Barcelona – Inter Milan ;; What Cost Us Our Second Successive Champions League Final?

It still hasn’t been a week. In my case, I’ve finally digested what was a hard pill to swallow in the first place. The picture above speaks for itself. After the first leg, many people claimed Inter Milan knew what they were doing and they were surely going to make it to the final; however, the picture above shows how much Inter couldn’t believe it. They made it to the final and at our expense, the best team in the world. Could this fixture have had a better outcome? In my opinion, what happened happened; however, there are some points that are worth discussing now that it has sunk in. The turning points, if you will, that led to us crashing out of the tournament..

1) Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s Lackluster Performance Up Front.

Nobody can deny what was evident in most of the matches this season. Ibrahimovic doesn’t suit our style of play. We got a striker who was supposed to score goals, and score goals he did, but 21 goals in 39 appearances in all competitions is not what we brought him to do. Last season he had 29 in 46! Comparing him to Eto’o would be a huge mistake, but one cannot help notice Eto’s figures (last season and this season) and Ibrahimovic’s figures (last season and this season as well). Eto’o had 36 in 52 last season whereas this season he only has 16 in 44. This says a lot about the respective leagues both players are playing in, but more about the style they are used to playing with. Eto’o cannot score a lot of goals with his new team simply because Ibrahimovic could score a hell lot of goals with them. Ibrahimovic is used to sitting in the box and waiting to be fed, while Eto’o is used to a fast flow of play in which he gets more than 20 passes a game. Now, he barely gets more than 9 passes a game! The reason is style! Who knows, maybe Ibrahimovic will flip a complete 180 next season like a certain Thierry Henry did last season, but we cannot sit and play the guessing game because we cannot afford that! Last season we had 105 goals, this season we only have 87 with three matches remaining, why? Because Ibrahimovic only scored a fraction of what Eto’o did, that’s why. His huge center of mass doesn’t allow him to accelerate in a way that Henry, Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, etc.. do and hence there is only one place for him! The midfield! I mean that sarcastically but common, even Yaya Toure can score goals. His inability to get behind the back line of strong opposition on a regular basis is somewhat worrying and thats why I prefer Bojan instead of him, and if reports are true, Villa instead of him. Don’t get me wrong; He’s the best striker on the planet on his day, but he isn’t having any of his days! And that is, in my opinion, the main reason we exited the Champions League. Had we had a different striker, we may have (or not) gotten passed Inter more than we did in Camp Nou as well as in San Siro. Heck Pique should’ve been striker instead of Ibra!

2) Offside, Hello!!?

This is the reason we are not in the Champions League final. We were on the wrong side of a 3 – 2 aggregate scoreline. I’m not praising the player, don’t get me wrong. He was in the right place at the right time in San Siro, and although I don’t understand how the lineman didn’t see his offside goal, we cannot blame the player. Nobody will man up if his teams titles chances are on the line. Thierry Henry did it, Maradona did it, Heck Messi did it and now Milito did it. It’s the same philosophy of players shouting for a corner when they know that they got the last touch. On the other hand, that goal was why we didn’t make it. An aggregate of 2 – 2 would have meant that we go through on away goals. It was not to be, but I knew that at the end of the 1st leg that goal was going to come and haunt us in the worst way possible. Of course, had we made it through, this article wouldn’t have been published. It’s the way of life and in life you win some and you lose some. I just wished we didn’t lose “some” in this way. Nobody can deny and nobody can prove that the referee and Mourinho had a special relationship. There are three sides to a story. Barcelona fans’ sides, Inter fans’ sides and the truth. Unfortunately for both sides, nobody will be able to figure out the truth. Chelsea fans came out bashing Barcelona. “How does it feel to have the game stolen from you?” or “See!!? This is what we felt last season!” Let me get one thing straight, had we not scored that crucial goal in Stamford Bridge, nobody would have even turned against the ref. That and the fact that Chelsea missed about 3 clear cut chances while we only had one shot on target. That shot got us through, and it was legit. For an offside call that easy to be missed and an penalty to be casually waved away, theres a little something something, but I’m not the type who bashes refs.

3) Pep Guardiola Chocked When Inter Went Ahead in San Siro.

In Pep we trust, In Pep we trust. We will never stop trusting in Pep, but like we’ve had one of the worst matches of the Guardiola era (according to Cryuff) against a mediocre team, this was the worst coaching blunder of the Guardiola era. When you’re down 2 – 1, or heck when you’re stuck on 1 – 1 and the team is attacking and you’re midfield control is crappy because of one Sergio Busquets, you bring on the calvary. Toure, Henry and Bojan where at your disposal. The best substitution The only substitution was very effective, but it was not enough. We know that and he knows that. When they scored the third goal they just sat on the defense. Our morale was down and so was Guardiola’s morale. Unfortunately for him, this was one of the rare times that he didn’t know what to do. Our Champions League exit proves the theory that the best team doesn’t always win. This was the case here, you were jut in the wrong place at the wrong time and since you couldn’t do anything about it, we got knocked out. It’s not a catastrophe. Real Madrid’s situation is a catastrophe. They’re barely getting passed the second grade teams in La Liga and were beaten in the Knockout stages of the competition for the sixth year in a row. Barcelona, on the other hand had just made history, that is why morale is high. This pack made history so why sit and cry? We beat Inter Milan twice this season, the first time we beat them was an example of pure coaching brilliance but also of luck. We had Real Madrid coming up and Ibrahimovic and Messi had to be rested. The effect of that was that Inter were prepped by the “Special One” to face Messi and Ibrahimovic. He didn’t expect them not to be on the field and his plan was completely destoryed. Unfortunately it was luck but I’m glad to say that the victory against Villareal shows that Guardiola learnt his lesson against Inter Milan.

4) Foul? Oh BooHoo;; Get Up and Stop Complaining.  *UPDATE*

We cannot blame the Champions League exit merely on individual factors. While Ibrahimovic wasn’t influential and did not “go with the flow”, the collective team play was pitiful. Instead of fighting for the balls that they lost they would look at the ref and await the (inevitable?) decision. Unfortunately, none of the decisions came their way and that is what caused the most fatigue. Stopping a player in the oppositions half is easier than allowing him to run with the ball and realize that the game play is not going to stop and run full speed after him. That’s tiring! When Messi was fouled, he expected to hear the referee’s whistle, instead, he heard it a few seconds later and that was when Inter were celebrating their second goal of the match. The game was ours to lose, and boy did we lose it. Thanks to Japple for reminding me about this very important point. The team lost this game. Yes, had any of the above been a little bit more positive, I can (boldly) say that we would have qualified for the final. It was not to be and we lost. The game was lost in San Siro..

5) A Very Good Referee Made a Crucial Error in The Return Leg.

This is going to be short. According to experts and to FIFA (who I think made the rules? Ehm Yea) when a ball is unintentionally handled, no matter what the outcome of the play is the play must go on and must not be stopped. Whether or not Toure had handled the ball doesn’t matter; because on both cases, the play should have went on. Maybe the referee didn’t see and I truly believe he didn’t see it. As I said before, luck. We were good, but we were not lucky and that is why the best team never wins all the time.

Looking forward, we have 3 games left. 9 points to play for and the League title is ours for the second consecutive year. I can’t hardly wait! I’m relishing the prospect of Madrid ending another season title-less while we scoop 4 titles (Yes, or did you forget that we won a treble of titles in the first half of the season?) The Super Cups and the World Club Cup were won in 2009, but they’re still considered part of this season. So whatever happens, this season will never be a failure for us because we always move forward.

Do you have any other argument? Discuss them in the comments!

Visca el Barca!