==============================================================
by Philipina A. Marcelo
You bet, I've been waiting for an excuse good enough to set aside work for a few minutes to drop by here - yes, work on a Sunday night. *sigh*
September has been unkind so far... and I'm praying that it stops harrassing me with work and many other concerns. But it doesn't look like work will let up until the middle of October... so, I'm preparing to coil flat until then. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited about my "lab affairs" lately... but the work involved to keep the "excitement" going while making sure that I stand between the students and the white board - on a regular basis - is horrendous! Aargh, I wish teaching didn't involve too much gear shifting... it's too energy taxing, even when one summons the ideality of Brayton Cycle! Ugh! I know... what a nerdy thing to say - and on a Sunday night, too! Tsk!
But enough about work... at least, for the next few minutes!
***
A thorough and painful sanding of the blade...
Ya know, I'd be lying if I'd say that the FC Barcelona - AC Milan 2-2 draw in their first outing in the Group Stage of the
Strike a pose. Barça's frontline and midfield
figuring out the AC Milan "Pato-esque" surprise.Champions League - in Camp Nou, no less - didn't shake me a litte bit... especially that it happened after another draw - with Real Sociedad at the Spanish La Liga. Barça conceded a super-early goal on the 24th second after the opening whistle via a superb Alexandre Pato runaway shot that took Victor Valdes - and millions of fans for that matter - by surprise. It was only after the scoreboard confirmed the Pato goal that Javier Mascherano and Sergio Busquets realized what happened - the Brazilian ghosted by them while they were still telling themselves what their roles were at the back. While uncomfortably stunned, the Catalans regrouped immediately and went on their attacking football game, with the forwards and the midfielders
Pato, surprises Barça. concealing a makeshift defense with fast passing. But Milan wasn't fooled, they kept pushing to exploit the thin defense during the first 15 minutes or so in the first-half, and Barcelona seemed to realize the opponents' awareness of their weak points at the back, and it affected their focus on the attack.
While the Catalans moved forward with one eye at the back, one genius in their side wasn't straying from the goal though. Lionel Messi kept the visitors busy all night, especially Alessandro Nesta, who did well trying to prevent the little bag of football fireworks from exploding. La Pulga set up Pedro Rodriguez for an exciting equalizer, and then David Villa sent a curling shot to the Milanese goal, via free kick, in a fist-pump-evoking beauty! Woohoo! It
Lionel Messi, always superb.did look like the Catalans were closing Camp Nou last Tuesday with a 2-1 win against the visitors from Milan, keeping ball possession almost all throughout the second half to protect their precarious lead, and trying to penetrate the Milanese defense for a cushion of a goal. But, on stoppage time, Thiago Silva found an "anomalous opportunity" and took his chance against Sergio Busquets via a header winner. That gave the Italian side their second goal and earning them the bragging right of having survived Camp Nou with a 2-2 draw - in their opening match against the reigning European Champs. I have to admit, it was quite a feat! Then again, AC Milan is Italy's best - the 2010-2011 Serie A champions... something that the Catalans seemed to have missed in their "reminders list" before setting out to meet Massimiliano Allegri's side from San Siro.
***
And brilliance blinded the football universe again!
While the season has merely kicked off, for a Barça fan, two consecutive draws in big games was quite worrisome. The Catalans set themselves up in a spectacularly high standards that a draw has become
Fabregas and Messi: megabrilliance.synonymous to defeat. But, just when pundits started writing-off (would you believe it???) the best club in the business today, the Catalans went on a goal rampage against CA Osasuna over at La Liga. The 2010-2011 Campeones treated their fans at Camp Nou (and elsewhere in the universe) with an 8-0 win. While that, in my opinion, does not make up for that losst opportunity in the AC Milan draw at Camp Nou last week, it did assure fans that the last two draws were anomalies rather than the tone of the Barça symphony this season. Nevermind what unreasonable pundits shove in front of us... and what José Mourinho thinks!
Yep, after a "Pep talk" on complacency in view of the previous two draws, Pep Guardiola loaded his big guns... and the Catalans fired at will in the field - mostly, from Osasuna's half of the field - clearly taking out "complacency" in their game equation. Prompted by Busquets, Dani Alves, who was playing in the right wing (and moving "all-natural" in that position, too, I must add) set the scoring pace with the opening big assist. Lionel Messi picked it up and turned it into an early lead. Cesc Fábregas then completed a nice
David Villa... and his new hairdo are lethal.Messi assist with a truly lovely volley. Later, David Villa joined the scoring party with a little zigzag here and a kick there. Fábregas then returned the favor to Messi as he set up the Best Football Player in the World to pick up a brace as the first-half closes with Barça tallying five goals, including an own goal from Roversio.
Pep Guardiola's men opened the second-half with "murder" rather than "complacency" in mind. The midfield maestro, Xavi Hernandez, put his boots on scoring mode, and picked up one via a follow-through from a Messi rebound. Fábregas then kicked one to a well-positioned Villa for a seventh goal, and a Villa brace. The Catalans closed the scoring spree by letting
Dani Alves, a pleasant surprise on the right wing.Lionel Messi give an all-in-one display of footballing prowess with a little help from Cesc Fàbregas, picking up his first hat-trick of the season - to the fans' tingling delight! Barça, Barça, Barçaaaaaaaaa!
Barça will face the current occupant of the La Liga Table top spot, Valencia CF, next. Surely, Valencia will take off shooting to defend their sumptuous rank... but Guardiola's men seem to have been cured from their alleged complacency syndrome that allowed the draw with Real Sociedad and AC Milan. Valencia will push them - hard - and I'm hoping that the Blaugranas will stand their ground... and go on attack - like there's no tomorrow! Visca el Barça!
***
And then there's this and that...
So, after Barça picked up 3 points to better their La Liga Primera Division standing,
If only Mourinho
could cover his (foul)
mouth like that...
more often!Real Madrid CF fell in the hands of Levante UD via a 0-1 loss, keeping their Liga points nailed at 6 and kicked down to 5th place... for now. Los Blancos opened their match against Levante with the injured Cristiano Ronaldo sitting it out on the bench, and had to finish the match with 10 men as Sami Khedira was shown two yellow cards before half-time.
Always looking for an excuse/scapegoat in defeat, José Mourinho naturally, and most specially, pointed at Khedira as the culprit... before adding his part of the blame, that is - just to avoid Madridistas wrath? And then, as his usual obssession of Barcelona, he said, "All points are important and it's better to lose one game than to draw two. Losing is tougher psychologically than drawing a match, but drawing two is worse than losing one." Sure, sure, Mou... now, would you like vinegar to dip those grapes in... just in case they aren't sour enough? And, oh, oh, by the way, would you please comment on Marcelo's second yellow card (which got converted to red card) for diving during your UEFA meeting with Dinamo Zagreb? :)
The good news is, Mou didn't poke anybody's eye this time. Now, that's an improvement! Looks like the psychiatric division of Real Madrid had been absolutely busy the past how many days. Poor Real Madrid... 'cause they have to put up with a jerk (sorry, can't find a polite term to describe Mourinho) like Mourinho! *sigh* And pity for the Madridistas 'cause they have no choice but to side with a deranged person like Mou, and make all sorts of pathetic excuses in doing so. *sigh*
Over at EPL, the pretty Portuguese tactician, Andre Villas-Boas, suffered his first
Red Devil Nani, impressive!defeat as Chelsea manager when Sir Alex Ferguson's Red Devils slapped The Blues with a 3-1 win at Old Trafford. While Chelsea went on ferocious attack that was more than impressive, Manchester United's speed and mind-connection-on-the-pitch was on such high level that there was no way for The Blues to match it. While Wayne Rooney went from a brilliant goal to a "say-what??" unbelievable miss, Nani was pure brilliance on the pitch, it was impressive! On the Blues side, while Fernando Torres did play wonderfully, and in fact, clicked with a goal
Fernando Torres, his best wasn't good enough.in the first half - hurray! - he blew a big opportunity (in a "most unforgettable" fashion, too - not in a good way) a few minutes before the final whistle... which sent Chelsea's confidence (mostly in him) blown to pieces. While ManU's fantastic win was at the expense of Stamford Bridge's pride, the match was a classic in its peculiar ups-and-downs, highs-and-lows, brilliance-and-booboos - one for the books! :) But the way ManU are running these days, they look like a side that is looking to win it all this season! That's good news to all football fans - excitement is in the offing.
Alright, I think that's all the fun I could have today. I have to do something to this threatening flu, while I set out to yet another BIG WEEK of incredible WORKLOAD! *sigh*
***
Photo credits: All photos were grabbed from the Zimbio website - thanks!
