Brilliant Barca Sweep All Before Them

Proof if proof were needed who are the best club side in Europe was given in devastating fashion on Saturday evening at Wembley as Barcelona dominated Manchester United. The stats speak for themselves; 13 shots on target to United's 1, 68% of possession, 6 corners to United's 0. Even the most ardent United fan couldn't argue a case for Barcelona being anything but deserved winners. Ardent United fan Terry Christian suggested that Barcelona eased off after their 3rd goal out of respect for their opponents not getting involved in petty challenges. It seemed a little unfair that United equalised although it was a quality goal from Wayne Rooney on a rare moment of joy for the Red Devils. That it was United's only effort on target tells you all you need to know. Barca's sublime passing and intelligent movement was exhilirating to watch, the 3rd goal in particular was real quality, al la Brazil vs Italy in 1970.

Much has already been written about Messi et al and how they could dominate for years to come. In sport people love the champions, and football has not had it's Tiger Woods or Roger Federer for a very long time, but could Barcelona be football's version of the Harlem Globetrotters? Well, in 1995 the Globetrotters’ 8,829-game consecutive winning streak came to an end, the loss was the first since January 5, 1971. The comparison is unfair of course as many of the Globetrotters games were exhibition matches, but the point I am making is that no team can ever really dominate in modern football. There are so many strong teams that it makes a period of continuous winning very difficult. Bayern Munich are the last team to win the European Cup 3 times in a row, from 1974-76 but I would make a case for Liverpool being the last great team to really dominate in Europe. They won in 1977, 78, 81 and 84 but crucially lost the infamous final of 1985 following the terrible scenes at Heysel. Playing the game after such a tragedy would probably not be an option in todays game but there's no doubt it affected the result and in the subsequent years when English clubs were banned from Europe who knows how many times Liverpool might have won it again?

Barcelona lost two league games all season, a fantastic record, but one that shows that they can be beaten. Time will tell if this Barcelona side go on to be remembered as one of the all-time greats. If they win the next 2 Champions League titles that might just happen, but for the moment they remain a very very good team!