Spanish Primera Division – Is La Liga really a two horse race? (Part 3)
Moreover, Barcelona have a great squad with some amazing talent at their feet which helps them move the ball around fluently. It looks as if other teams like Arsenal try to “copy” the style of play that Barcelona has but since they lag in quality, the Catalan
Giants always manage to come out on top.
Two years back, Barcelona had Samuel Eto’o on their side and with such an amazing talent in the striking force along with Lionel Messi and Thierry Henry, the team was simply unstoppable. The Catalan Giants managed to enter six different football tournaments
and emerged victorious in all with their amazing style of play and the great talented players that they have.
During their run in the Spanish La Liga, they had to defeat the “outstanding” Real Madrid along with Atletico Madrid, Sevilla and Valencia. Valencia back then were a strong side that had the likes of David Villa and Sebastian Mata, who are considered to
be great footballers.
The biggest competition that Barcelona had to face was during the UEFA Champions League. The Catalan Giants had to defeat the Italian side, Inter Milan along with the German team, Bayern Munich. They also had to defeat Chelsea in the semi finals, a team
that looked toughest in the competition but still the Catalan Giants managed to emerge victorious as the historical last minute strike from Iniesta helped them go through to the finals to face Manchester United.
The Red Devils were simply no match for the mighty Barca as Eto’o and Messi scored that night and won the final 2-0 against one of the greatest clubs in the history of the game, Manchester United. Many “criticized” the Spanish sides “again”, by saying that
any team could have won the final with such a striking force. Barcelona then gave a shut up call to everyone as they sold off Eto’o for the Swedish striker, Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Ibrahimovic wasn't really a success at Barcelona but still he really helped them during the “big games”. He managed to win it for them during the most important match of the La Liga, the el Classico. He was the one who stepped in the second half and scored
a fabulous goal on a volley that was passed onto him by the Brazilian right-back, Daniel Alves. The former Inter Milan also managed to score against Arsenal twice as Barcelona went away to face the English side at the Emirates.
However, Ibra decided to make a move to the Italian side, AC Milan and to be part of Italian football yet again as he joined his former club’s rivals. On the other hand, Barcelona bagged the star of the Spanish team during the FIFA World Cup 2010, David
Villa. This goal scoring machine is considered to be the most consistent performer in La Liga and now as he was a part of Barcelona, it was expected that he would do wonders for the club.
But that did not really happen and even though Barcelona did win the first match 0-3 against Racing, they lost their first home game against the newly promoted side, Hercules. Hercules turned out to be the real underdogs as they later defeated Sevilla as
well. Barcelona became the target of another team yet again as they faced Mallorca last week. Mallorca came to the Nou Camp for a draw and they got it as they managed 1-1 against the Catalan Giants.
Even though Xavi and Villa were not in the team, still Messi was there to help his team. However, his only goal, that came in the 21st minute, did not help the Catalans and the match was drawn. Real Madrid won 6-1 against Deportivo to gain the
second spot while Barcelona are currently fourth in the rankings. Earlier, they were the champions last year but the start of this season hasn't been what they had expected.
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