Spanish Dominate Champions League Final
I just finished watching the championship match of the European Champions League. FC Barcelona dominated Manchester United on the way to a 3-1 victory in London. "Barca" reaffirmed their position as the best club in the world.
Barcelona is basically an extension of the Spanish national team with the addition of a couple Brazilians and Lionel Messi from Argentina -- as if they weren't good enough already. Watching Barcelona is like watching the Spanish national team, and vice versa. They control the ball with amazing grace and accuracy. Against Man U, the ball was in Barca's possession for literally two-thirds of the match. That's an unbelievable statistic for a match of this caliber.
Of course ball possession matters not if one can't score. But Barca dominated in scoring chances, too, with nearly 20 shots to Man U's feeble 6 or 7. Manchester United is no small or feeble team. It's an all-star team with internationals from all over the globe. But against Barcelona, they looked outpaced, outmatched and outclassed. If you didn't know this was the championship game, you might have mistaken it for a preliminary match in group stage -- Barcelona vs Trondheim or Maribor or some other hopeless squad. This was no Trondheim, however, who were destroyed by Barcelona. If not for Edwin van der Sar's saves, the match could have been even worse. A 5-1 final score was not unthinkable.
How long will Spanish domination continue? Spain owns the European Cup, the World Cup, and now Barcelona is champion of the Champions League.
Czech Republic played Spain in Malaga back in March. Much like Manchester today, their goal was basically a lone chance that went in. But they scored before Spain did. They next 50 minutes were an anxious display of nerves as the Czech defense packed it in, cut down on Spanish passing lanes, and everyone waited to see how long they could hold out. Czechs lost 2-1 on two late goals, despite playing a nearly flawless game. The Czechs certainly aren't Spain's strongest competition at the moment, but I don't know if anyone can stop the Spaniards.
Of course, we could talk about the Spanish economy. That would lead us down a less glorious path and Spain would appear much less successful. But who wants to talk economics when sports are what most people really care about anyway?! ;-)
Barcelona is basically an extension of the Spanish national team with the addition of a couple Brazilians and Lionel Messi from Argentina -- as if they weren't good enough already. Watching Barcelona is like watching the Spanish national team, and vice versa. They control the ball with amazing grace and accuracy. Against Man U, the ball was in Barca's possession for literally two-thirds of the match. That's an unbelievable statistic for a match of this caliber.
Of course ball possession matters not if one can't score. But Barca dominated in scoring chances, too, with nearly 20 shots to Man U's feeble 6 or 7. Manchester United is no small or feeble team. It's an all-star team with internationals from all over the globe. But against Barcelona, they looked outpaced, outmatched and outclassed. If you didn't know this was the championship game, you might have mistaken it for a preliminary match in group stage -- Barcelona vs Trondheim or Maribor or some other hopeless squad. This was no Trondheim, however, who were destroyed by Barcelona. If not for Edwin van der Sar's saves, the match could have been even worse. A 5-1 final score was not unthinkable.
How long will Spanish domination continue? Spain owns the European Cup, the World Cup, and now Barcelona is champion of the Champions League.
Czech Republic played Spain in Malaga back in March. Much like Manchester today, their goal was basically a lone chance that went in. But they scored before Spain did. They next 50 minutes were an anxious display of nerves as the Czech defense packed it in, cut down on Spanish passing lanes, and everyone waited to see how long they could hold out. Czechs lost 2-1 on two late goals, despite playing a nearly flawless game. The Czechs certainly aren't Spain's strongest competition at the moment, but I don't know if anyone can stop the Spaniards.
Of course, we could talk about the Spanish economy. That would lead us down a less glorious path and Spain would appear much less successful. But who wants to talk economics when sports are what most people really care about anyway?! ;-)
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