Barcelona went into the second to last weekend of La Liga square on points with Real Madrid, as a result of their tough tie at Betis last week. Barcelona has been the best team in Spain for most of the year, but have failed to pull away from a lucky and workmanlike Real Madrid and an extremely talented Sevilla. This weekend Real Madrid had to go to Real Zaragoza and come away with a win, a tall order for them. Barca, for their part, had to play crosstown Catalan rivals Espanol. Sevilla, three points back, played at Mallorca. If Barca and Real tie at the top of the table, Real Madrid wins on head-to-head record. That was the setup going into the weekend.
Barcelona has not lost at home all season long. They had to play without Ronaldinho, who got a red card the week before for retaliating after getting savaged over and over again in the Betis game. But even without Ronaldinho, Barcelona has by far the most talented team in the world.
Espanyol is historically the royalist team in the Catalan capital, but these days have taken on more of a hometown identity. They are a middle table club with a modest budget. They narrowly avoided relegation last year but won the Copa Del Rey and earned a UEFA spot this year. They made it to the finals of UEFA. They are actually a very good team with a high quality striker in Tamudo and a cult hero named Ivan De La Pena in the midfield.
The beauty of the De La Pena story is in its tragedy. He grew up in Barcelona, came up in their youth system, and came to the club in the mid 90s as a highly-touted young midfielder. I've written about him before because he was one of my favorite players in the world when I was still playing. He is slow, bic bald, and small in stature, but he has the same vision, control, and feel as Zidane. He was a little Zidane before Zidane. He has a lot of nicknames but my favorite is Little Buddha.
The sad part is that he was bound to become one of the greatest hometown heroes in Barcelona's illustrious history, but the Blaugrana ran into a powerhouse Real Madrid team captained by Fernando Redondo, the management got impatient, and they tossed De La Pena before ever really giving him the time he needed to become the team's lifeblood. He wound up at Espanyol, where he has been for many years now, and he is still an absolute wizard. No one has ever played better balls on the ground from distance into spaces behind the defense. De La Pena always comes to play against Barca and it seems personal now, as if he is only waiting for his one chance to ruin the club he should have played his career for.
Barcelona came onto the field looking inspired, and right from the first time he touched the ball, Lionel Messi, the young Argentine who is one World Cup away from becoming the next Maradona, looked totally unstoppable. Espanyol sat in their end, kept their shape, and tried to contain Barca. Barca moved the ball at will and found Messi and Gio on the wings. When they weren't open, Deco and Iniesta pushed balls forward to Eto'o. It looked like it was going to be a romp. Then De La Pena picked up a ball at midfield, beat a defender and ran at the back line. He did not have much help, just one overlap run to his right and two men trying to catch up to the play on his left. At speed he pushed the ball to his right past defender Albert Puyol, looking like he would use the overlapping runner but instead reversed direction, dragging the ball behind his left foot, leaving Puyol stuck in the mud. The back four, Thuram on the right, faced and tried to step up but De La Pena slotted the pass behind Thuram in perfect time to an on-rushing Tamudo, who stapled the game's first goal into the upper right square of the net. 1-0 Espanyol.
Barca responded by stepping up the pressure. The chances came fast and furious, mostly through Messi but off the feet of Gudjonsen, Eto'o, Zambrotta, Xavi. It looked, as the first half wound to a close, that the work would end in frustration. But Messi slipped Eto'o, who found Zambrotta, who clipped a cross back to Messi as he crashed towards the goal from the penalty spot. The goalie came out to punch. Messi went up. The goalie went up. And Messi beat him there to head home the goal. 1-1. Wait correction. Replay shows that Messi punched the ball with his hand. Like Diego. Hand of God. Goal stands.
The game went to halftime that way and the ref and linesmen must have had a long one in there drinking Red Bull and watching the slow-mo replay of the goal they allowed to stand that could determine the entire league's outcome. Kudos to them for coming out of the locker room at all. I would have run for it.
In the second half it was all Barca again and they were playing absolutely beautifully. Messi had his greatest game, carving up the defense over and over and over again. But Eto'o and Gudjohnsen failed to finish. Eto'o played well. Gudjohnssen confirmed his status as one of the world's great meaningless goal scorers. Finally though, with twenty minutes to play Barca played a great combination through Deco onto Messi, who slotted home for his second goal and the apparent victory. 2-1 Barca.
Meanwhile, in Zaragoza, Real Madrid had fallen behind 2-1 on two goals from Diego Golito Milito, and La Liga seemed wrapped up. Real Madrid looked totally out of contention midway through this year. Their midfield was not working at all and Beckham, Diarra, and Guti all took turns getting benched. Then came the controversy about Beckham's move to Los Angeles and Real's management threatening to keep him on the bench and not let him out of his contract. But somehow, mainly through Capella's leadership and some hard work, they began to click again. In the past three games they have changed the result in the last ten minutes twice to stay alive for league contention. Beckham, a recent hero for England, has found his form again and wants to go out a winner. But things were looking awfully bleak in Zaragoza. And in the Nou Camp, Barca, not content with a 2-1 advantage, continued to put together beautiful chances without finding the net.
In the last minute of the game, during a slow seemingly harmless counter-attack, disaster struck. Another through ball caught the backside defender Oleguer sleeping, and he kept Tamudo onside as he ran through and slotted home coolly for the tie. 2-2. The silence in the Nou Camp was completely deafening. It was as if no one was sure it had actually happened.
The reason for the silence was that just a moment before, in Zaragoza, Ruud Van Nistlerooy had scored to tie for Real Madrid. Both games ended 2-2 and Real Madrid goes into the last weekend of the year with the fate of the Championship in their own hands. Two minutes and a total reversal of fortune. Anyone who has followed a soccer team for a whole season in the hopes of seeing a title won, knows how brutal the feeling must have been for the Barca faithful.
If you like soccer, watch
this week's games in Spain , the last of the season.
Ray Hudson -who may have been a pain in the ass as an MLS coach but is the best announcer that American soccer audiences have access to-saluted the Little Buddha for the victory. I am perhaps Ivan De La Pena's biggest fan in the world. He is a total genius, he said.
I usually focus, when writing about soccer, on the English Premier League, because I like the speed and parity in the English game, harbor some