So, Barcelona have a chance to win a treble this season. And they seem well placed to claim all the three trophies. The league can be won as soon as Sunday, and that too at the Vicente Calderon. Atletico Madrid won the league last year in the final match at the Camp Nou. So, for Barca to win the league at the Calderon will be a kind of tit-for-tat moment. Although I am fairly certain that Atletico will rather Barcelona win La Liga than arch-rivals Real Madrid. Not that they will put in a below par performance to ensure that that will happen. Atletico and below-par just don't go hand in hand.
Barcelona will also be heavy favourites to win the Copa Del Rey and the Champions League, thanks to some scorching performances in recent weeks by the MSN trident. Whether or not they win any of these titles, at this point in time, it is safe to say Barca have had a great season, considering they brought in a new manager and new players who are not exactly emblematic of the erstwhile Barca way.
While Messi, Suarez and Neymar have been hogging all the headlines, and rightly so, this post is an acclamation to a few others who are probably don't turn our heads as much, but are really the unsung heroes of this Barca side.
Claudio Bravo
Goalkeepers are illusionists in football. In a team game such as football, the kind of effect their individual performances have on the results is almost unfair. If a goalie commits an error, it's a sure goal. There is no one to rescue him. On the flip side, a team can play the most attractive football and fashion a chance from a 30-pass move and have it saved by the keeper's fingertips.
I did not know who Claudio Bravo was when he first took his place in goal for Barca. I had a faint recollection of him turning in good performances for Chile in the World Cup at Brazil and that's about it.
- Claudio Bravo has been reliable at the back for Barca
Replacing Victor Valdes is no easy task, not because Valdes was insanely talented, but because of the image that Valdes had created about being the ideal Barca goalie. It's simple actually. You have to be good with the ball. You have to be comfortable in receiving it under pressure, while at the same time, you have to look for a good pass and make that pass to build an attack from the back. You get negative points for kicking the ball into the air.
I am not a big fan of Valdes' goalkeeping talents, but he really was one confident ball distributor.
So Bravo had big shoes and gloves, in that order, to fill. He did that and then some. He has developed a good understanding with the Barcelona defense and although he is not at the same level as Manuel Neuer or David De Gea, he has barely put a foot wrong in the entire season and is on course to win the Zamora award given to the best goalkeeper in La Liga.
Bravo Bravo! (pun totally intended)
Ivan Rakitic
Well, Rakitic has featured in the spot-light a few times this season, so maybe he is not a bolt out of the blue in this list. But, the few times he has been talked about is mostly when he has scored goals. He has 7 of them this season along with 8 assists.
The goals and assists aside, for me, Rakitic is something more. In a way, Rakitic is the new Xavi. Wait, I said, in a way. Much like Xavi was emblematic of the all-conquering tiki-taka version of Barca, Rakitic symbolises the style of this new version of Barca. If the Barca of Xavi was a delicate F1 car capable of going through six gears in a matter of seconds, albeit after hypnotising the opposition with their passing, the Barca of Rakitic is a sturdy Batmobile capable of surpassing opposition defences with ramp-less jumps whenever the chance presents itself (That makes it two in a row for Batman references. And MSN is probably like the Batpod that can go solo even if the remainder of the Batmobile explodes. Okay stop, focus.).
- After years of transfer failures, Barca get it right with Rakitic
All Batman references aside, Rakitic is one of the most complete midfielders in world football at the moment. He can penetrate the defences with his passing and assist goals, he makes those late runs from the deep to unleash powerful shots, he provides defensive cover for Alves on the right and makes those tackles in the midfield and he has boundless energy to do it all.
Barca are very lucky that they got Rakitic for €18 million. He surely has another three good years in him, at minimum, and he will be a very important player for Barca in the next 2-3 years.
Luis Enrique & his fitness/medical team
Luis Enrique has been receiving a good number of plaudits, what with standing on the brink of delivering a treble in his first season in charge. Halfway through the season, many were not sure about what his plan was and whether he is the right man (myself included). By now, it has been well-established that Barca's season graph reached its lowest point after the 1-0 loss to Real Sociedad at Anoeta. There were calls for his sacking and even confirmations of his sacking.
We all know what has happened since. Lucho has patched things up with Messi and the other players who felt the new boss was too strict and was trying to impose himself on the players. He has brought out the best in MSN which is a commendable achievement. And his tactics and coaching skills have brought about a string of positive results.
Among all these positives, what has been most remarkable this season is the fitness of the Barca squad. Right now, the entire Barca squad is injury-free. That may be down to luck, to some extent. What is not down to luck is the energy levels of the players who are injury-free. That is achieved by following a strict and disciplined regimen of training and diet, and also by rotating the players.
- Luis Enrique in training
So credit to Luis Enquire for keeping up with the rotation of players even when the chips were down and against him, and the medical and fitness teams at Barcelona for keeping the squad in top shape. Luis Enrique is known to be a fitness freak, and that has showed.
We just need to look at Bayern Munich for a case in point, who have Ribery, Robben and Alaba injured, key players who could have made such a difference against Barca. It comes as little surprise that the head of the Bayern medical team was sacked recently.
Real Madrid is a much more stark example. Having lost Modric and Benzema to injuries, Ancelotti paid the price for not rotating his squad. Arbeloa, Coentrao, Khedira, Jese, Illaramendi and until recently Chicharito, all have been fringe players in their season and as a result, the best XI were well below their best by the end of the season.
Andoni Zubizaretta
Okay, this is going to be ironical. The former Barcelona sporting director was sacked in January, about the same time as that lowest point the graph we were talking about. The main reason for the sacking was due to the lack of success in his transfer dealings.
But if you look at it now, his signings for this season - Suarez, Rakitic, Mathieu, Bravo, Ter Stegen - have all been playing well and with the exception of Mathieu, all of them are very much key players and contributors to this season. Mathieu has also been pretty good, with that goal in the Clasico at the Camp Nou and the solitary goal in a very intense game at Celta Vigo, which was pure points gold.
Of course, there is Vermaelen and Douglas. One has been injured all season and the other one, well, Enrique didn't dare play Douglas in the league again after watching him in action that one time against Malaga. So, not entirely Zubi's fault in the first case and a little his fault in the latter.
All things considered, the signings of Suarez and Rakitic are really what turned around Barca's fortunes this season. They have added a dimension of physicality and unpredictability to this incarnation of Barca that wasn't there before and also since we are focusing on this single season, Zubizaretta deserves a verdict of 'job well done' for helping revive Barca.
Final Note
Phew, such a long post! Time to end it.
Barca will really fancy their chances of winning the treble this season. Whether or not they do so, as I said in the beginning, they have done extremely well to be back as a force to reckon with on the European scene after a trophy-less season.
For me, that is down to the brilliant squad that Barca has at its disposal and how well Luis Enrique has managed it. However strong that attacking trident is, we know that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link and it nowhere more true than in football. One mistake and you are buried. Alive.
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