As most of you already know by now, in a rematch of last year’s Champions League Final, Manchester United squared off against Barcelona in a preseason friendly in Washington, D.C. To the surprise of most, Man U triumphed over the mighty Barca by the score of 2-1. However, if we really examine some of the other factors at play, its clear that first the result from this game is insignificant, and also that perhaps Man U should have won the game all along.
Whereas Barcelona just kicked off their USA tour with the match in DC, Man U completed their three week tour with the game. Therefore, the adjustments needed for traveling across time zones and coming to a new country were more of a disruptive factor for Barcelona than for Man U. Furthermore, while both teams had already started their preseason preparations, Man U are farther along in their preseason than Barca, which makes sense as the EPL starts one week earlier than La Liga. Again this is important because it means Man U were probably a little more sharper and more fit than Barca, which especially showed in the first half.
The other obvious important factor to consider is the squads for both teams. Neither team played with an eleven that truly resembled their strongest group, which is why the actual result from this game is not terribly significant. In the press conference after the game, Sir Alex Ferguson reiterated this point. When being asked how important the win was over Barcelona, Ferguson responded by claiming that, “Both teams made a lick of changes so its difficult to gauge exactly the importance of the result. Either team’s lineup reflected this point, especially Barcelona as Pique, Puyol, Xavi, Messi and Dani Alves all were not included in the squad for the game.
Despite the fact that the match understandably did not reflect the top eleven from both teams, it was still very important for some of the fringe players on either squad. The match provided a great opportunity for some of the other players to prove to their respective managers they deserve a shot in the first team. Many younger players, especially for Barcelona, had good opportunities to prove themselves for the upcoming season. One that stood out in particular was Thiago Alcantara. Besides his brilliant goal that temporarily brought Barcelona level, Thiago had a very solid game in the center of the park for Barcelona pulling the strings and setting the tempo. Barcelona may not have signed Cesc Fabregas yet and frankly they may not truly need him. Of course any player of Fabregas’ ability is helpful, but Thiago demonstrated he may be ready for more time with the first team this year. Furthermore, at just 20 years old he certainly is a player to keep an eye on.
On the other side of things, Tom Cleverley put in a strong performance for Man U. Similar to Thiago, Cleverley may find himself in the first team this year. However, Cleverley was in a similar position last year. After completing the preseason tour with Man U and even scoring a few goals, including one against the MLS All-Stars, Cleverley was dealt on a season long loan to Wigan. Although with the retirement of Paul Scholes and the virus that has forced Darren Fletcher to miss a lot of preseason, it looks likely that Cleverley will be with the first team to stay this year and may even find himself in a somewhat prominent role. In the press conference after the game, Sir Alex Ferguson claimed that Cleverley was probably Man U’s best player against Barcelona. He certainly played an important role in the game, intercepting Busquets pass at midfield to assist Michael Owen’s game winning goal. Whether Cleverley will play a role for Man U this season is still somewhat unclear but he has done well for himself thus far in preseason and certainly at age 21 has a long and promising future ahead of him.
In the end it was a good game in a few different aspects. The atmosphere in the stadium was fantastic with fans representing both teams pretty evenly, although there may have been a slight favoritism to Barcelona. It was a sellout crowd with just over 81,000, which was a record number for the highest attendance at a soccer match in the DC area. Both teams put forth a strong effort and it was a pretty competitive game despite only being preseason. As mentioned the match provided some good opportunities for the lesser known players from both teams, some of who stepped up to the task. For both teams now though it is about moving on in their respective preseasons. Man U returned home to England, where the domestic campaign is edging closer and closer to finally starting up again. Overall they had a very successful tour of the US and will likely continue to try to build fitness and sharpness so they are ready to hit the ground running in two weeks time. On the other side of things, Barcelona continue their tour of the US with their next stop being Miami. They have a little more time before there campaign begins so they probably won’t be too concerned about results now. Retaining the level of sharpness and quality they were so consistent with last year is a process. Therefore they just need to continue to build step by step as their season gets closer.
(image courtesy of mlssoccer.com)
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