Messi and the woodwork and finally a goal from Bale
The new LaLiga season got underway with a show of support for the victims of Thursday’s barbaric acts and sympathy for Barcelona. I was very moved to see the Betis team take to the pitch wearing shirts emblazoned with a message of solidarity in Catalan (El Real Betis amb Barcelona – Trad. 'Betis, as one, with Barcelona'). Then shortly after that, to see Sevilla’s stadium bathed in the red and yellow colours of Catalunya’s Senyera regional flag. Adversity and pain can unite people and football has the power to help rebuild what others have destroyed. However not everyone was in the mood for compassion. The person who differentiated between ‘Catalan victims’ and victims who were ‘Spanish citizens’ was on Bartomeu’s right-hand side in the president’s box. That person was Joaquim Forn, Interior Minister in the autonomous regional Catalan government. He has every right to be there of course but his comments were out of place - and in marked contrast to the heartfelt sentiments shown by Betis' players.
Messi with a lot on his mind
Camp Nou felt a little strange. Of course it’s going to take a while to recover from what happened last week. Barça eventually took control of the game with a convincing performance from Deulofeu, who played a part in both goals, and the bizarre entry on the stats sheet of Messi striking the woodwork three times. Perhaps if one of those efforts had entered, it might have softened his furrowed brow. He looked preoccupied for most of the match. He could not have been unaware of the feeling of sorrow running through the city - one which has embraced him with open arms. And maybe it was that, together with a knowledge of the rumours that were doing the rounds yesterday - that Manchester City are ready to pay his retention fee, 250 million euros had something to do with his worried expression. You would imagine that his new contract with Barça is finalized down to the last comma, but he still hasn’t signed it. And it's precisely that kind of uncertainty which fuels rumours.
Equal status in Zidane's Madrid
But Barça didn’t need Messi’s goals to beat Betis, just like Madrid didn’t need Cristiano to take all three points at Riazor. Zidane has started the new campaign with a different dynamic - instead of having an A and a B team (the latter allowing the first string players to rest), his team selections is now a mix and match exercise – bringing in and taking out squad members depending on individual merit - in a group where everyone knows that they are equal. Casemiro, Isco and Bale were on the bench against Barça last week but all three started last night. Bale at last found the net (he hadn’t scored since February) and set up another, but he couldn't quite take away the yearning to see Asensio, who only came on towards the end. Whoever comes into the side, Madrid are looking confident and strong - and that is something which is fast becoming Zidane’s hallmark.