FC Barcelona and Manchester United defeating the dead souls in champions league final

The moment the referee blew the final whistle, my first reaction on twitter was so spontaneous that I still cant believe how fitting it turned to be. And by fulfilling my wish, Barcelona crowned their night in perfection, or should I say the two teams did so? Because you need two teams to create a perfect night of football, and Manchester United made it happen, same as Barcelona's brilliance.

Manchester United is the reason why this match was so wonderful to watch. 

There will be lot of tactical talks about the game. The two coaches decided to go for the tested horses rather than the ones -theoretically- more appropriate while planing their game plan. The hindsight pattern will demonstrate that Pep got it right - because his team won, Sir Alex got it wrong -because his team lost. No one can deny that Pep was on the driving seat in this battle (especially with his Busquets-Xavi trick in the second half that changed the match dynamics), and the Sir could have done a bit better here or there. Yet, at the end of the day it was all about players' quality and football perfectionism that you cant counter in one or two weeks of preparations. Evra put it eloquently:

""Every time Messi gets the ball he knows Xavi is going to be there, Pedro is going to be there, or Iniesta. It is amazing"

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FC Barcelona Vs Manchester United Champions League final A match that leaves a marK

Champions league Final FC Barcelona Vs Manchester United: My preview for The Offside

Scene #1: How it all starts

As a youth (or a child) you get lot of your affections by infection. You have those you look up to and so you inherit some of their own. That’s how I was Barcalized for example. But that was all shallow till 1992, the season where Barcelona’s dream team performed football symphonies and were deservedly crowned the kings of Europe.

Koeman was the hero of the closing night, Pep Guardiola was my own icon then, and still he is.

Scene #2: The lesson

May 18, 1994, sitting on the couch with some football seniors, and waiting to watch the game of the century between my favorite club and my all time favorite striker. Not a very comfortable situation for sure, but as a teenager you have a license to paint fantasies, so it was sorted out for me by hoping FC Barcelona win by a margin against AC Milan, which drives Marco Van Basten crazy so he decides to move to the Catalan club.

The Van Basten part was no doubt a long shot as it was highly unlikely (looking at it now). But the certainty was Barcelona’s victory. Even in the Italian city there was a belief that the game is destined to upset the Rossoneri. Make no mistake, they had one of the best squads ever known in world football (A team that can make an argument being better than THIS Barcelona), but the absentees where too many and too influential to ignore – that I didn’t really know by then, but I felt “The favorites” vibes showering the Catalans and ringing everywhere.

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Fc Barcelona player Daniel Alves proves diving is essential to protect fair play in football.

From Busquets at FC Barcelona, to Ronaldo at Manchester united then Real Madrid. From the Drogba of Chelsea to Eduardo once at Arsenal. From Krasic at Juventus to all the other players of all the teams we follow. Diving is the curse that usually address them all and mark disgrace bruises on their talent and quality. The question is: Can we generalize and say that all diving acts are wrong? Or is there a room to classify diving in two categories: Fair and unfair?

 Advocatus Diaboli

Football and Diving

The fast spontaneous answer is that there shouldn't be any place for diving in world football. Done and dusted. Yet, Daniel Alves was able in seven days to make anyone who has an attention for details reconsider.

In the first match, Dani was at the receiving end of a knock by Zaragoza player Leonardo Ponzio. The rules are clear: Red card. And that's what happened, Ponzio was suspended. Fair enough.

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Football ramble:On bandwagon fans and Glory haunters

From Manchester and Arsenal, to Liverpool and Chelsea across the English Premier League the term “bandwagons” rings in every direction. From Juventus and Roma to Milan rivals the claim that “there are no glory hunters supporting our club” is a claim written on every supporter chest and echoing in each corner at Serie A. And let’s not start talking about La Liga, and mainly the two poles of FC Barcelona and Real Madrid.  Bandwagon fans and Glory haunters, Who are those people?

"A bandwagon fan is a phrase used among sports fans and sports writers to describe a fan that only roots for popular and successful sports franchises, then when they fall and are unpopular they switch to the new team. Sometimes people may change teams due to many factors, such as bad management, scandals involving the team, poor draft decisions, or unfavorable conditions in the current residence (which often could cause them to adopt their hometown's rival team as their own)... Bandwagon fans are usually despised by fans who consider themselves die-hard". (Source)

Before getting into the threat this slice of football fans can present for big –popular- clubs, it is relevant to go back in time to figure how the big-popular- clubs became big and became popular. It usually starts with one or handful football entrepreneurs collecting players and organizing a team like many in the city or the region. The team develops and shows enough promise to be recognized by the neighborhood that starts following the team regularly. At that early stage, if the team fails to secure continuous improvement, the followers start to vanish, attracted by other clubs with more potential in the same surrounding. The club ends up being one of numerous small clubs worldwide with few hundreds of followers competing on local minor rivalries and unrecognized competitions. 

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