Looking at Barca’s easy dominance over the last two weeks, one could have forgiven Tito’s squad for going into the Bilbao game with just a hint of holiday drowsiness and complacency. Since the limp, stale attacking of the 2-1 defeat to Celtic and the sloppy defending of the 4-2 win over Zaragoza, Barcelona have burst into even more inspired form. Messi thrashed Zaragoza single-handedly, then went to frozen Moscow and scored a brace in a surprisingly smooth 3-0 win. Then we went to Levante—the same Levante that cut Ronaldo’s eye and battled Madrid through 90 minutes of pouring rain—only for Andres to put on a jaw-dropping performance, creating three and scoring one in a 4-0 clinic.
11 points clear of our hated rivals. Tied for the best start in the history of La Liga. First place clinched in our CL group, through to the next round of Copa del Rey. Two players nominated for the Ballon D’or, both in the form of their lives, one of them rapidly closing in on yet another goalscoring record that has stood untouched for 40 years. Next up: Bilbao at the Camp Nou, a fixture we’ve won for the last eight years against a team whose fortunes have fallen dramatically in the past four months. Knowing that whatever happens, by the end of the night one of two title contenders will have dropped points. All setup for us to coast to a victory.
With characteristic pragmatism, Tito sent out his first-choice lineup: a four-man midfield featuring arguably the four best passers in the entire world, supplemented by the speedy linkup play of Pedro at his exclamation-mark best and spearheaded by the indescribable Messi. One might have expected this Barca to pass Athletic into submission, dancing little one-two triangles across the field and baffling the Basques’ brave attempts to man-mark, before eventually deciding it might be time to score a goal or two and walking home victorious.
Instead, the league leaders were as vicious as they’ve been all season. It started with Pique, a scrappy corner followed by a casual finish. It also ended with Pique, whose bombing run forward initiated a brutal counterattack: three direct, incisive passes between Pique, Messi, and Pedro from the half-way line to the 6-yard box, followed by a cutback to Messi and a looping header over the bar. The familiar laughing smiles exchanged afterward could not disguise the ferocity of an attack that would not have looked out of place at the Bernabeu last season.
Which is not to say that our beloved blaugrana have begun to play like the merengues. But what Tito’s Barca seem to share with last season’s champions is an insatiable hunger—the hunger that keeps the players relentlessly pushing towards goal even in the ninetieth minute, be it for the umpteenth comeback of the season or the sixth goal on top of a 5-1 drubbing. Barca have not forgotten how to play tiki-taka, their consistently incredible possession and passing stats more than prove that. On Saturday, Xavi and Iniesta contented themselves with a mere 56% of the ball—but they were simply ruthless in their distribution of it. Each earned himself an assist with a perfect defense-splitting pass, each was unafraid to test the keeper with a shot when given space. Just another day for Xaviesta, nothing unusual to see here.
Unless you consider that Iniesta has started only seven games this season, often rested in favor of the player thriving most under Tito, Cesc Fabregas—yet Andres continues to adapt, linking up brilliantly with the former Gunner as he did for the fourth goal against Levante. Or that Xavi is almost 33 years old, and by all accounts should be conserving his energy and playing a calmer, metronomic role in Barcelona’s midfield—and instead runs more than he did all last season, harries opponents for the ball, and shoots from outside the box. Yet neither of these Spanish legends complains if they are rested. The team above all else, they say. If Fabregas is the poster child for Tito’s more direct tactics, Xavi and Iniesta continue to embody the twin traits of this Barca’s character: humility and hunger
Humility and hunger are what have characterized this squad’s transition from Pep to Tito. Even as new arrivals Cesc and Jordi Alba flourish under the more direct style, Andres and Adriano have reacted to this new-found competition by adapting, upping their game and developing incredible chemistry with the new boys. Older players like Xavi and Villa might have found themselves confused and alienated as the rules for Tito’s midfielders and wingers have subtly changed, but instead they have approached their new roles with the determination of young bucks and the professionalism of veterans. And it is humility and hunger that have allowed the most admired team in world football with the most successful start in Liga history to keep pushing for a goal 90 minutes into a well-won game.
So this holiday season, what do you get for the team that has everything? The team that has won every trophy there is to win, and still receives adoring accolades from opponents and critics on the rare occasions that they lose? The team that lost the league last season for the first time in four years, yet now watches bemused as their hated rivals flounder in third place? The team that despite an injury list littered with defenders remains undefeated in La Liga?
Listen to any post-match press conference, and Tito will tell you, in his quiet, professorial manner: just three more points, please.
OneBarca: 