To say Barcelona deserved to win would be cliche. To write it would be redundant for any human being with a set of eyes or pair of ears. I will leave tactics to the masters, but the Madrid defensive line was far too high, the space between the midfield and defense too great, and the midfield really looked like a crowded mass, not a straight line of four. We all knew that neither Xabi nor Khedira was fast. We also knew that Marcelo was not a world class leftback. But to craft a strategy which turns a blind eye to these truths was suicide.
Still, I am optimistic. Even with these failings, the defense improved by one goal from the game two years ago last spring at the Bernabeu. Huzzah! I am convinced that only Junito can save Madrid form this current malaise. Mourinho is just a stop-gap measure for the next five or ten years. Hopefully the bleeding will stop by then. Because the hurt won’t.