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Hello! Barcelona gave us a lesson in banishing demons yesterday.
Coming up:
🌟 Raphinha and Barca dazzle
🍕 When pizza hit Fergie in the face
🔀 Major MLS season changes?
🏠 Plush pads in Madrid
Raphinha revived: Brazilian’s treble shows Barca’s individual and team improvement
Barcelona don’t have a proud history against Bayern Munich. They had lost six in a row against the Bundesliga side, including that infamous 8-2 loss in the 2020 Champions League quarter-finals. You have to go back to the semi-finals of the 2014-15 competition for the last time the Catalans got one over Bayern.
But with Hansi Flick, the man responsible for dishing out that 8-2 humiliation, now in the Barca dugout and spearheaded by a reinvigorated Raphinha, Barcelona roared to a 4-1 win yesterday.
For the past two summer transfer windows, Raphinha was one of the players Barca were willing to listen to offers for. On Tuesday, he spoke about the “disrespect” he experienced on social media this summer as Barca pursued Athletic Bilbao’s Nico Williams. On Wednesday, he thumped a hat-trick and captained his side to victory. Quite the turnaround.
The 27-year-old is symbolic of the progress made under Flick. Along with collective leap forward under his shrewd management, individuals have also shown a marked improvement. Perhaps none more so than the Brazilian who has 17 goal involvements (nine goals, eight assists) in 13 games this term.
Operating on the left wing or as a No 10, Pol Ballus explains how the Raphinha feels liberated under Flick, knowing he will frequently play 90 minutes and be given ample opportunity to show his skill.
Barca bravery
That new-found confidence was perhaps best displayed in Raphinha’s second goal — driving at Bayern’s defence and then curling a shot with his weaker right foot into the corner of the goal (above).
In fact, all three strikes came from bursting runs as he exploited space behind the Bayern backline.
Our tactical expert Michael Cox explains this was aided by Flick’s “almost comedically aggressive” defensive setup. Effectively playing on the halfway line, on top of their central midfielders, it led to quick turnovers in possession and allowed Raphinha to dart in behind.
With nine La Masia graduates featuring to help Barca banish their Bayern demons, Raphinha summed up the state of play nicely. “It’s time to forget about the past and think more about the present we have,” he said.
And the future? That’s a trip to the Bernabeu on Saturday to face Real Madrid and Ballon d’Or favourite Vinicius Junior — fresh from his own Champions League hat-trick. How brave will Barca’s defensive line be then? This will be fascinating.
Haaland finds a new way to score
Elsewhere in Europe, Erling Haaland drew comparisons to Zlatan Ibrahimovic with his acrobatic, improvised finish (above) in Manchester City’s 5-0 stroll to victory over Sparta Prague (with their centre-backs literally walking towards their own goal at times, to bait the Czech side). Even watching it in slow motion, it’s tough to work out how Haaland contorts his body to reach that ball, let alone direct it goalwards.
Liverpool continued their fine start to life under Arne Slot, with their 1-0 victory against RB Leipzig their 11th win in 12 outings this season. It’s the club’s best start to a campaign in 132 years and they have a 79 per cent chance of going straight into the last 16, according to our projections. They sit top of the Champions League table with Aston Villa.
🎙️ Liverpool face Arsenal on Sunday — a match which already feels seismic for the Gunners. Our team have been discussing it on the latest Handbrake Off podcast.
News round-up
Battle of the Buffet: The day United and Arsenal brawled — and Fergie got hit by pizza
(Photos: Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton)
They don’t make Premier League rivalries like early 2000s Arsenal versus Manchester United any more. The pair were the country’s best, led by Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson.
Games were characterised by brawls, brutal challenges and sheer loathing. Or as former Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein put it: “If you watch it nowadays, there probably would have been about four or five red cards.”
Their meeting on October 24, 2004 — 20 years ago today for the observant among you — can certainly be described as tasty, although that may be a bit on the nose.
Arsenal’s Invincibles were attempting to go 50 games unbeaten, but a typically volatile affair ended with a 2-0 win for United, a mass full time bust-up in the tunnel, and Ferguson being struck by a flying slice of pizza.
The culprit had remained a mystery for years, until Cesc Fabregas held his hands up in 2017 and admitted that he, as a fresh-faced 17-year-old, was the notorious pizza-flinger.
The Athletic has put together an oral history of the Battle of the Buffet, retold by those in the thick of the action.
My personal favourite quote comes from former United and USMNT goalkeeper Tim Howard on team-mate Wes Brown: “It was a sea of people. Just a sea. Too many people in too small an area and you didn’t know who was who. It was crazy. Wes loves a scrap. Wes could start a fight in an empty house, so he certainly enjoyed himself.”
Season switch? MLS plots move to sync up with Europe
Big changes could be afoot in MLS. The league is considering flipping its calendar to an autumn-spring season, Paul Tenorio reports.
Why? MLS executives believe the changes would help maximise the league’s participation in the global transfer market by synching up the U.S. window with Europe.
It could also help get more eyes on the MLS Cup play-offs, which with the existing schedule are competing with MLB, college football, the NFL, NBA, college basketball and NHL for viewers. The changes could be brought in as early as post-2026 World Cup.
What Do You Finca This?
Who are your neighbours?
Move to La Finca, dubbed ‘Madrid’s Beverly Hills’, and you can count Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham and Toni Kroos among your nearby residents. You will need a bit of loose change to secure a spot in this exclusive private development, however, with luxury apartments going from €2.5m ($2.7m, £2.08m) to in excess of €10m.
Private swimming pools, gyms, saunas and cinema rooms come with the territory. Interestingly, Mbappe actually lives in the property that once belonged to former Madrid forward Gareth Bale — golf putting green and all.
Around The Athletic FC
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And finally…
Think you’re down on your luck? Spare a thought for Angelholms FF, the Swedish sixth-tier side who went an entire season unbeaten and without conceding a goal — and still finished second. Fortunately, they can still make amends in the promotion play-offs.
(Photo: Adria Puig/Anadolu via Getty Images)
