Just a quick post to apologise for the lack of a match report for the game against Valladolid. Unfortunately I have been hit by a nasty bout of gastric flu that has left me confined to my bed for the last few days. I hope to have normal service resumed by the weekend.

There’s no doubt that the title will taste sweeter following Real Madrid’s defeat in last night’s dramatic Copa del Rey final. It may seem strange to outsiders but there can be no denying that the intense rivalry between the two giants of Spanish football means that the fortunes of each club reflect inversely on the other. Barça fans will almost certainly value this season higher after Madrid’s trophyless season in the same way they undervalued Louis van Gaal’s double winning team in 1997/98 due to Madrid going on to win the Champions League that season.

It seems that this rivalry with Madrid is also spurring Barça on in an attempt to equal last season’s record of 100 points in a season. Three wins in our last three games would see us reach that total while also equalling the record of 32 wins in a season. However, while records are all very well and good there is a danger of losing focus on more important issues. With the league in the bag, rather than worry about points I would prefer to see Vilanova looking to the future and giving a reward to some of the B-team stars such as Rafinha and Deulofeu.

However, at the time of writing these two promising players are preparing for Barça B’s Segunda División game this afternoon with Alcorcón (Saturday kick off 6 pm). Now, I can understand that this game has a lot of significance for other teams in the promotion race, so it seems noble to play our strongest side. However, if these players are going to make it in the first team they should be given the opportunity now to gain some experience. Perhaps, as they are both young they could play on Saturday for the B team and then on Sunday with the big boys but I have no indication that this might be in Tito’s plans.

Barça will be without Carles Puyol and Leo Messi for tomorrow’s game while Alves, Adriano and Abidal are all doubtful. The good news is that Victor Valdés and Javier Mascherano have both trained with the group this morning and they should be in contention to play.

Opponents Valladolid reached safety from relegation last week with their 1-0 win over Deportivo so they also have little to play for except pride. Coach Miroslav Djukic will be without the suspended Antonio Rukavina so he seems likely to switch Mikel Balenziaga to right-back while bringing in Carlos Peña at left-back. Older fans will remember Djukic for his unfortunate last-minute penalty miss that gave Barça a dramatic league title in 1994. If you weren’t around at the time check out the video on the last day of that season.

Whatever happens tomorrow it will be difficult for things to get as bad as that again for Djukic. However, Valladolid will have bad memories of their last visit to Camp Nou on the last day of the 2009/10 season when Barça’s 4-0 win clinched Pep Guardiola’s second consecutive Liga while sending Valladolid down. Earlier in the current season Barça earned a 1-3 victory at Valladolid’s José Zorrilla stadium with goals from Xavi, Messi and Cristian Tello.

Possible starting XIs:

Barça: Valdés; Montoya, Bartrá, Piqué, Alba; Thiago, Busquets, Fabregas; Pedro, Alexis, Tello.

Valladolid: Jaime; Balenziaga, Rueda, Valiente, Peña; Rubio, Victor Perez; Ebert, Oscar, Larsson; Javi Guerra.

Prediction: Barça 4 Valladolid 1

Date: Sunday 19 May 2013. Kick off 9 pm local time.

To be fair Mourinho’s antics such as tonight’s outburst to get himself sent off or his famous por qué? por qué? rant have generally served as a continuous source of amusement. Though occasionally, such as the night he fingered Tito and then tried to belittle him by calling him Pito, he really showed an unpleasant side. This was again reflected tonight by his team’s manner of losing with the tantrums from Cristiano and the shameful attempts by the likes of Sergio Ramos and Di Maria to cheat the referee.

Besides the antics, both sides played their part in a terrific cup final but watching Diego Simeone on the touchline was a reminder of what I was saying earlier today about for the type of character Barça could do with somewhere within either the coaching staff or the team. I loved his reaction to the first double miss when he turned to urge the fans on to even more, and also when he helped to put Pepe back in his place. A magnificent performance from his team who gave everything from start to finish. Madrid are left to wonder what might have been if Casillas or Pepe had been playing.

Of course there were circumstances that didn’t help such as Tito Vilanova’s illness and the injuries to key players at inopportune moments. However, instead of looking for excuses we would do well to try and recognise our failings, and in my opinion before we start talking about who to buy or who to sell there are two main points that need to be addressed: character and tactics.

There is little doubt in my mind about the talent in our squad, however, talent alone will rarely be enough to succeed in the modern game. It must be accompanied by a steely determination and desire, and in this respect we have been on a downward spiral ever since winning the Champions League in 2011. Pep Guardiola recognised the difficulty to maintain the high standards set as well as his own personal ability to continue motivating the players. Guardiola did a brilliant job but the effort left him tired which is why he felt the need for a year’s rest before returning to a new challenge at Bayern.

The change of having Tito Vilanova in charge seemed to inspire the players in the early months of this season, but since his return from New York the team has failed to show the same freshness. The fact that in these last two months we have been without the inspirational leadership qualities of Carles Puyol has played its part, and with our captain now at 35 years old the club should seriously be thinking about where we can find this inspiration.

It might be easy to call for a new coach but it is not going to happen while Rosell and Zubizaretta remain. They made a firm bet for Vilanova and to change coach now would only serve to undermine their own positions at club. Besides, I believe Vilanova deserves the opportunity for another season though I think it is fair to say he doesn’t transmit the same intensity to the players.

One option I’ve already suggested would be to bring in somebody like Luis Enrique as Vilanova’s assistant. However, this is also highly unlikely unless Vilanova asked for it and it would be very unfair to treat Jordi Roura in such a manner after the difficult role he played in Tito’s absence. So if Vilanova and Roura remain then they should be looking at finding a player who can consistantly inspire his teammates to give that little bit extra.

With Puyol unlikely to be a regular starter the captain’s role is likely to fall to Xavi with the other main leaders being Messi, Iniesta and possibly Piqué. While I have no doubt about the mental toughness of these players I don’t think they possess the same inspirational leadership qualities that have been offered by Puyol as a captain or Guardiola as a coach. So while we are looking for goalkeepers or centre backs we should definitely be trying to sign a player who can bring out the best in those around him.

Besides this there is a need to look at our tactics this season. While it is all very well to play all out attacking football when we are up against weaker opposition, our poor record in the big games this season suggests we should either reconsider the use of two attacking full-backs in these matches or look for another Keita-type player to bolster the midfield. Looking back to Guardiola’s most successful periods we nearly always had the more defensive Eric Abidal at left-back to counter for Alves on the right, while Keita was used in nearly all the important away fixtures. It is possible that Alex Song or Mascherano could be used to play this Keita role but neither were used like this in the entire season. If Vilanova doesn’t see Song or Mascherano as the answer then surely trying to sign a dynamic non-stop midfielder should be on the agenda.

We are reported to have a budget of €50 million to spend plus whatever we can make from sales. However, before we start selling we should be sure that we can find better replacements. Unfortunately it seems Valdés has decided to move on and it will be very tough to find a keeper who can offer the same standards. The other players reported to be most likely to leave seem to be David Villa and Adriano which is a shame but perhaps the right time to let them go. There may be a bit of money to make from selling some youngsters such as Johnathan Dos Santos or some of the loan-out players like Afellay or Fontás, but it seems unlikely we’ll arrive to €100 million unless we offload some bigger names. And we are not going to have much change from that if we are going to sign the likes of Neymar and Thiago Silva plus a goalkeeper.

Other decisions need to be made such as which youngsters should be promoted to the first team. In this respect we should try to avoid the situation seen too often recently with players like Fontás, Muniesa and Dos Santos. The most promising B team prospects Sergi Roberto, Rafinha and Deulofeu need playing time and if they are not going to be given a fair shot in the first team then the best decision would be to loan them out. For all the desire to play homegrown players we must be sure they have the quality to succeed at the top.

That’s about all I can manage today. I’ll leave the debates on Alexis and Fabregas to you guys but basically I see no need for a big clear out. I could go on about the chain of command and who is making the decisions as reports seem to suggest that Rosell, Zubi and Tito all have different priorities but it seems we are stuck with this until the next elections.  So, to sum up, besides the obvious need for a new keeper if Valdés leaves, a centre back and a forward, for me the priority should be to find a player with an infectious personality who can inspire the rest and to find a dynamic Keita-style player to add energy to the midfield. I fear if we don’t add some character to the mix we could be in for a disappointing 2013/14 season.

It brings back memories of the 97/98 and 98/99 leagues with Louis Van Gaal in charge when many fans also found it difficult to celebrate. On those occasions the title was also won with games to spare which meant everyone had known for months that Barça were going to be champions. The lack of last minute emotion compared to the thrilling leagues won by Johan Cruyff’s dream team in 1992, 1993 and 1994 played its part though there was also the fact that Van Gaal was unpopular with many culés who begrudgingly found it hard to admit that the coach had done a good job.

There is certainly no such disrespect for Vilanova but the lack of a nail-biting finish combined with a definite drop in form in the second half of the season which culminated in the humbling 0-7 Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich, has left a cold feeling to the end of this season. Rather than focusing on the positive sides of the season fans seem more concerned with which players we should be getting rid of. Van Gaal’s famous phrase of ‘siempre negatifa nunca positifa’ might well be applied to the current situation.

This time last year we were wondering how Barça would manage without the influence of our greatest ever coach Pep Guardiola. Vilanova’s team began the season tremendously and went on to complete the best first half of a season with an astonishing 55 points out of a possible 57. The fantastic performance in the 1-3 win at Malaga in January was the tenth consecutive away win which equalled the record set by Guardiola’s team in 2010/11.

However, with Vilanova receiving treatment in New York things began to go awry with defeat at Real Sociedad in the first game of the second half of the season. The defeats to Madrid in the Copa del Rey and then in La Liga followed by the 2-0 defeat to AC Milan in the first leg of the Champions League last 16 left many questions about the quality of the squad and the predictability of the playing style.

The team responded with a glorious night to beat Milan but there is no doubt that as the season progressed the physical, mental and emotional tiredness took its toll. The football has not been as good but considering Vilanova’s problems and some of the bad luck with injuries the achievement of regaining La Liga from José Mourinho’s Real Madrid should be appreciated even more.

Yes, some changes are necessary and I’ll be covering that topic soon. However, as the players parade through the city in celebration today, it is time to salute the champion.

Games between Atlético and Barça so often produce spectacular contests but there was little in the first 30 minutes to suggest we were going to see anything special tonight. With neither side really needing the points there was a lack of intensity which resulted in little goalmouth action.

Atlético generally sat back to soak up Barça’s timid attacks though the danger of Falcao was seen early on when he sprinted away from Piqué but failed to get much power on his low left foot shot and Pinto dived to make an easy save. Dani Alves was pushing high on the right side but his crossing was not good while Cristian Tello was active on the left but he let himself down with some poor control.

There was imprecision from both sides. Atlético threatened little, their best chance falling to Koke who fired wide after Falcao’s assist. Adrian Lopez showed his class with one dribble past Jordi Alba but he lost control after breaking into the area. With Alex Song and Fabregas filling in for Busquets and Xavi there was a clunkier look to Barça’s midfield. Iniesta was Barça’s most creative player but his final ball, whether looking for Fabregas’s forward runs or Alexis cutting in from the right, was not finding the mark. Messi was playing very deep but with little success until the 31st minute when he sent a brilliant defence splitting pass through to Tello but the youngster lost control as he tried to cut inside Godin.

Tello became more involved near the end of the half. First he set up Messi for a chance but the Argentinian skied his shot well over. Then Messi went on an electric run across the edge of the area before finding Tello in space but again his control was poor and his cross was cleared by Miranda. On the stroke of half time a long cross from Alexis reached Tello who despite a difficult angle fired in a wicked curling shot that went a whisker wide of the far post.

With Bartrá on for the injured Alves Barça reorganised the defence with Adriano moving to right back. Early in the second half Bartrá made a mistake bringing the ball out, Piqué failed to make the tackle on Gabi who from the floor managed to knock the ball forward to Falcao. Neither Bartrá nor Song got across in time and Falcao beat Pinto to put Atlético in front.

There was little reaction from Barça so Tito Vilanova decided to take a big risk by using both remaining substitutes with half an hour still to play. The wisdom of using all three substitutions so early is definitely questionable but bringing on Busquets and Villa for Song and Adriano while switching to a defence of three was certainly throwing caution to the wind.

However, initially Barça had a couple of attempts, both from Alexis, though Atlético’s counters now looked much more dangerous and Barça were fortunate when Arda Turan lost control on the edge of the area. Atlético coach Diego Simeone was probably thinking about next Friday’s Copa del Rey final when he replaced Turan and Falcao, but when Messi walked off injured in the 69th minute leaving Barça with ten men few could have expected what was to come.

Only the most optimistic of culés could have expected to get anything from the game now. The team was not playing well and the changes only seemed to create more confusion. However, in the 72nd minute Alexis went on a run between two players before finding Fabregas inside the area and continuing his run to receive Cesc’s return ball and beat Courtois with a toe-poke into the corner.

Vilanova switched to a 4-4-1 with Busquets at centre back with Piqué, and Bartrá at right back, while Villa hardly had a touch playing the lone front role. Then in the 80th minute Tello managed to get forward on the left. His first cross was again off target but the ball came back to him and he sped past the right back before pulling the ball back to Villa about ten yards out, Villa swung at the ball, sending an awful shot that was going well wide until it hit Gabi who could nothing to get out of the way and only succeeded in kneeing the ball past the unfortunate Courtois. In Spain people often talk about “the luck of the champions” and this was definitely worthy of that phrase.

Atlético were probably too stunned to make much of a reaction. Barça’s defence finally started to look more solid though Pinto had to dive to punch away a deflected shot from Diego Costa. Keeper Courtois went forward for two injury time set pieces but Barça held on without much worry for an improbable win.

Atlético: Coutois; Juanfran, Miranda, Godin, Insúa; Tiago, Gabi; Adrian (Oliver Torres m75), Arda Turan (Cristian Rodriguez m64), Koke; Falcao (Diego Costa m67).

Barça: Pinto 7, Alves 6 (Bartrá m42, 5.5), Piqué 5, Adriano 7 (Villa m60, 5.5), Alba 6.5; Fabregas 5.5, Song 5.5 (Busquets m60, 7), Iniesta 6; Alexis 6.5, Messi 6, Tello 7.

Goals: m50 Falcao 1-0, m72 Alexis 1-1, m80 Gabi (o.g.) 1-2.

Yellow cards: m72 Alexis, m74 Fabregas, m90 Insúa.

Judging from the press this week the only matter of importance would appear to be the possible new signings for next season. The list for this week includes Reina, Ter Stegen, Thiago Silva, Hummels, Marquinhos, David Luiz, Iñigo Martinez, Mathieu, Gundogan, Matuidi, Isco, Veratti, Reus, Rooney, Suarez, Fischer and of course Neymar to name just a few, while according to El Mundo Deportivo the only untouchables of the present squad are Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets and Piqué.

Whoever we sign, and Neymar still seems the most likely of all the candidates with Sandro Rosell reportedly negotiating with representatives of Santos in Madrid yesterday, the present squad deserve more respect and the achievement of regaining the league should not be undervalued.

Carles Puyol and Javier Mascherano are both nearing the end of their recuperations and Mascherano may receive medical clearance in time for tomorrow’s game. Barça will again be without Victor Valdés, who suffered a recurrence of his foot injury in training, and Eric Abidal who has a minor calf injury.  Nevertheless, Vilanova has named the entire first team squad for the trip to Madrid so that nobody misses out on the possible celebration, while the only B team player included is keeper Jordi Masip who has been called up due to Valdés’s injury.

Leo Messi and Sergio Busquets are apparently back to 100% so they should be fine to play the 90 minutes tomorrow, so we could see a starting XI of Pinto, Alves, Piqué, Adriano, Alba, Xavi, Busquets, Iniesta, Alexis, Messi and Pedro, though Vilanova could also give a start to Bartrá, Fabregas, Tello or Villa.

Opponents Atlético have little to play for as whatever happens in their remaining four matches they will almost certainly finish up in third place. Like Barça Cholo Simeone’s men had an excellent first half to the season but have dropped in form in the last three months. Their home form had been impeccable with thirteen wins out of thirteen in La Liga up until the end of February but since then they have only managed one win and one draw from their last four league games at the Calderon. Last season Barça won the corresponding fixture 1-2 with goals from Dani Alves and this fantastic free-kick from Messi.

Possible lineups:

Atlético: Coutois; Juanfran, Miranda, Godin, Insúa; Tiago, Gabi; Adrian, Turan, Koke; Falcao.

Barça: Pinto; Alves, Piqué, Adriano, Alba; Xavi, Busquets, Iniesta; Alexis, Messi, Pedro.

Prediction: Atlético 2 Barça 3

Date: Sunday 12 May 2013. Kick off 7 pm local time.

With Puyol, Mascherano, Valdés, Pedro and Fabregas unavailable and Messi and Sergio Busquets only deemed fit enough to start on the bench, Tito Vilanova went for experience over youth in his team selection, putting out a starting XI of Pinto, Alves, Piqué, Adriano, Alba, Xavi, Song, Iniesta, Alexis, Villa and Tello.

Betis came out with the intention of playing a high press and in the first minute they had already forced Pinto to kick the ball into touch. Less than a minute later the ball again came to Pinto who this time kicked long, the ball went as far as Betis left back Alex Martinez who headed the ball forward, Song misjudged the bounce and Adriano was also caught hesitating as the ball ran through for Pabón who beat Pinto to put the visitors in front.

It was an early blow that could easily have added to the negative feeling following the Champions League defeat to Bayern. Fortunately Andres Iniesta was not being marked by Javi Martinez tonight and he looked keen to demonstrate his class. In the ninth minute Alba, Tello and Iniesta combined on the left with Don Andres dancing past his man before crossing to the far post where Alexis nipped in front of Martinez to send a diving header past Betis keeper Adrian.

Iniesta and Xavi were dominating the midfield but Barça’s forwards were lacking decisiveness with Villa having a particularly unfortunate spell midway through the first half when he had four chances in the space of ten minutes. First Xavi and Alexis combined to set up a shooting chance but Villa’s finish lacked power, next he blasted over after Xavi’s assist. Then in the 29th minute Iniesta sent a nice chip forward and Villa managed a decent effort though the angle was tight and Adrian saved. A minute later Tello went to the line and pulled the ball back but Villa’s sidefoot shot from six yards hit Adrian’s outstretched leg.

Betis had also had chances with Molina heading wide after 15 minutes and Salva Sevilla having a header punched away by Pinto in the 27th, but Barça were having the better of things. Tello was looking lively on the left, setting up Iniesta with a shooting chance from the edge of the area but the ball was deflected just over. Then in the 36th minute Tello cut inside but his shot went straight at the keeper. Then five minutes later the winger took advantage of a poor headed clearance from Chica, dribbling inside past Amaya before unleashing a tremendous shot that hit the crossbar and then bounced onto the goal-line and out.

Barça probably deserved to have taken the lead by this point but just two minutes later Betis went in front again. Alexis was robbed by Nosa 35 yards from Pinto’s goal and after exchanging passes with Jorge Molina Nosa laid the ball back to Ruben Perez who let fly from 30 yards and the ball flew past Pinto into the top corner. Golazo and two-one to Betis at half time.

Barça began the second half with some uninspiring sloppiness. Adriano was caught in possession, Tello showed poor control and Piqué gave a wayward pass. Leo Messi began warming up on the touchline but things were not looking good. Then in the 56th minute Xavi played a splendid pass forward for Alves on the right and the Brazilian sent in an excellent cross to the far post where Villa headed the ball past Adrian for the equalizer.

Vilanova had already planned to take off the Asturian striker and despite the goal he went ahead with the substitution with Messi coming on. Given the fact that strikers so often build on the confidence of scoring a goal the move to take off Villa at this point did not seem the most sensible, but there is no denying the immediate influence of Messi. Shortly after Messi’s entrance Alves won a foul on the edge of the area. Messi stepped up and curled a beauty over the wall and despite Adrian’s spectacular dive to get his fingers to the ball it still went into the top corner.

In the 67th minute Tello won another free kick after a good dribble to the edge of the area. Messi again sent the ball curling away from the goalkeeper and was unlucky to see the ball bounce out of the crossbar. Betis then had their best chance of a second half goal when Perez crossed to the far post, Castro volleyed the ball back towards Pabón but the defence managed to close down the chance.

It was a brief scare as a minute later Barça went further in front. The move started with Alexis on the right who played the ball inside to Messi who knocked it on to Iniesta who played a delightful flick back to Alexis who checked in front of the keeper before unselfishly rolling the ball across to Messi who had an easy tap in for his 60th Barça goal of the season in all competitions.

There could have been more goals for Barça. Alexis failed to lift the ball over Adriano after another splendid chip forward from Iniesta. Messi failed to find Xavi after being sent into the right of the area by a fine pass from Thiago. Then right at the end Messi set off on a brilliant run past Perez and Amaya but he didn’t get his dink quite right and Adrian batted the ball away.

I have to admit before the kick-off I couldn’t understand how Messi started on the bench. Either he is at 100% in which case he should start while if he isn’t fully fit then it seemed he should be resting. However, I can’t see the training sessions or the medical scans, and four days can obviously make a difference with an injury. Whatever the case it makes one wonder what a fully-fit Messi might have done in the two games against Bayern.

Despite the positive result this was still a long way from the best Barça. There was little we could do to defend against Betis’s splendid second goal but it would never have happened if Alexis hadn’t been robbed of the ball, whereas the first goal was the result of a series of errors with Song and Adriano most guilty. We may have scored four goals but Betis left plenty of space at the back and we really should have had at least a couple more. Alexis and Villa both got on the scoresheet but there was some pretty poor finishing especially from Villa.

Barça can now be officially champions if Madrid fail to win their game against Malaga which has been brought forward to this Wednesday due to the Copa del Rey final. If Madrid win on Wednesday then the next possibility is if Madrid fail to win at Espanyol next Saturday night. If Madrid win both games then Barça can clinch the title next Sunday with a win at Atlético Madrid.

Barça: Pinto 6; Alves 6, Piqué 6.5, Adriano 6.5, Alba 6.5; Xavi 8, Song 6 (Busquets m87, –), Iniesta 8; Alexis 6.5 (Thiago m79, 6.5), Villa 5.5 (Messi m56, 8), Tello 7.

Betis: Adrian; Chica, Mario, Amaya, Alex Martinez; Ruben Perez, Nosa (Campbell m69), Sevilla (Vadillo m59); Pabón. Molina (Beñat m45), Castro.

Goals: m2 Pabón 0-1, m9 Alexis 1-1, m43 Ruben Perez 1-2, m56 Villa 2-2, m60 Messi 3-2, m71 Messi 4-2.

Yellow cards: m45 Adriano, m54 Ruben Perez.

Attendance: 67,185