The Barcelona Problem
Something interesting happens in the world of sport when a dominant team comes along. They make their fellow competition look lackluster, meaningless, and seemingly dysfunctional. Much like the Golden State Warriors in the NBA. There are some great examples of teams making other teams looking bad. Alabama football have made teams like Georgia and Florida look lackluster and dysfunctional in the past few years. The Patriots have stifled teams in the NFL for years and do things better than most NFL teams — although I’m admittedly a biased Tom Brady supporter. Then of course teams there are longtime teams like the Spurs in the NBA, and more. But not many teams have done what the Warriors and Barcelona have done in the last few years. Dominating at a pace that has left other teams to adjust and react in different ways then they otherwise would have.
Barcelona FC are one of the best and most dominating teams in recent world soccer. Just like the Warriors, they’ve been dominate the last few years. They’ve won La Liga, the Copa del Rey, and the European Championship — the highly held European Treble. A feat when a soccer club wins their domestic league, their domestic tournament, and the UEFA Champions League. It’s something that has happened in years past, but rarely has it been done in such a dominant fashion as Barcelona did in 2014–15.
Golden State and Barcelona have a few things in common, and a few key differences. One of the most obvious, and interesting commonalities between the two teams is that they both have some of the most magnificent, fun, and dominant players of all time. Steph Curry and Kevin Durant are having one of the best three and one year runs in NBA history, Leo Messi is cementing his legacy as perhaps the best soccer player of all time, while Neymar has set himself up to be the most expensive transfer in history. Each of these talented players has the potential to set the world on fire with unbelievable moments and games. There have been multiple moments within the last year where Steph, Leo, Kevin, or Neymar have done things that we’ve never seen before.
They each have the ceiling of being a must watch every time they grace the court or pitch. They also have the ability to send grown adults in hysterical laughing fits of joy while watching them. I can’t count the amount of times while watching each team that I’ve broken into fits of laughter. The laughter is purely based on the joy and unbelief that they both bring to their respective crafts. They each have multiple moments of creating absolute shock and awe in fans, as well as fellow players and coaches. It seems like it happens almost every time each side plays.
There are other comparisons to be made between the two teams. Steph, Klay, Kevin, and Draymond; and then Messi, Neymar, and Suarez. The difference between the two is that you could argue that Steph, Klay, Kevin, and Draymond are four of the top 15 players in the NBA. Messi, Neymar, and Suarez are probably three of the best six players in the world right now. Think about that for a moment. Both teams have found a unique balance of having great players on their team, without the disease of selfishness inhabiting the teams and destroying them… cough* Shaq and Kobe.
Golden State and Barcelona’s top few players are all incredibly team-centric and appear to enjoy being that way. It’s the climax of basketball and soccer to watch the best in the world weave and pass their way from a decent chance at scoring, to a great chance at scoring. The best players in the world are passing up a 65% chance of scoring, to let the second best player on the team have a 85% chance at scoring, and are enjoying doing it. It has become contagious on these teams and made them both not only better teams overall, but joyful to watch play.
Both teams are really like orchestras built to perfection of wildly different pieces, but that all work to compliment and improve one another in perfect ways. It makes both look miles ahead of their competition. Barcelona are playing an entirely different game from the rest of the world in the last few years.
Barca likely have the best front three attacking trio of all time, which includes arguably the best player of all time. Sure, they haven’t won three European Championships in a row, that’s unexpected. Inconsistencies sometimes take place, and cold streaks as well. Sports can wonky sometimes, ask the Warriors.
Barcelona are halting teams in their plans of success and making them seem lackluster, just as the Warriors have done to other great teams in the NBA. Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, and more have all acted differently because of the uniqueness of Barcelona’s roster. Each of the teams I mentioned have squads strong enough to win Europe. All of them have failed (expect Real Madrid) and looked inept doing it mostly because of Barcelona, except Arsenal, they do it to themselves.
The way Barcelona have played make for not only great entertainment, but also amazing storylines. They are crushing and demoralizing teams that would otherwise feel pretty good about where they were. The style with which they play always creates highlights and magnificent clips. However, just as Golden State often gets passed over as simply a three point shooting team, Barcelona are not just a three man show.
Sure, Neymar, Messi, and Suarez always get the highlights and most of the goals. But the aspect of the game that Barcelona have almost perfected is the buildup. The passing and movement around the ball after passes are made is what creates so many chances for Barcelona on a game by game basis.
Another example of their ability to pass, move, and continue the buildup without ever sitting still after the initial first pass of the buildup. The midfield behind the front three have done such an incredible job at complimenting the skill of the front three and the intelligence of their intricate offensive execution on a possession by possession basis.
Watch one of Barcelona’s games and you are sure to see the brilliance and majestic offensive ability they perform on a game by game basis. Truly a joy to watch and privilege to experience. Just as Golden State and Steph make normally great teams seem dysfunctional, Messi and Barcelona are making great teams spend millions of dollars, fire world-class coaches, and re-think their entire philosophical process of building a team.
