantify such things i wld say they are in the same league as Man U, Inter, Chelsea and many of the other teams that reached the QF's. They are not a cut above all these teams. Mourinho always defends against Barca - whether its i/c of Chelsea, Inter or Real.
dasilva
Guest
I think it was a fair red card Studs at the ankle is a red card irrespective of the intentions of the player (by the way referees are instructed to not take in consideration the intentions of the players as they are not supposed to be mind reader) Even if it was a bad referee decision, I find Mourinho whinge to be a bit much. I mean Inter Milan last year had fair amount of dodgy decisions gone their way when they knocked out barcalona (offside goals in the first leg and Bojan goal that was incorrectly ruled out in the 2nd leg)
Gavin
Guest
Ridiculous?? what exactly was Pepe doing with a raised foot, studs showing, that high from the ground?? It was a blatant red card as there is, it's a shame it effectively decided the game, but you can't blame Barcelona, or the refs, you just can't do that..
Dan
Guest
I'm now looking forward to Man Utd getting destroyed in the final again. The cry babies vs the whingers! Should be epic.
Jojo
Guest
The red card was ridicoulous, the guy on the ground (pedro I think ) should get reprimanded from UEFA. It looked like his leg broke, and then he gets up from the stretcher like nothing happened when the red card is shown. Mourihno has a right to be upset.