The best 0-0 in recent times…

There have been a lot of articles over the past few days on the plight of Benitez and Liverpool but very few seem to be discussing about the situation that Barcelona have landed themselves in. This could be because Barcelona have control over their destiny, but still it’s going to be a difficult journey.

One of their 2 matches is against a rejuvenated Inter side who won a game in Europe after a year and the other against a very attacking Dynamo Kiev. The game against Kiev might be able to guarantee 3 points, as Kiev seems to struggle when they are being attacked as Inter showed this the other day. However, the game against Inter could be a very different story as both teams would be looking to qualify as the group leader. Inter seemed to have finally found a way to win in Europe and they never looked like they were going to lose against Kiev the other day, even though Kiev took an early lead through Schevchenko.

Barcelona find themselves in this position thanks to the Russian Champions Rubin Kazan, who came with a clear game plan and have nicked points off the champions of Europe. During the return leg, they showed that the win at the Nou Camp was no fluke but was a reward to their committed efforts.

In Russia, for the second time, Barcelona found the Kazan defense a tough nut to crack. Even though there were a few chances, Ibrahimovich’s effort against the post the best of them, there were no clear cut ones and the Barca midfield had to pass among themselves, 30 yards out.

Kurban Berdyev, the Turkman coach of Rubin, had to say this after the game at the Nou Camp. “”I watched all of Barcelona’s games, I learnt a lot from the Valencia match. It became clear that in the centre of the pitch, the assistance of a second forward was extremely important, one who would go back and close off the holding midfielder. This work fell to [Alejandro] Dominguez, who carried out a great deal of work. Without him, I don’t think we would have beaten Barcelona”.

Dominguez was excellent once again, helping the midfield while defending and also going forward on the break. He was their best player on the pitch and was rightfully UEFA’s player of the game. He was ably assisted by Semak, the Russian captain whose career has been revived by Berdyev.

It was incredible to watch a team collectively absorb pressure and maintain composure. The way Xavi and Iniesta were denied space in the midfield was a lesson to the world, especially to Manchester United whose horrific tactics (a bloody 4-4-2 against Barca!) let them down in last season’s final. Iniesta always cuts inside and Xavi plays to the D, so the best way to restrain them is to play narrow and straight and exploit the space in the wide areas. Of course, this is easier said than done, but Rubin played exactly the same way at the Nou Camp and to some level in Russia.

However, the best thing that happened in the game was how Rubin transformed themselves after the 75 minute mark. Suddenly, they seemed to have notched up a gear or two and were playing the 1-2s and the nonchalant flicks that you normally associate with Barcelona. They even had a few chances to win the game in the end but squandered them. But the job had been done.

Barca, however, need to put Rubin out of their mind and have to focus on the job in their hands. Their squad appears too thin and when Guardiola was looking for options on the bench on Wednesday, he only had a half fit Henry to rely on and in fact he was the only one to be brought in. Inter will try and sit back and absorb the pressure and hit back on the counter and they also have the ammunition in midfield to succeed in that mission. Sneijder has been excellent so far and was the best player at Kiev.

It is foolish to write off Barcelona’s chances. But they haven’t played well in Europe this season and Guardiola does look as if he could use the holy beads that Berdyev frets over at the touchline during the game.

Edited by Staff Editor