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by Philipina A. Marcelo
Getting the job done... and the 2011 Spanish La Liga Kingship remains in Camp Nou - three seasons in a row! Pep Guardiola led the incredible FC Barcelona in claiming the third of their three-peat La Liga Primera División victory on his third year as Barҫa manager.
Hail the Kings of Spanish Football! Barҫa! Barҫa! Barҫaaaaa!!!
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Another day at the office... oh, but for a terrific prize!
The La Liga title is the most important title fought over by Spanish Football Clubs throughout the season. It is the title that gives
them their "day job" where the very best are crowned as kings. Good standing in the La Liga ranking opens doors for Clubs to various Titles of glamour and greatness in Europe and in the world. The Catalans claimed the 2011 La Liga Primera Division title - Numero Uno in the rankings - via a 1-1 draw with Levante UD at the Ciutat de Valencia stadium, Levante's home. The Catalans met Levante with "a goal" in mind. Seydou Keita outran two Levante defenders for a beautiful header on-a-run from a brilliant and very well calculated pass from Xavi Hernandez, kicked through a fence of two Levante shirts. The
28th minute Keita-Xavi partnership earned the Catalans their first-half lead, bringing Pep Guardiola on his feet, clapping as he felt the third towering victory wave of his brilliant Catalan side about to hit home with the Spanish title on its head.Most of the remaining part of the match was maneuvered by the Catalans trying to keep it simple... keeping their lead, and bringing the season to a "finish" at Ciutat de Valencia via tiki-taka. And then,
the unthinkable happened. A half-hearted Levante pass to a running Felipe Caicedo towards the goal looked simple enough for a Victor Valdes routine save... until Gerard Piqué, who easily outran Caicedo, decided to take the matter in his own feet, er, hands but failed to time his kick towards the right for a complete clearance just a few feet from Valdes. Piqué only merely managed to cut the ball's flight and slowing it down towards the right side. Valdes's momentum was still towards the original path of the ball and 
could not change fast enough. That gave Caicedo, who swerved slightly to the right, the perfect angle to easily tap the ball into the goal, just behind Valdes. Ugh, Gerard Piqué! Naturally, that knocked the air out of Guardiola, who froze and stared at the crime scene, unable to react! Piqué cannot believed himself either... he shook his head repeatedly as the 1-1 score hit him in the face on the 41st minute of the match! :) No matter, the second-half, which was described by many as "drab" in a stadium that wasn't even full, after those four tempestuous El Clásicos within only 18 days, saw the two sides keeping the 1-1 score until the final whistle. The Azulgranas went 6 points above second place Los Blancos in
the process, with only two more matches to play. Even if the Catalans kept their 92 total points unchanged for the next two weeks and the Merengues gained 6 more points to their present 86 total, the Catalans will retain the upperhand. This is because of Barҫa's better head-to-head record against the Merengues in the two La Liga El Clásicos this season, with their phenomenal 5-0 thrashing of the Merengues in Camp Nou in November last year and that tightly contested 1-1 draw only last month in Estadio Santiago Bernabéu. Therefore, the Azulgranas remain KINGS of Spanish Football!! Visca, el Barҫa!!!
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History in the making... or made already?
While the football world contemplates the impressive 9 titles won by Pep Guradiola's Barҫa within only three years, with a phenomenal treble on his first tenure as manager at the age of 38 years, many have valid reasons to
argue how Pep's squad seemed poised to claim the FC Barcelona history spotlight from Johan Cruyff's "Dream Team", where Guardiola himself was a part of, as the Club's best ever! While they are yet to surpass Cruyff and his Team's 11 titles total, they may have equaled the legends' greatness already with their 9 titles, which only took them three years to accumulate versus Cruyff's 11 in seven years. And, as Guardiola's Barҫa prepares to try to win their 10th title, their second in the season - the UEFA Champions League title - the football world awaits. Can they do it?Amidst the talk of greatness, Pep Guardiola, ever the diplomatic gentleman, quickly downplayed the comparison of his squad with his mentor's with a, "we can never equal them, they were pioneers" declaration. And so, while the brilliant Catalan playmaker, Xavi Hernandez, showered his team with a well-deserved praise, "this is a great team and I'd like to offer my thanks to everyone involved," and Barҫa's
top goal scorer (31 goals), Lionel Messi, reminded the world of how their success "cost a huge amount of hard work", especially "against a big rival like Real Madrid," Guardiola put his brilliant squad's happiness in winning their third La Liga title in a row in minimal self recognition and a strictly come-one-come-all festive Barcelona celebratory tune with, "we will celebrate this great victory with our people, with family and friends, but also out on the streets!" But Pep, amigo, you can never dodge history... besides, how could you, when you, yourself is creating it! :)
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Scanning the peripheries
While not causing any serious harm on Barҫa's La Liga title bid so late in the season, Real Madrid prolonged Barcelona's wait via a Cristiano Ronaldo
hat-trick and a Karim Benzema good-form showing in their 4-0 win against Getafe the day before yesterday. That effectively cut Barҫa's previous 8-point lead to 5 and requiring Barҫa to gain a minimum of a draw with Levante to put the La Liga title bid in the bag, which they did yesterday, of course. On the 
other hand, with only two more matches to play in the season, CR7's hat-trick against Getafe and the four-goal rampage in their previous match with Sevilla puts him as the most probable recipient of Pichichi over Lionel Messi with 5 goals between them. As Messi and Barҫa obviously now put their sight to the May 28 UEFA Champions League final against Manchester United in New Wembley, CR7's goal tally lead may still increase as Real Madrid heads for an early summer, having been eliminated by Barҫa in the Champions League. Leave it to Cristiano Ronaldo to want a spotlight for HIMSELF when the light for his team goes dead... actually, whether his team's light is bright or dead, he always wants his own stage and spotlight. Hala, CR7!!While the gallant Spanish National Team captain, Iker Casillas, congratulated Barҫa in their La Liga victory... with a little Real Madrid feather smoothing with a mention of their Copa del Rey acquisition against Barҫa last month as if those were of equal weights, interestingly, not much is heard about the "Special One" lately.
Apart from his involvement in the signing of one of Bundesliga's superstars, Nuri Sahin, this summer to jampack Estadio Santiago Bernabéu with, hopefully, unbeatable line-up of stellar talents and his well-publicised tête-à-tête with Sir Alex Fergusson to aid the latter mount a crippling tactic for Barҫa in the UEFA Champions League final, which he "Specially" took advantage of to suggest a Wesley Sneijder transfer to Man U (just in case he takes over Fergie sooner than in three year's time?), he seemed to have gone on a "peppery talk" hiatus. There have been no "quotable quotes" from him lately. And, strangely enough, the world of football is not the same! :) C'mon, Mou, serve us some of your "Special Omelette" here, we're starved! Oh, oh, oh... I forgot, you do not have a pan! :)***
Photo creedits: All photos were grabbed from Zimbio - thanks! :)
