Xavi is delivering the team to the next level
Long ago it was said that Argentina was such a rich country that it recovered every night during the eight hours that its politicians slept. I remembered it yesterday, at the start of the Clásico, when a similar thought assailed me: will Barça be able to recover game by game during the 90 minutes that their managers are inactive, in the box, without further screwing up? That was the first task last night for Xavi and his boys, to put on a beautiful game, if possible crowned with a victory that closed LaLiga. Demonstrate that there is an excellent Barça on the field, very different from the dumpy managers who have dragged their name down. And he fully succeeded, with a great game, full of emotion and intensity and whose final result decides LaLiga after 12 days. The team offered a hobby that lives between astonished and ashamed the knowledge of that trick with Enríquez Negreira a full satisfaction. A big game, against the most respected and feared rival that came, after their tie against Liverpool, with its old prestige reinforced. Madrid was playing its last trick in this match to continue in the race in this championship, and that at times felt like it was leaving at the hands of him, when he took the lead on the scoreboard.
Messy match on Sunday night
It was a vibrant game, beautiful because of how messy it was in some phases, with two first goals that came with some luck and when the team that scored them, the first Madrid and the second Barça, were not playing well. A game resolved by passion, and Barça put more of that this time, which risked when with the draw they could have had enough. But I needed more. Xavi, Barça’s flesh and blood, knew that he was facing one of those nights in which winning is important beyond its practical effect, and this was one of them, because the fans needed something like this to alleviate the pain they are carrying.