Part 1: Barcelona’s busy schedule
Barcelona are going to start a very busy week from Monday once they are going to step in to their training ground. The Catalan giants are going to be playing three matches in only eight days and that is going to tire the players even more.
This season, the Spanish La Liga champions looked to be very tired and this is simply because they have been playing a lot of football lately. Since the last season, the first team Barcelona players have spent a lot of time on the pitch
and this is because of the “small” squad that Josep Pep Guardiola has. With only 19 players in the first team, there are very less options for the Spanish coach to play.
After winning four titles last season, eight of Barcelona’s first team players were involved in the first team of the Spanish national side. After playing for the Spanish national team throughout the FIFA World Cup 2010 campaign they later
on joined the team during the tournament and went on to the most sensational trip of their lives as they went on to win the FIFA World Cup 2010 and were crowned champions after they defeated the national team of Netherlands.
The Spanish side were paired up against easy teams like Switzerland, Honduras and Chile. Even though they were beaten by the Swiss side as the match ended in a big “upset,” the Spanish side went on to win both of the two group matches
and qualified for the pre quarter final stage in which they had to face a very tough Portuguese side. Against Portugal, Spain tried to find a way through the tough defensive walls and finally it was David Villa who found an opening and scored a wonderful goal.
Later, Spain had to face the underdogs and the South American side Paraguay. Even though the underdogs performed extraordinary well, it was the Spanish side that came out victorious that night as they qualified for the semi final match
in which they had to face the “over impressive” German side. The Germans were defeated with the help of a header that was scored by Carles Puyol and later Andres Iniesta, who found the back of the net against Netherlands who had an “all winning” record in
the FIFA World Cup 2010 campaign and the Spaniards were crowned champions.
After the FIFA World Cup 2010, the Spanish side had a very short break and they had to come back to training to their respective clubs and eight of Barcelona first team players had to become a part of the training. It was obvious that
the Spanish club was going to be tired because they have less players to play in the first team and since they are tired, they are performing a level less than their full form.
This dip in form was soon seen when the Spanish La Liga started. It is true that Barcelona were the ones who won their first match 0-3 away from home as Lionel Messi scored the opening goal of the match. However, their second fixture was
against a newly promoted team named Hercules who had signed the former Italian team’s striker, David Trezeguet. Even though he is at an age where he is not expected to score goals but it was Trezeguet’s side that actually won the game 0-2 as Barcelona faced
their first ever two goal home defeat since two years.
The Barcelona supporters were simply left in shock as the full team was performing during that match and they still faced humiliation. It is obvious that Barcelona are a better side than Hercules but with the tiring schedule, they are
definitely not performing the way they were performing two years ago when they won six trophies in one year; or even the way they were performing last year when they actually won four trophies.
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