The City manager could be forgiven for regarding Sunday’s epic clásico with growing nostalgia but it was a reminder of the way systems can be torn apart by moments of individual brillianceShould Pep Guardiola have happened to find himself in front of a television on Sunday night, he might have been drowned by a wave of nostalgia. A few hours after his lukewarm Manchester City team had unravelled at Wembley, a spectacular clásico was about to reach a stunning conclusion at the Bernabéu. The 10 men of Real Madrid had fought back from the dead to equalise with five minutes left and they were seconds away from all but ending Barcelona’s title hopes. They just had to resist one final,...
There were countless sub-plots, players and stories to highlight after Barcelona’s 3-2 win at Real Madrid. But above all – way, way above all – there was MessiLionel Messi had a black eye, a bloody mouth and his Barcelona shirt in his hands. The board had gone up signalling two minutes left in the clásico: not enough for anyone – this was the game that should have gone on for ever – but just enough for another twist, even later and more dramatic than the first. It was 2-2, James Rodríguez putting Real Madrid within touching distance of the title five minutes from time, and Barcelona had a throw-in down in the south-east corner of the Bernabéu. The clock had...
Barça coach takes his team to face Real Madrid at the Bernabéu having lost the initiative in battle for La Liga title and a gory goodbye awaits him if they loseLuis Enrique’s final days at the Camp Nou are dark ones and they could get even darker yet. That is how he sees it, at least – a dystopian vision of his immediate future, a gory goodbye as his time at Barcelona comes to a grisly end. After their superb 3-0 victory over Sevilla on 5 April, hope briefly emerging after an impressive run, the Barcelona coach said that he’d had a great time but insisted that if and when they lost “a cannibal holocaust” would be released.Three days later,...
There is another clásico this weekend, another head-to-head between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. But it is now possible to wonder how many more of these we’re going to getTowards the end of his life Mozart wrote a piece of music called Ein musikalischer Spaß, or “a musical joke”, intended as a satire on bad composers. As you might expect it contained a hilarious discord in the horns section, some off-key sonata and – LOL – a polytonal finale.No doubt back in the 1780s this was all very weeping-laughing-emoji-face. Listening to it now, A Musical Joke just sounds predictably ace, brill, fun, yeah, really good. It turns up on the kind of CDs you buy at petrol stations called The...
Barça’s fate was in their own hands, which as it turned out was the worst place it could be against Málaga, despite the draw by La Liga title rivalsBarcelona’s fate was in their own hands, which as it turned out was the worst place it could possibly be. Saturday’s story was the story of the season in Spain: everything changed to stay the same, the table remaining unmoved. Another dead ball, another defender leaping to score, another victory coming for Real Madrid, this time in the city derby – the game the front pages had declared “half the league” only that was not the half of it. Pepe’s header would have been an appropriate way to win their first title...