Once you go past the initial shock of Barca’s defeat in Milan against Inter, we can draw a good number of positive conclusions. As Dani Alves said after the match, complaining about the referee is only for losers who are bitter. Talking about their bus journey to Italy (caused by the Icelandic volcano), Iniesta’s absence or Guardiola’s substitutions are excuses that don’t help the team.
These are the 3 reasons why I am convinced that Barca will come back and beat Inter:
1. Barca are a better team. Pep’s team is always able to tire their rivals when playing at Barcelona. Their home pitch is one of the widest in Europe, so players can find more spaces, move the ball quickly, distance themselves from defenders… The fact that they didn’t do too well in a game does not mean that they have forgotten how to play the best football in modern history. The key to the second league is Xavi: If the Barça defenders can get the ball to him, Messi’s influence will be multiplied by 100 instantly.
2. The Camp Nou factor: The referee yesterday was pretty bad, we saw that. Some of the Catalan press say that Mourinho and the referee have been friends for years. I disagree. I believe the bad refereeing was caused by the enormous pressure by the Italian tifosi in the San Siro stadium. They didn’t stop cheering for one second and the players were lifted as a result. If the Camp Nou is to be sold out (which it will) the referee will be in Barça’s side.
3. Mourinho and his tactics. The Portuguese coach has already begun its dialectic war through the media, which is not a new thing, really. At the end of yesterday’s match he claimed to have seen improper attitudes in the Barça players. Guardiola, talking to the press, answered that it is best to ignore him completely. But it is obvious that whenever the Portuguese manager talks, that is a motivational bonus for the Catalan players.
