The gap of a great civilization

A great civilization is not conquered from without if it has destroyed itself from within "

The movie 'Apocalypto' opens its magnificent footage with these words of the historian and writer Will Durant, creator of "History of Civilization '. History has shown us enough of the truth of his words, how a great empire showed impregnable in its splendor and only when there was an inner one opportunity was granted to the invader. If we extrapolate this maxim football and see how things are in Spanish football, we can realize that something has indeed changed. Barcelona are seven points behind Real Madrid in the league, a difference as I said salvageable, but unheard of in recent years. Not only Real Madrid has grown, but Barcelona has shown signs of weakness that were exploited by the invader.

If you crave the conquest want to seize the throne must seize the slightest opportunity, the minimum gap allowed his opponent. Must be strengthened and its obligation to be well prepared when the time comes. That is what has made ​​Real Madrid, create a project with little cracks, powerful, with a great coach and a great group of players ready for battle, ready for when the Barcelona show weakness however small it. Cup was not enough though fingers touch the semifinals, but in the league itself have failed to find a chink in the wall Barca.

If Barcelona is one of the best collections of history, the merit of Real Madrid still there, facing it, is great. At Real Madrid worth only win, the rest is a failure, but we must not ignore its merits over the years, nor with Mourinho Pellegrini first or later. Exactly a year ago talking about all this : Real Madrid was by now making a great season, his only problem is that Barcelona was even better. The white team had by then played 21 games with sixteen wins, three draws and two defeats. Today, with a game, has one more win, one draw and two defeats. Mourinho's team has outdone itself.

The biggest difference is in Barcelona, ​​which played 21 games had yielded only one defeat and one draw. Today, twenty parties have drawn six and lost one, accumulating 45 points. But their season is not bad, far from it: in Italy, the leaders Juventus, with the same number of games have a point less. In England, with three more games, the two leaders, residents of Manchester, have eight points. Meanwhile, in the Bundesliga, three leaders have a game and five points behind Barça. The league season Barcelona is good, but Real Madrid is being even better. What happens is that the great civilization which is Guardiola's team a year ago would still lead, but today it no longer invade.

Barca coach's challenge is great year after year, continue to maintain the motivation and hunger to win in a team that has won everything is not easy. He has sought to introduce new pieces like Cesc and Alexis continue to rely on the quarry (fruit of it came the emergence of Cuenca) and adopting new challenges, how to win with defense of three, the most difficult yet. Goals probably wanted to escape the monotony and maintain competitiveness in a template that is already part of the history of the sport.

But Guardiola made ​​a mistake, as anyone can do it despite the press applauding continually refined each of their decisions in passing through a filter, do you remember that episode of The Simpsons where Burns accountants hide their true financial situation? Many blame Barcelona a short staff or lack of a nine, a pure scorer, but those were avatars with which this team was struggling earlier. Furthermore, they were hallmarks. Others are talking about percentages of possession and shots on goal: thermal baths of complacency that try to hide a reality do not know whether to keep the halo of perfection. And do not talk about end of cycle or similar, but of no capacity for self-criticism.

We could start by Messi, who is not so fine as usual and not have the best player in the world at its best anyone would notice, especially if you've played almost all of your assets to the Argentine decision without a plan B flat meridian. Introducing Cesc has not been easy, the former gunner showed a great performance from the beginning but their inclusion has led to an exchange of pieces that every team has to assimilate, especially if this memory game. Come to think coolly, Cesc has a place in the eleven occupied last year Villa Pedro or two opposing players Fabregas. Something had to change. And there is the lowest form of Pique, the occasional change of position Alves, Iniesta injuries and Peter, Thiago is dazzling as expected ...

And while all this is on track to advance to the Cup final, Champions is in the second round, won three titles and has options to fight the league. These years have seen a superior Barcelona in every way, which has always been known to get ahead and from there to land in between. Now we want to see how he reacts from below, how it works when you squeeze, what resources will have to overcome if they are also great against the current. If you are able to defend their civilization when it is really threatened.

Photo | Kieran Lynam