What a wonderful atmosphere as 92,000 fans jammed the Camp Nou as the stadium became a swirl of colour and song. Mein Gott! Brings a lump to the throat. Xavi was given a warm embrace by Samuel Eto’o as the Cameroonian returned to his old home.
As for the game, Guardiola and Joan Laporta might be suffering from buyers remorse with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, an over rated, petulant frat boy. He did little of note but his transfer fee financed about a third of the Inter payers. Pedro looked far more industrious and there is talk that Vincent Del Bosque might be taking him to the World Cup. He has been fulfilled his understudy role admirably and should be hot property on the transfer market.
Thiago Motta’s expulsion brought about a sideline reaction directed against Sergio Busquets, an actor, not a player. Busquets is bad news. The uglier, seamier side of Barca and there is no denying there is one.
How did Bojan miss that header? It was all Barca needed because in the 84th minute Pique’s superlative goal would have put them through.
And one cannot talk of Inter’s historic victory without Julio Cesar. Simply outstanding. He always gets overlooked when we talk about goalkeepers. This evening belonged to him and the Inter defense which put up a Herculean display. For those who decry this as anti-football, we offer this: It is not all about scoring goals. When was the last time defenders got their due? There is beauty in their craft too. As an Arsenal supporter, we could have done with a bit of that defensive intensity.