Following totaling beating Bayern Munich 7-0 and dished to Barcelona, it's tempting to declare the end of Catalan dominance and the dawn of a new age of German. It's not that we have not seen this side lose before. In fact, in six consecutive semi-final Champions League Barcelona, I've lost four times and once only really convinced. But despite their dubious record to some extent, and it was always clear that they were the best team in Europe, and one of them was the other teams to adapt and take extreme measures to win.
More than that: FC Barcelona blog works Barcelona Blaugranes Bayern Munich blog Bavarian Football
He was able to withstand losing to Inter Milan and Chelsea with their heads held high, knowing that it has taken a lot of luck and extreme measures to knock them out of the club. Not this time. Bayern steamrolled them two legs to set up all German final at Wembley Stadium (Borussia Dortmund concept was less convincing against Real Madrid, but won 4-3 on aggregate anyway). No side Jupp Heynckes' do not change their plan because they did not have to - they played the same way for football and this is what the German saw them set fire this year and use it to sweeping the Blaugrana.
This is the first real setback Barcelona was on the big stage since Pep Guardiola took over the reins in 2007. Although many in the football community discredit the idea that this represents the end of an era in the history of Barcelona, this result clearly shatters the myth of their invincibility. To make matters worse, laced side are favorites to win the Champions League this year, which created a great way to achieve long-term success and is about to employ a very manager who fired the Catalans to such dizzying heights during the past decade.
This does not mean that Barcelona will not remain a force in Europe. They are a relatively rough season, but is still clearly one of the top sides in the continent. They can still dominate the league and they still have the likes of Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba, Cesc Fabregas and Lionel Messi in their primes. And they will regroup this summer - Barcelona is not particularly short on cash, after all - and we can probably expect that it will extend that run from the semi-finals for the next seven years.
But just accept that Barcelona will remain a good team and shrugging shoulders and one represents a failure to understand what happened over the intervention of this semi-final. In fact, it's a mistake Champions League this campaign the whole of Europe (and Chelsea and Inter defeated). Here is the truth: that the rest of the world is catching up to the tiki taka -. At least one of the elite sides already blown right past it.
It is important to remember that game tenure Barcelona is basically a crutch. It's designed to mitigate the fact that the Blaugrana defense is basically intact, allowing the side to play in a balanced fashion is almost ludicrously. And can understand all of the innovations Guardiola feet to the side in the light of minimizing opposition touches the ball, and when opponents Barcelona do not have the ball, they can not score goals.
Even Guardiola himself has admitted that Barcelona has had problems when they are not in possession of:
We played in the other half of the team as much as possible because I get worried when the ball is in my half. We are a terrible team without the ball so I want us to get him back as soon as possible, and I'd rather give up errors and the ball in their own half of our country.
It is realistic and reasonable, but Guardiola genius to sell it to his players - and football watchers around the world - in, where almost religious moral, tapping and then to include his ideas in the elegant self-club. When Xabi discusses a method Barcelona to play, and he does not even talk as much as his lessons in a delicious blend of intelligence and controlled manic enthusiasm. What began as a way to Barcelona to paper over the cracks and clear and turned into a cornerstone of how the team plays. The tail is wagging the dog now.
None of them can be a problem if the current incarnation of Barcelona did not have severe and obvious flaws. They are not easy to exploit, by any means, but they are easily spotted. Insisting on holding possession high up the pitch of trouble for the opponent's defenses, but also opens them to attend a counterattack.
Spent Bayern much of the second leg of Wednesday's game to take advantage of the tendency Dani Alves "to push up on the right wing, winning the ball through a combination of David Vitoria and Bastian Schweinsteiger and Franck Ribery and then use this triangle to break quickly to the gap that resulted. And the team Bavarians are not the only team that stung Barcelona counterattack focused on the wing. follows the phrase this recipe in 2010, did not Chelsea until last year, and it seemed to AC Milan to attack the space behind the change back to win 2-0 at the San Siro earlier in the this year.
But the problems with the defense, positioning, and even goalkeeper is not new, and they're usually not as severe as we saw in the semifinals. Carles Puyol and Javier Mascherano missed both legs of the tie, leaving the Blaugrana starting Gerard Pique and Marc Batra in the center of defense. In the second match was not Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba are available.
In previous years, those injuries and suspensions will not matter - Barcelona had beaten Bayern anyway. What has changed?
More than anything else, it seems as if it should have picked on the team and one of the keys to the Blaugrana in the game: a fitness center. In order to play high-pressure pattern Guardiola, implementation, and players had to be fit madly. Most teams simply can not match the intensity, and they want to go away from try prosecute Barcelona whenever they were on the ball. Which was most of the time.
In 2009, Barcelona was a great advantage in fitness, even when compared with teams from leagues became more physical, and explosive such as Chelsea and Manchester United. Against Bayern Munich over the past two weeks, I've looked exhausted. Germans were smooth. At the San Siro, where it looked as if Milan emerged Catalonians before going to a completely different strategy and breaks down at the Camp Nou, not wonderful hosts in energy conservation and forcing Barcelona to work harder than I used to move the ball.
Take something away from the tiki taka -: He changed football and supporters brought tremendous success over the past few years. But extremist philosophy, just like any quantum leap in the sport, the other parties have been working to catch up. Now this is what began to happen, and Barcelona are going to have to change with the times.
They can no longer afford to ignore the goalkeeper incompetent average defensive line. Once supported al-Qaeda, and will attack their game not have to serve a dual purpose, allowing them to play faster and take more risks. In short, Barcelona and almost going to have to move back toward a more prevalent method.
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