Out of Trouble and in to the Deep End, Athletic 1 – 1 Barcelona

By: Pedro | November 22nd, 2009

As Manuel Enrique Mejuto González blew his whistle full stop to signal the end of the match and the beginning of the mass procession out of San Mames, Josep Guardiola and Tito Vilanova paused to consider the crux of the situation.

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They’d just witness their team perform adequately enough to sneak out with a rough 3 points a kin to last season’s tour of San Mames. But that was last season and this is now and they’d be returning to Barcelona with a singular point – never mind relinquishing pole position to Real Madrid.

Guardiola, forever one to remain humble, would always remind everyone that things would not be as smooth as the historic treble winning season. While, most nodded in agreement to Pep’s words, they did so whilst still riding the wave of success and euphoria. They’d sort of agree with an impatient, ‘yeah yeah, we know. Till then, get on with the trophies and celebrations, mate’.

True enough. After all, Josep and his boys had proven that you can have your fat cake and eat it too. All three pieces of it.

But like Rijkaard found out, and as i’m sure Josep is all too aware, doing it all over again in a bigger and better fashion is a difficult task. It’s easier to turn water into wine, which coincidentally may or may not be a sufficient lubricant to keep those cogs inside Josep’s skull churning. And it’s no secret that they’re always churning.

As Saturday night turned into Sunday morning, Josep was no doubt sifting through thoughts deeper than the broad overviews that he had given in the post match conference. There he sat, lights and cameras pointed at him. His eyebrows attentively arched, noting his team’s lack of tension and pace after Dani Alves rolled in the opening goal from a sublime telepathic pass from Xavi.

Josep knew all too well that Athletic would insist more during the second half; Lamenting the sub par defending against the long ball lob that seemed entirely too simple to even create any immediate panic.

Yet, it seems a peculiar notion. The team scores from the most intelligent and complex methods known in football, but they count the same as the most fundamental of plays that they appear to concede from. Chygrynskiy lost out to Llorente, who created a well fashioned diagonal flick for compatriot Toquero to gauge the physics of the bouncing ball before knocking it far side past Valdes.

Perhaps it could’ve all been avoided in the first half. No doubt, 20 minutes in, things were looking well. Spaces were available in pockets between red and white striped men and a few chances could’ve and, dare it be said, should’ve been converted.

Messi once again showing an odd flashback to his days when he first was breaking into the squad as he was found wanting on a near one-on-one chance with Iraizoz. ‘Golden Boot’ Keita, threatened Athletic with his usual aerial prowess that saw the ball bobble achingly close past the post, and Xavi failed to use his foot rather than the side of his calf to settle in a glorious chance devised by Messi.

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You see, by the last echo of the first half whistle it could’ve been game, set and almost match. Easy pickin’s for all the Spanish journalists. Job done in 45 minutes, just in time to anticipate Messi’s injury and type furiously on medical speculation and Inter / Real Madrid implications.

And to be honest, the fallout from the match appears to be more important than the match ever was.

By all accounts, Messi had a stressful stay in Purgatory – the time between ‘ouch, that hurts’ and the doctor finally telling you exactly how bad the ouch is. Marquez was cleared from H1N1 speculation and a few sighs of relief could be heard when news fluttered that Ibrahimovic may appear as soon as the Inter match- barring any complications.

Though no particular report could be found on the why Josep waited as long as he did to produce a substitution, at a time when his team lacked clarity and pace. Barcelona have drawn four times this season in La Liga and the Champions’ League. In all four, Josep had refrained from producing a substitution until the 76th minute – aside from the Osasuna draw where Marquez replaced Chygrynskiy in the 61st.

All very important stuff, especially given Josep’s insistence on looking forward and putting the weekend behind them. Circumstances, as he says, has put them in a bit of a tighter spot than usual. Circumstance, as he says, is why they’re one point behind Madrid – then again, Guardiola apparently cares not one iota about that until after the crucial Inter match.

Which all means, that the squeaks and metal-on-metal wails from Josep’s head is not about this past Athletic match. Fair enough, as aforementioned it wasn’t exactly a completely different performance that had previously seen Josep scuttle away with three points instead of one point in last season’s visit to San Mames. And with Barcelona about to dive into the deep end, there’s little point in wasting further words on what has passed.