With Tata Martino looking on from the sidelines and Messi saving himself for the World Cup, the neutral football fans the world over felt their spirits rise as Diego Godin rose above all else to head in an equaliser. A simple habit of popping up with all important goals, Godin almost won Atletico the Champions League less than a fortnight after winning Atletico Madrid the La Liga title. But first he broke Barca hearts. He broke the Barca hoodoo. The unbeatable and invincible feeling around the club was deflating – Mes Que En Club was just a garb behind which Barca were making shady deals with Brazilian club Santos for Neymar, a veil behind which allegations of tax fraud made the president of the club resign.
All the while, Tata Martino looked on as Barca’s season unraveled. Beginning brightly, the Argentine employed a more astute “mix it up” policy. The players however looked lost as someone tapped Tata on the shoulder and told him quietly “This Is Not The Barca Way”. And lo and behold, the reintroduction of tiki-taka. “Slaves” to the passing game as Pique not so eloquently put it, Barca were turning predictable. And they had been since 2010 when Inter were the first team since Rubin Kazan to give the Catalan juggernaut a genuine scare. Pass and move was being replaced world over by high intensity pressing, quick transitions and a solid defence. Barcelona were regressing instead of progressing and losing motivation, but they always had one man to make a difference. Messi always bailed out Barca. Producing a moment of magic, a dribble here or chipped pass there and all was good in Catalunya.
Then he injured himself. And then once fit, he had a relapse. With the World Cup looming and his best chance for glory with Argentina beckoning, Messi began to wilt for Barca. Allegations that he had lost his love for the game and was becoming lethargic were thrown at him. But he saved himself at the fag end of the club football season and it very nearly paid dividends. A defeated finalist at the World Cup was what Messi had to show for his efforts. He came to Barca with rumours flying about a mega-millions move to some club funded by Middle Eastern Oil Money. Instead he signed a new contract. Again.
While the World Cup was not a total failure for Messi, it was not all about him either. Another player attracted quite the newsprint. Another player bit into Messi’s share of the press pie. That player, you guessed it, is Luis Suarez. The Uruguay striker had just bitten into Giorgio Chiellini’s shoulder as if he were a piece of fresh calzone from the ovens of a pizzeria in Naples. Nom nom went Suarez. Boom ban ban went FIFA. Barcelona looked on in quiet admiration at a player with a strong will to win. Whatever the cost. The squeaky clean image already tarnished by the Neymar fiasco (still ongoing in Spanish civil court), the club’s board moved swiftly after Brazil 2014 and snapped up arguably the best striker on offer in football today.
