Hyperbole is not often my strong suit and I don't often partake of its glorious bounty of breathless accolades, but having watched a lot of football in my time and having never felt this before, I think it's okay to overindulge. This Barcelona side is, simply put, the best I've ever seen. As a writer, it's hard not to try and find the holes in that statement, but as a fan it's impossible not to revel in the beauty. You don't get these teams more than once in a lifetime. Not really. I was too young for Cruyff's Dream Team, so these, Pep's Dream Boys or whatever silly name you'd like to give them, are my pinnacle.
I can see that already, despite the fact that we're 16 matches into the Liga season, they haven't won any trophies save the Spanish Supercopa, and despite the fact that we've been down this road before. It doesn't matter, not really, that there is a lot of season left. We might not win any trophies this year: we might get bounced from the Champions League in the Round of 16, lose to Athletic Bilbao at that same stage in the Copa del Rey, and we might falter in La Liga at the wrong moment. But it doesn't matter. There is simply nothing like these players, this team, this group of footballers.
26 goals in 5 league matches. 34 in 8 overall. And only 2 goals allowed in that time. 1 to Villarreal on November 13 and 1 to Espanyol yesterday, December 18. Some 600 minutes of defensive brilliance that came directly from the offensive insanity that categorizes what the team did to Almeria (0-8), Real Madrid (5-0), and Real Sociedad (5-0). 51 goals in 16 matches is simply insane. Milan has 29 in 17; Manchester United 36 in 16; Lille 32 in 17; and Borussia Dortmund 39 in 17. Barcelona has a goal difference of +42. +42! They're on pace to score 121 goals this season and allow just 22.
But it's not just the gaudy stats--it's actually not the stats at all: this team is beautiful. They play intricately, instinctively, and utterly brilliantly. All of it is predicated on movement, on the ball being moved from one side of the field to the other, on creating space in the midst of tightly packed defences. If a defence packs to tightly at the back, they will simply not see the ball as Xavi and Iniesta will hold it indefinitely in midfield, working to find a breakthrough, but never giving up a counterattack. You cannot score if you do not have the ball. So you push up and the ball is merely spread to the next line, either forwards or backwards, and movement creates space. Simple triangles, yet they're nearly impossible to pull off without the ability to see 3 steps ahead, to where your teammate will be 2 passes down the line.
And there is, of course, the individual talent. Messi is spectacular, but he hasn't scored in 3 games. Yet that's meaningless as Pedro, Villa, even Xavi and Iniesta have stepped up to fill in. A juggernaut in so many ways because Messi has developed his passing and his positioning to fit the central role he wasn't quite comfortable with last year. Villa is not the perfect winger, but he is showing himself adaptable and capable and his runs, always the best part of his game, have fit in wonderfully with Xavi's vision, as they always have in the Spanish national team.
It is a long ways to go before the end of the season, but this is the best team I have ever seen and even if we "fail" this season, I will rejoice to have seen it, to have been a part of this magical run that I hope will never end, but which inevitably will. Xavi can't play like this forever...can he?
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