I DON’T mind if the Azkals don’t want to be disturbed as they wrap up the last few modules of their “Let’s Get Exclusive Seminar,” including in-depth lectures on “Giving the Local Paparazzi the Runaround” and “Playing Hard to Get.”
So let’s leave them in peace, until this afternoon when they’ve freshened up to face their adoring fans in a clinic somewhere in Mandaue City, Cebu.
In the meantime, I’ll dwell on the more important stuff, such as the Uefa Champions League (CL) Final between FC Barcelona and Manchester United that will kick off a few hours from now.
Uefa has boldly announced that tomorrow’s clash in Wembley Stadium in London will be the “biggest in history,” bigger than any club match ever, including the Super Bowl—there’s no mention of the NBA finals, sorry—in terms of TV viewership and gate
receipts.
That’s what happens when the two best clubs on the planet meet.
Uefa has sound basis to make such a projection. The last time the two clubs met in the Champions League Final in 2009, a long-standing viewership record was shattered.
According to a Reuters report early last year citing a survey, the CL final “for the first time replaced the NFL's Super Bowl as the most-watched annual sports event.”
The European final had an average audience of 109 million, while the American match had three million less.
“The yearly report from London-based Initiative Futures Sports and Entertainment, found that both events continue to grow but the European football final is growing faster,” the report said.
Tomorrow’s event would definitely further strengthen such a claim. Consider that Manchester United, the world’s most popular sports club, has a fan base of 330 million globally followed by Barcelona with over 200 million. That’s half a billion people following just two clubs.
The build-up to the final is bolstered by the fact that both clubs are current champions of their respective leagues, which also happen to be the strongest in Europe, if not anywhere else.
Going into the final, the Catalan side is regarded as favorites, in contrast to their role as underdogs in the 2009 edition.
The way it has perfected its “tiki-taka” —a game characterized by short, quick passing movements and the direct result of the reverse engineering of total football —Barcelona has consistently frustrated opponents by denying them possession, which goes as high as 70 percent of the time with more than 90 percent of passes completed.
This is made possible thanks to an exceptionally fine-tuned midfield engine spearheaded by Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez, not to mention the role of the ever-dependable defensive midfielder Sergio Busquets and a formidable defense led by Carles Puyol.
Yet all this passing would be pointless if not converted into goals, a task that phenom Lionel Messi has done with aplomb, proof of which are his 11 goals in 12 games in the tournament. In the 2009 clash with Manchester United, Messi scored a two-goal death blow to seal its European triumph.
And such is the conundrum that the Red Devils are facing. How do they contain Messi?
How can Alex Ferguson’s men touch a ball that would seem to be programmed to perpetually move away from English feet?
The 69-year-old Ferguson, of course, is reportedly seeking the advice of Jose Mourinho, the crestfallen manager of Real Madrid, Barca’s last opponent that lost everything, from the players’ wits down to their self-worth following a humiliating loss in the semi-finals, despite its desperate attempts at playing negative football to prevent a Barca onslaught.
Barcelona, of course, is not invincible. United’s fellow English side Arsenal proved this in the first leg of their round of 16 clash on home soil, winning 2-1. Though they lost 3-1 on the return leg, the Gunners showed it can be done, Barca can be beat.
Perhaps it might serve as an advantage that Manchester United can consider Wembley as its home stadium, but more important still is the not-so remote possibility that there is a chink in Barcelona’s armor somewhere.
Good luck, Sir Alex, in finding that chink. -ss
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