Good evening and welcome
There’s this picture of Andrea Pirlo. He is wearing the regulation sunglasses, a jumper is knotted around his waist and a white T-shirt adorns his chest. Emblazoned across said T-shirt are the words: No Pirlo no party. The message is obvious. Stuff does not get cracking unless l’architetto is in the house. Right now in Barcelona, the T-shirt would have to read: No Neymar, no Messi, no party.
The two South Americans have been on fire this season. The Brazilian has eight goals to his name already, while the Argentine has seven, as well as his seven assists. Backed by a defence that has yet to concede a goal in the league, they have led the club to the top of the Spanish table, with six wins from their opening seven games. However, international super stars that they are, the two have also spent the season break jet-setting around the globe – Neymar scored all four against Japan while Messi scored twice against Hong Kong – and Luis Enrique is worried that they might be tinsy, bit tired from flying first class, staying in plush hotels, living a life of unbridled luxury and playing against oppositions that are useful as a single sandbag against a tidal wave. The poor, poor chaps, who wouldn’t be tired from all that, eh?
And so word on the street is that Enrique is going to call off the shindig. Word is he is to give the lads a nice, relaxing rest on the bench for this evening’s game against Eibar so they can chat about video games or Le Corbusier lamps, or whatever it is footballers talk about when they play the role of substitute and, of course, stop Messi from surpassing Telmo Zarra’s six-decade-old La Liga scoring record of 251 goals. What a meany pants that Enrique fellow is, eh?
But why, oh why, oh why, you cry? Well it’s obvious inn’it? Enrique is doing so because he’s not looking at the here and now but into the horizon. Off in the not-too-distant future, he sees Ajax at home in the Champions League and he sees Real Madrid away in La Liga and he sees that they are two games that are a touch more important, with all due respects sirs, than the one against last season’s winners of the Segunda División. When the camera zooms in in him later on in the game, look at his fingers, you’ll notice they will be crossed. That’s an external sign that he is hoping that whatever ridiculously talented kid from La Masia he has thrown on in their stead does the necessaries and stops him from telling the two to get warmed up.
That will be a tough task though. Eibar may be in their first season in the top flight after gaining two consecutive promotions but, unlike a small child or a feeble old man, they are no pushovers. As Sid Lowe has pointed out: “Traditionally, Eibar was seen as a place where young players toughened up: David Silva had played here, Xabi Alonso too.” They are a strong, hard working and well organised side who currently sit in a respectable mid-table position with a defensive record that is bettered by Barcelona and Valencia. They have also already beaten Real Sociedad and where it not for a lack of nerves on Ángel Luis Rodríguez Díaz’s part, they might have walked away from their game with Atlético Madrid with a point. Late in the game with the Eibar trailing 2-1 at the Vicente Calderon, the Spanish striker had a great opportunity to score but poked the ball the wrong side of the post. Not bad for a side whose entire budget couldn’t cover Leo Messi’s wages.
A run of three draws may have dampened the initial enthusiasm of that opening-day win over Sociedad but coming to Barcelona to play Barcelona for the first time in the club’s history should get their motor going once more. Asking any side to leave the Camp Nou with even a point is tougher than leather but should Enrique rest Messi and Neymar and should Eibar over come any nerves and other obstacles, there’s a chance there could be no party. Hey, stranger things have happened.
