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End of the season thoughts

May 17, 2011 — by John Lally — 1

As we draw towards the close of another Premiership season, I wanted to offer a few random thoughts about how things have played out and, of course, a view on Tottenham Hotspur’s year.

Tottenham’s year

One of the things that has been creeping into conversations I have had recently with fellow Spurs fans, is the desire to avoid being in the Europa League next season, preferring to miss out on Europe all together. The idea is, without the distraction and tiredness that extra games in the Thursday Night Cup would bring, Tottenham would be more likely to challenge for a Champions League place next season. First time I heard this, I did not think it was an unreasonable position to take. However, a couple of issues have made me change my mind – mainly, the idea that qualifying for the

n596808759_492824_2840 — Braga's stadium, cut into a mountain in Northern Portugal

Champions League is in itself more preferable to being in a competition we could potentially win. Braga and Porto (Europa League finalists this season) are good teams but nothing for Spurs to fear given their wins this season over Milan and Inter. Merely being in the Champions League without a realistic shot at winning the trophy, is not better than triumphing in the Europa League. While you can attract better quality players once in the Champions League, a complete lack of European football next season, combined with highly lucrative contract offers being available at other clubs who have qualified like Manchester City and Chelsea, would result in Tottenham struggling to improve their squad enough to be in contention for a top four place next year anyway. Harry Redknapp has already stated that it will be very difficult for us to overtake Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City, and will be up against Liverpool who are attempting to do the same, so why is it assumed that less games will be the key. Admittedly, last season a lack of European football meant that Spurs were able to focus on the League and gain fourth place, but they benefitted mostly from the decline in form of Liverpool that year. The biggest step forward Tottenham have made in the last 10 years was in 2005/2006 when they qualified for the UEFA Cup through the League, the first time that had been achieved by Spurs in over 20 years. And that’s the other thing, I really enjoyed that campaign in the 2006/2007 season, everything about it: getting to sing “We’re all going on a European Tour”, the away trips to Prague, Germany and, best of all, Braga (photo above was our seats, adjacent to the mountainface), the home games and the atmosphere at the start of the second half against Sevilla when the fans willed the team back into the tie (unsuccessfully in the end, but it was still a great moment). I have the scarves, the photos and the memories from those trips I made with my sister (and 4,000 other Spurs fans) and it’s given me a real affinity for the competition. While this year might have been a letdown in the end for Tottenham, with too many draws and bad results against lower placed teams (2 points out of 12 from games against Blackpool and West Ham) costing us a place in next season’s Champions League, qualifying for the Europa League would be a satisfactory ending.

The Championship & FA Cup

Manchester United won their record 19th League title this weekend, the same day as their cross-city rivals won their first trophy in 35 years as City took the FA Cup. For the blue half of Manchester, it was a just reward for their fans who stuck with them even when they dropped to the third tier of English Football and still turned out in their numbers every week to support their team. Overall though, City are a boring side to watch and I am not going to be making any efforts to catch their Champions League games next year. There was a nice reminder of City’s recent struggles on Saturday, as they were facing Stoke City, managed by Tony Pulis who was the boss at Gillinhgam in 1999 when they played Man City in the League One (old Division Three) playoff final. In that game, City were 2-0 up with virtually no time left to go, only for Gillingham to somehow come back and score twice, going on to win on penalties. When the two sides met again in a later season, the Gillingham fans taunted their opposite number with “Two Nil, and you $%*#ed it up”, but the City fans reminded those who had given up and missed the ending with a retort of “Two Nil, and you all went home”. Congratulations Manchester City fans, Mancini and Mansour, not so excited for you.

Manchester-United-liverpool-banner- — Ticket £40; Paint £10; Banner taunting rivals - Priceless

Sir Alex Ferguson and United also finally reached a peak they had been desperate to reach on Saturday, when they overtook Liverpool for most amount of English League titles. Their dominance since 1993 has been incredible and they won the league this year thanks to incredible home form and by outlasting the other contenders at the end. But the biggest thing for me about this win, was it provided another example of fans carrying out practical jokes at the expense of their rivals. At the beginning of Sunday’s game between Liverpool and Spurs, some United fans went into the ground and unfurled a banner reading “M.U.F.C 19 Times” during the chorus of “You’ll never walk alone” at Anfield (plus some extra spies in their to get the photographic proof of it). This has come hot on the heels of Blackpool taunting Preston North End as the latter fell out of the Championship and into the third tier of the English Leagues. During their final home game, Preston fans were subjected to a plane flying over with a message saying “Poor Little Preston Enjoy League One” and then again “We are Superior Love Blackpool FC”. Fans looking to get away from it all by watching a game-show got another reminder, when a Blackpool supporting producer of the British show “Countdown” slipped this anagram into the final conundrum round – PNECRISIS (PNE = Preston North End, the answer is the end of this column!) I feel like I’m making this up…but then again on Sunday, within minutes of Wigan scoring an equaliser which meant West Ham would be relegated, a plane carrying a message of “Avram Grant – Millwall Legend” flew over the DW Stadium – the Hammers manager clearly only welcome in that part of London now, given that he was sacked moments after relegation was confirmed with the final whistle in that game. So long as it stays harmless fun-poking, I am all for this banter between fans of rival clubs.

The Relegation Battle

Although West Ham fans really dislike Tottenham, I have to admit I am sad to see them relegated again from the Premiership. They are a club with a lot of history and they really should be a top flight team, but once more they are going down with a squad with a vast amount of talent. I do not have any sympathy for the owners, Gold and Sullivan are certainly not a likeable pair, but the fans deserve better. When the fixture list comes out each year, Tottenham’s games against West Ham are definitely among those that I look for, and definitely are of more interest than games against Birmingham, Wolves or Wigan (unless we beat the latter 9-1 again). With an Olympic Stadium to fill in the near future, it is imperative for the club that this demotion is not a length one. While many Spurs fans will celebrate the Claret and Blue being knocked out of the Premiership, I have sympathy for the Hammers and their supporters and hope they make a speedy return, not least becase I want us to actually beat them next time.

The remaining two sides to go down will be from Wigan, Blackburn, Birmingham, Wolves and Blackpool. Since we are playing them and they are one of the most boring sides to watch, I will be happy to see Birmingham go down. There could be controversy at Old Trafford as already Champions United will rest players ahead of the Champions League final meaning Blackpool could have a good chance of staying up, Wigan will stay up if they can win at Stoke and that would leave it as a shootout between Wolves and Blackburn in the game at Molineux. My prediction, Blackpool lose to the kids of United and Birmingham go with them.

Arsenal & Chelsea

All season long, there was a debate about who would end up in fourth place, would it be the billionaires of Manchester City or would Tottenham repeat their feat from last season. In the end, the team who’s likely to finish in 4th looks like it could well be…Arsenal. Another under-achieving season for a Arsene Wenger’s team, who three months ago were looking to win four trophies, but ended up with 0. But, while the Emirates Trophy Cabinet can still be returned unused to the high-end furniture store in Islington it was procured from all those years ago, St. Totteringham’s day was on the 7th May this year, the day that Spurs can no longer finish above Arsenal in the league. This day has been celebrated at some point in every single season since 1994/95 when Tottenham last finished above their north-London rivals. So while I’m happy that they did not win anything, a trophyless season for Arsenal is not something I will be crowing about. Chelsea, deceptively brilliant at the start of the year due to an easy run of fixtures, ended up not quite knowing what kind of team they were and looked great at times, and played Torres at others. Another failure in the Champions League means that Ancelotti’s time is probably up there, but the constant turnover of managers and players means they will struggle to find the repeat success that Manchester United have enjoyed.

So football is nearly over for the summer (except of course, for the Copa America and MLS…okay well the Copa America) – not the best season for Spurs, not the worst one either though. Next season, it will probably more of the same – frustrating defeats and draws to teams at the foot of the table, a good European run (albeit in the lesser competition), but please, next year, how about a trophy. The FA Cup would be nice, we last won that in 1991. I remember it, but the older I get the fainter the memory…

But before I forget – the anagram – PNECRISIS = Priciness

Commentary Video

CultFootball Film Session: Copa del Rey Clásico (Part 2)

April 25, 2011 — by Suman — 1

We went through the 1st half highlights of last Wednesday’s Copa del Rey Clásico in detail–highlights that were dominated by Real Madrid’s counterattacking. But it was a game of two halves:

The second half was a different game entirely. Barcelona were rejuvenated by whatever spanking Pep Guardiola gave them in the dressing room, and they came out with the sort of belly fire you expect from the best team of their generation. Suddenly the game was stretched (in part because Madrid were pushing more into attack, but also because Xavi and Pedro were drawing out Pepe and Khedira more successfully) leaving Iniesta room to move through the middle.

Watch along as we detail the 2nd half highlights below:

Comments on 2nd half highlights:

The 2nd half highlights start off (at 7:06 of the video) with a great chance for Pedro from the left flank, created by Xavi and Iniesta (51′). The tape jumps from that clip ahead to the 69′ (7:44), and a classic instance of Messi’s ability: he drops back to the halfline to receive the ball from Xai; three Madrid defenders converge on him (Pepe, Marcelo, Xabi), but he turns away and scampers across the field, turns away another Madrid tackler, and slots a ball through for Pedro–who does in fact put the ball in the back of the net and starts celebrating. But the linesman had called offsides, and the explosion of Barça joy is cut short (“Explosión de alegría abortada”). The replay shows that Pedro was leaning just beyond the last defender.

Pedro-CopadelRey — "Explosión de alegría abortada"

Another beautiful Barça thru-ball creates another great chance (8:43, 75′): Busquets with a great pass from the center line to Dani Alves, who’s further forward than any other Barcelona player. He cuts back and finds Messi, who’s run into space at the top of the Madrid box. He gets off a good shot, but Casillas saves well–and here’s an example of where ” the counter attack of Madrid started to look more like desperate clearing rather than pointed reply.” Watch the sequence after Madrid boots the ball up off Casillas’ rebound–Barcelona plays keep away for about 20 seconds in the crowded middle of the pitch, evenutally leading to another great chance for Pedro. The ball goes tiki-taka from Dani Alves to Busquets to Xavi, who dances around a challenge from Marcelo, gives it back to Busquets. He finds Iniesta, who one-touches to Messi. Messi once again skips through a few Madrid defenders, shifting the play from one side to the other, and finds Xavi in a bit of space. He puts Pedro in, and he nearly scores by chipping Casillas–but the Madrid captain just manages to swat it away with his fingertips. Casillas keeps Madrid in the game a few minutes later, when another sequence of Barça possession leads to another great chance, this time for Iniesta off a quick give-and-go with Messi (9:45, 81′).

Madrid does create two chances in the last five minutes of regulation. A good tackle and quick pass forward (by Xabi? 10:22, 87′) to CR7 leads to a strong run at Barça’s defense by Adebayor. Ronaldo runs behind him and up the left flank; Dani Alves is tracking him, but gets turned around when it seems like Adebayor might get through to goal himself. Adebayor lays off for Ronaldo, who’s seemingly in on goal once again, but again Alves is able to recover just in time to block Ronaldo’s shot. The last chance is created by Ronaldo, who despite his missed opportunities keeps working hard. He picks up a loose ball in the middle, finds diMaria on the left; the Argentine cuts in, creates a bit of space between him and Dani Alves just outside the box, and sends in a curling shot that Pinto palms over.

Commentary Video

CultFootball Film Session: Copa del Rey Clásico (Part 1)

April 22, 2011 — by Suman — 2

Sean’s excellent postgame analysis of Wednesday’s tense and memorable Copa del Rey final included the video of Sergio Ramos dropping la Copa under the bus. Here is video from the match itself, followed by some micro-analyses of key sequences in the 1st half. We’ll follow up with commentary on the 2nd half and extra time highlights over the next couple days. Certainly prior to the next El Clásico (3 of 4)–back to the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu on Wednesday, for perhaps an even bigger match–the 1st leg of the Champions League semifinal matchup.

Comments on 1st half highlights:

The first highlight (0:00-0:50 of the clip, 11′ of the match) illustrates Madrid’s quick counterattacking in the opening half. The play is created in the initial 10 seconds–we suggest you watch that segment a few times: notice how Madrid left winger diMaria picks up the ball in a crowded space along the touchline and quickly splits a couple Barça defenders. In particular, he gets behind Barça’s attack-minded right wingback Dani Alves; the diMaria-Alves matchup on this side of the pitch is one to focus on.

Özil (#23) is initially standing inside towards the center, but as soon as diMaria breaks through, Özil sprints up the inside left channel, finding a seam of space in between Barcelona central back Pique (#3) and left wingback Adriano (#21). It’s a great run by Özil, with credit also due to diMaria for slotting the ball through into Özil’s path. Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo is initially on the far side of the field very close to diMaria, but he sprints behind Özil’s run into the empty space in the center–the space that’s opened up when Pique steps towards diMaria’s penetration and Adriano chases Özil across.

OzilAdriano-CopadelRey — Turkish-German Özil vs Brazilian Adriano

Özil receives the through ball on the left flank, does a little pirouette, and chips the ball over and across onto Ronaldo’s foot–note how the ball floats just over the head of Pique. The Catalan center back did well to recover towards the middle in an attempt to track Ronaldo’s run, but Özil’s ball was measured just right. Just those few seconds–the run, the turn, the pass– show the creativity in Özil’s movement, vision and passing that’s earning him such as praise in his first year at Madrid.

With a better first touch CR7 should have created an excellent chance to score here. Imagine how different the game would have been had he put Madrid up in the 11th minute–but his first touch betrayed him, and the ball skittered almost to the touchline. Ronaldo did well to still put the ball on net, but from a sharp angle, and by that time Barça’s defense had recovered, and Mascherano cleared off the line.

Commentary Spain

Real Madrid Lay Hands on the Copa del Rey

April 21, 2011 — by Sean — 5

Less than a week after their hard fought tie in league play, Madrid and Barça met in the final of the King’s Cup. Mourinho sent his defensive set into the midfield again, then put in Özil from the start for an added touch of creativity in attack, and sprinkled the whole side with an extra dose of aggression dust.

The force of Madrid’s tackling and their quickness in closing down the Barça players immediately unstabilized the usually unflappable Blaugrana. On the strength of their defense and their quick counter attack, Madrid had far the better of the first half. Pepe seemed to be everywhere and Ronaldo did very well as the lone striker up top (even with Mascherano shadowing his every move). The game moved quickly up and down the pitch, but Barcelona weren’t finding any joy past the midfield circle and it wasn’t until nearly the 40th minute that they finally caused an overload close to goal (the chance fizzled without them manufacturing a shot).

Their one foray aside, Barcelona were lucky to get to the halftime whistle tied at zeroes, especially after Pepe’s towering header above Dani Alves smashed against the inside post and deflected at an agonizing angle across the goal mouth.

The second half was a different game entirely. Barcelona were rejuvenated by whatever spanking Pep Guardiola gave them in the dressing room, and they came out with the sort of belly fire you expect from the best team of their generation. Suddenly the game was stretched (in part because Madrid were pushing more into attack, but also because Xavi and Pedro were drawing out Pepe and Khedira more successfully) leaving Iniesta room to move through the middle.

It was in fact Iniesta who turned the game in Barça’s favor. In the first half, the playmaker forced passes into Messi and Villa only to find them sitting inside a trap. In the second half the tiny balding Spaniard held the ball and ran past the first defensive line of Madrid, then worked in closer proximity to his strikers so they could work the tiki taka. As soon as they found their rhythm the counter attack of Madrid started to look more like desperate clearing rather than pointed reply.

If not for Iker Casillas, Barça would have gone ahead in the second half, and considering the state of Madrid at the time they would probably not have found a way back. Spain’s number one tapped away a lovely chipped ball by Pedro and pushed aside an Iniesta strike destined for the corner.

It looked as if the game would head for extra time, until Madrid managed an odd man rush at the very end of the 90 minutes and di María found himself free to test Pinto from just outside the box. Valdés’s stand-in managed to palm the floating attempt above the bar and it was onto the next 30 minutes. More of the same for the most part. Hard tackling from Madrid but Barcelona with better control, though the chances had dried up.

copa del rey — Sergio "Butterfingers" Ramos drops the Copa del Rey under the party bus

Then just past the 100 minute mark Madrid found their way through the center of the pitch by way of another Pepe tackle. Marcelo swung the ball out to di María who got a toe in front of Alves to lift a far-side cross to the slicked head of Cristiano Ronaldo. The glistening head of the Portugese directed the ball past the unbalanced Pinto — Madrid 1 – 0 Barcelona.

Substitutions were made by both sides in the final fifteen minutes, but the score remained the same, and Real Madrid walked away with their first Copa del Rey in eighteen years. Then, Sergio Ramos dropped it under the party bus on the way back from the airport…

Commentary History News

Marca on Madrid: “Con 10 Se Juega Mejor”

April 17, 2011 — by Suman — 1

We’ve been digesting Saturday’s Real Madrid-Barcelona 1-1 draw at the Bernabeu–just the first installment of this month’s 4-part El Clásico series; the second is coming up this Wednesday with the Copa del Rey final, to be contested on neutral turf–at the Mestalla in Valencia. In the meantime, it’s always entertaining to see how Madridista tabloid Marca spins the latest big result.

There’s much to savor in this cover. The screaming lead (“Con 10 se juega mejor”) seems pedestrian enough. Translating to “It’s better to play with 10” (or “We play better with 10”?), Marca is seemingly remarking simply that Madrid played better after losing Albiol to a red card and playing a man short for the final 40 minutes of the match.

But it turns out the headline may actually be an allusion to an aphorism attributed to the legendary manager Helenio Herrera–which leads to something of a Möbius strip of historical resonances: Herrera, nicknamed Il Mago (“The Wizard”), is best known for managing Barcelona (1958-1960) and subsequently Inter Milan (1960-1968). His Barcelona sides successfully challenged the 5-time European champions Real Madrid on the domestic front. Then in Milan he gave birth to Catenaccio and led “La Grande Inter” to two consecutive European championships (1964 and 1965). Inter didn’t conquer Europe again until last year–led by Jose Mourinho of course, defeating Barcelona along the way in the semifinal, which led to headlines such as “In José Mourinho Inter finally have a true heir to Helenio Herrera.”

(For more on Herrera, confer this post on The Equaliser (which also has a post about La Grande Inter); Chapter 9 of Simon Kuper’s Soccer Against The World, titled “A Day with Helenio Herrera”; the chapter of Jimmy Burns’s Barça: A People’s Passion covering Herrera’s tenure at Barcelona, titled “El Salvador”; or this post titled “The Really Special One – Helenio Herrera.”)

Back to the Marca cover: Mou(rinho)’s comment on the matter gets put across the top (“Me cansa jugar siempre contra ellos con diez jugadores” / “I am tired of always playing against them with 10 players”), and Marca asks whether the “roja directo” (straight red) for Albiol versus no yellow (“ni amarilla”) for Alves on the respective penalties represents a double standard (“¿doble rasero?”).

Of course it’s CR7 and Messi that dominate the image–another fine piece of photoshopping. Ronaldo striding with the ball, looking up, clawing at the air like some sort of big cat (perhaps an allusion to Mourinho’s hunting with cats?), while Messi shuffles behind him, eyeing the ball, looking disturbed/disturbing.

But we also rather like the little image of Guardiola and Mourinho inserted at the top: the two managers with their backs to each other, pistols in hand. One round of the duel completed–three more to go.

Commentary

Madrid open up and make a game of it, eventually

April 17, 2011 — by Sean — 1

realmadrid — Madrid's recycling midfield triangle.

The first of four meetings between these sides produced a magnificent game, but it was always going to be about how Madrid responded to Barcelona. It’s a shame then that Madrid were brought down to ten men and we didn’t see the fullness of Mounrinho’s second-half tactical shift.

Jose deployed a new formation yesterday evening, placing a tight triangle made from two defense midfielders and a center back smack in the middle of Barcelona’s attack. Alonso, Khedira and Pepe–yes, Pepe–rotated defensive and attacking duties amongst themselves, working in tandem to break up the passing game from Iniesta and Xavi, and when they won the ball one of them would spring forward into the attack. Very often it was Pepe, and though it seemed odd at first to see the holding back pushing into the opposing side’s penalty box, it soon became evident that the Portugese was the most dangerous man on the pitch.

Barcelona only once pulled their collapse and expand tactic (where they bring three players in attack close together, then one-touch to each other to lure in defenders before turning or passing beyond their now condensed markers) – usually reserved for moments when the defending team are hesitant to leave their defensive zones. This unique moment in the match speaks precisely to the way Madrid disrupted Barça’s usual attack. The visitors were allowed no time on the ball, and almost always forced to move the ball laterally or backwards. Their chances were rare while Madrid attempted to counter through their speedy wingers.

There were contentious moments of course. Adriano’s yellow in the 9th minute was very soft, and considering he was tasked with containing Ronaldo he’d have to be careful not to pick up a second. Villa went down in what could have been a penalty, though in replay it did look like he dragged his feet and went over before the Casillas made any bit of contact. But Albiol’s red was certainly justified after dragging down Villa in the box – the end of an odd play actually, as it’s rare to see Barça send a long ball up and over the defense, and the bounce found the Madrid defender out of position.

For forty minutes Madrid had to play a man and goal down, and it didn’t seem like they had a chance to come back. But it did feel like Mourinho had planned to lock down the defense before unleashing the team toward the end of the game, and it may have been more a matter of sticking to the game plan than responding to the losing position that caused him to bring on his German playmaker Özil. His addition plus the removal of Alonso for Adebayor injected a bit of danger into the Madrid attack, and even with ten men they started bringing the game to the champions.

In the 81st minute Madrid were given a lifeline, and just maybe they deserved it for the effort they put into the game (and for having had a ball cleared off the line and one struck against the post). They certainly deserved it for the foul, though on first look it didn’t seem to have been much – on closer inspection Alves clearly took out the trailing leg of Marcello. Ronaldo converted as Messi had done from the spot at the other end of the pitch, and 10 mintues of subsequent frantic attacking from both sides produced a number of chances that could’ve spelled heartbreak for either side.

Now the question remains, how will this game effect the meeting between the sides on Wednesday? Were the choices of players and tactics preferred considered just for this 90 minutes, or were there deeper, longer lasting ploys in effect? We can’t wait to see!

Commentary News

Shakhtar Fall in a Highly Entertaining Match

April 7, 2011 — by Sean

This first leg of Champions League quarter finals has produced some wonderful football. We saw crafted, powerful and improbable goals, comebacks and wins away from home, and a very entertaining match in Barcelona whose score doesn’t give enough credit to the visiting Ukrainian club Shaktar Donestk.

I was particularly excited for this match-up. I really thought the Brazilian carnival would produce a shock result in Barcelona, or at least stick a few into the net in a high scoring affair that would give them a chance in the return leg. But fortune wasn’t on the side of “wily old cat” Mircea Lucescu’s boys, and while they did produce some lovely attacking movement and held the ball nicely, they couldn’t finish as calmly or often as the home team.

A couple months back we took a look at some of the players in attack for the Miners and after the way they dismantled Roma over two legs I certainly didn’t expect them to be slapped with la mano from Barça. They were the first to attack, but were quickly countered and a lucky deflection fell to the feet of Iniesta, who found himself with his pick of open corners some 6 yards out.

Going down so early in the match didn’t seem to effect Shakhtar’s mentality. They had come prepared to press high and push the attack, and they did pretty well in winning the ball around midfield and keeping Barça out of dangerous areas. But Messi and company only need the slightest chance to put you down a goal (Messi being particularly focused on a night when the rest of his team seemed a little unsettled at times), and some sloppy play in and around the back gave the blaugrana opportunity enough. A prime example was Dani Alves’ goal, made posisble by the weak effort of Shakhtar’s keeper, Andriy Pyatov, on the lobbed inbound pass. Pyatov is a full 7 inches taller and must be at least 50 lbs meatier, yet instead of breaking Alves in half on what was clearly a 50/50 ball, he let the tiny right back sneak in and slot home.

Still, the final score should very well have included a few more ticks on the Ukrainian side. Willian was finding space behind the defense and Jadson had some excellent moments in the attack, but the finishing touch was not there on more than one occasion. Adriano was preferred to Eduardo with the Croatian national making a muted appearance at the end, and Jadson made way for Fernandinho with half an hour to go. Nothing came of the changes.

The return leg at the Donbass Arena is sure to have plenty more goals, and this time a few more for the opposite side, but it’s very unlikely we’ll see the team from an old Soviet mining town facing Real Madrid in the semi-final.

Commentary

Cryuff on Shakhtar Donetsk: “Un señor equipo”

April 6, 2011 — by Suman

We’ve been keeping an eye on “Las claves de Johan Cryuff“–the weekly column Cryuff writes for the Barcelona newspaper El Periodico. This week’s column is primarily about how the dynamic for the rest of the season has changed for Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, following Madrid’s loss to Sporting Gijon last Saturday. But with the headline (“¿El Shakhtar? Un señor equipo” / “Shaktar? A real team”) and in the concluding paragraphs, Cryuff warns the Barcelona faithful not to look past their Ukrainian foes in today’s Champions League quarterfinal matchup:

Los ucranianos son singulares. Yo diría que únicos. Son dos equipos en uno: portero, defensas y mediocentros del país más algún europeo de calidad (el más destacado, el croata Srna, buen carrilero); centrocampistas ofensivos y delanteros brasileños. Muchos y con talento. Dos conjuntos en uno que su técnico ha sabido convertir en un señor equipo, sólido atrás y peligroso delante.

El peor rival

Veterano y experto, Mircea Lucescu ha dado con lo más difícil: equilibrio. Y este Shakhtar, hoy, es mejor por obra y gracia de su técnico -y de su presupuesto- que hace un año o dos. A favor del Barça, más allá de su estilo marcado y los futbolistas que lo hacen posible, el hecho de que ya se ha enfrentado a este equipo. Y no pocas veces. Incluso en una final. Y siempre le ha costado. Siempre ha tenido que exprimirse a fondo. Así que ya está avisado. Si los jugadores de Guardiola pasan a semifinales, tendrán que trabajárselo y mucho. Seguramente más que nadie de los otros cuartofinalistas.

The Ukrainians are unique. I would say they are “uniques.” Two teams in one: a goalkeeper, defenders and midfielders in the country plus some European quality (the most notable, the Croatian Srna, is a great winger); Brazilian attacking midfielders and forwards. Many of them, and talented. Two groups that their coach has converted into a real team, solid in the back and dangerous up front.

The worst rival

A veteran and an expert, Shaktar’s coach Mircea Lucescu has found the most difficult thing: balance. And this Shakhtar team, today, is better thanks to its coach–and its budget–than it was a year or two ago. Barça’s advantage, more than its pressing style and the players who make it possible, is that it has already faced this team. And not infrequently. . Has always had to dig deep to squeeze thru. So you are warned. If Guardiola’s team is to get through to the semifinals, they will have to work a lot. Probably more than any other quarter-finalist.

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