Before I start ranting let me be clear. I thought Barcelona were by some margin the better side at the Camp Nou last night. That said, commence the rant. Referee Massimo Busacca of Switzerland should hang his head in shame. I defy him to sit down and watch a video of his performance and stand over his decisions. He should have had Eric Abidal off grasping Robin van Persie by the throat. Van Persie’s dismissal for two cautions was a complete joke. It’s just, just possible that van Persie did hear the whistle before smashing his shot into the side netting. I very much doubt it though. I didn’t hear it. I was a little further away than van Persie but not much.
In that sort of situation you just have to give the benefit of the doubt to the player, especially as the referee was behind van Persie with him bearing in on goal. An absolutely ludicrous decision. On the balance of play and possession Barça were clearly the superior team. What matters however is the number of goals scored. Playing the Catalans eleven versus eleven is difficult enough, trying to play them with ten against twelve when the referee gives the home team the benefit of every doubt is next to impossible.
Pep Guardiola is a man to whom I find it hard to warm. He’s too conceited by half for my taste. He shares the same institutional arrogance as his club. There is much to admire about FC Barcelona as a sporting and cultural institution. Their institutional arrogance and sense of entitlement makes me puke however. Let’s put this plainly, when they’re under pressure they cheat. They try and con the referee who was – to put it charitably – all too gullible last night.
All that said we were under immediate pressure every time we got the ball. Barça are as impressive when they don’t have the ball as when they’re sweeping forward. We had our usual luck with injuries too. Wojciech Szczęsny had to come off injured in the first half. To his credit Manuel Almunia played very well after coming on, making some fine saves. According to Cesc Fàbregas he felt his hamstring go after a quarter of an hour. He certainly wasn’t close to his best.
Overall, I thought our performance was appreciably better over two legs than in the quarter-finals last season. We defended better as a team last night, although were severely pulled around by Barça’s constant movement off the ball and slick passing at times we did better than frankly I expected, although Gaël Clichy got a real pasting. We’re still a long way from Barcelona’s standards however, but we could have just nicked it at the end with a half-chance from Nicklas Bendtner.
All in all though, the refereeing last night has left a bad taste in my mouth. I dislike but can take losing. I give Birmingham City full credit for their win over us in the Carling Cup Final. We were the authors of our own destruction in that game, without taking anything away from a real fixed bayonets performance from the Brummies. We created next to nothing last night, yet it’s difficult not to feel bitter and resentful at the helping hand Barcelona got from the referee. It’s not as if they need it. I counted at least five free-kicks we should have had for clear fouls, none of which we got. As for Robin van Persie’s dismissal – utter nonsense.
As galling as it is, the referee’s horribly biased performance shouldn’t blind us to our own continuing deficiencies. Principally these are tactical and mental I believe, although we do have vacancies for two or three really top drawer signings. Whether we’ll get them or not is another issue, especially with the mad transfer fees now being lashed out. We can but hope that there are more Jack Wilshere’s about to break through from the youth scheme.
Now we have to focus on our trip to Old Trafford on Saturday in the FA Cup quarter-finals. I want our very strongest side selected for this fixture now. We need to bounce back and earn another trip to Wembley for the semi-finals. I don’t believe for a moment that United won’t through everything they have at us on Saturday. After two defeats in two in the League they’re going to be like wounded animals – dangerous.
I close by awarding Massimo Busacca a fitting symbol of his performance last night – a great big, horrible, festering, smelly pile of pooh. If I never see the bloke again it will be too soon.
Keep the faith!
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