The best moments in my life as a sports fan are obviously one's where my favorite team, or preferred team,wins. There are some moments though that stand out for the other reason. No, not those desolate Patriots wins that are supposed to teach me a lesson about acceptance and grace. No, not the Federer wins that drove me insane, or the Cardinals and Cubs. No, it is the few moments before I started hating or disliking certain teams, inflection points in my sports fandom. One of those moments, was when I learned to question European Football, turn a weird eye towards Barcelona, and watch a robbery take place in person.
For me personally, this was around the time my true interest in European club football, a passion that had grown the preceding three or four years, largely due to the exploits of the Premier League teams. This was the height of Premier League dominance. From 2005-2009, they sent a team to the finals of the Champions League each year (both teams in 2008), and numerous more to the Semifinals. In fact, 2009 was the third straight year that three of the four semifinalists were from the EPL. That would end, however, with the rise of Barcelona, swining the axis of power to Spain, and more so the other superteams.
During that Champions League season, particularly the knockout rounds, I used to watch the games with a couple friends at my house after school, DVR-ing the games. We were pretty good at avoiding the score, even for that game, where one of my friends was a die-hard Chelsea fan. It must have been agony for him - let's get the ending out of the way, Andres Iniesta scored in the 93rd minute to draw 1-1, allowing Barcelona to win on away goals (the first leg was 0-0 at the Nou Camp - a game where Chelsea took the approach of kicking the ball down the field at any moment to force Barcelona to walk it back 80 yards). It was agony for him, it was intrigue and mystery for me.
Only after it ended did he admit he got spoiled early on, he knew the goal was coming. What he probably didn't know is the spate of uncalled penalties that would not be called on Barcelona and awarded to Chelsea.
While in some weird way 2009 was the apex of the tiki-taka Barcelona era, the year they won six trophies, it was also a lifetime ago in Barcelona terms. They were an incredible team, with a guy in Messi who would establish himself as the best player in the world, but they were also a little bit different than their tiki-taka peak. There was Xavi and Iniesta but also Henry and Eto'o - two atypical tiki-taka-esque strikers. They had guys like Keita and others in midfield. They barely out-possessed Manchester United in that year's Champions League final, however it was their semifinal win that would become a tentpole moment in the sport, ushering in a whole era of the sport - where Barca would dominate possession, the other side would park the bus and we see what happens.
It is still humorous to think back on this match, where in the first leg in the Camp Nou, Chelsea literally just kicked the ball down the pitch any time they got it, putting basically no effort into scoring. Barcelona dominated possession but didn't really do anything. Overtime, that would become a familiar sight but in this it was strange. My Chelsea fan friend was annoyed that his team didn't even try for the away goal. That said, they also didn't allow Barcelona to score - the only tme Barcelona would not score in a home game all season long.
The second leg, despite being at Stamford Bridge, would be more of the same, but this time Chelsea scored a wonder-goal (truly, Michael Essien's goal is one of the forgotten Champions League greats) and also had a good half dozen clear penalties not given. This of course was the first sign of another tentpole of the next five years: Barcelona getting very favorable refereeing.
It would happen the next year when Tiago Motta was undeservedly sent off (Inter still won), and the next year, when Robin Van Persie got a ridiculous second yellow when their tie was still tied, and Pepe getting a straight red despite not making contact. It would even happen to some degree the next year. Barcelona got call after call, and it was never more stark or more ridiculous then the second leg here.
It was agonizing watching this team that at the time people really thought played the beautiful way get break after break. It was depressing to watch my friend get more heated and flustered when clear handballs, and clear tackles were continually not given.
Tom Henning Ovrebo. The name still haunts the minds of any Chelsea fan (or Barca hater - a group that would become increasingly large over the years). Few football refs are known by name, and Ovrebo is one of them, solely because he let penalty after penalty go uncalled. Any one of them likely swings the tie Chelsea's way. There were some of the most comically obvious handballs not called. It was larceny.
So much of the 2010-2015 football world was defined by Barcelona (and the Spanish National Team, that featured and increasing amount of Barca players over that period), and so much of the fire and ire they brought out was due to this tie and more succinctly, their robbery. The 2009 Barcelona team was a truly brilliant group, but they needed every bit of luck to win the Champions League. Who knew when Barca says they are 'More than a Club' (Mes que un Club in Catalan), the 'More' refers to the refs.
Only after it ended did he admit he got spoiled early on, he knew the goal was coming. What he probably didn't know is the spate of uncalled penalties that would not be called on Barcelona and awarded to Chelsea.
While in some weird way 2009 was the apex of the tiki-taka Barcelona era, the year they won six trophies, it was also a lifetime ago in Barcelona terms. They were an incredible team, with a guy in Messi who would establish himself as the best player in the world, but they were also a little bit different than their tiki-taka peak. There was Xavi and Iniesta but also Henry and Eto'o - two atypical tiki-taka-esque strikers. They had guys like Keita and others in midfield. They barely out-possessed Manchester United in that year's Champions League final, however it was their semifinal win that would become a tentpole moment in the sport, ushering in a whole era of the sport - where Barca would dominate possession, the other side would park the bus and we see what happens.
It is still humorous to think back on this match, where in the first leg in the Camp Nou, Chelsea literally just kicked the ball down the pitch any time they got it, putting basically no effort into scoring. Barcelona dominated possession but didn't really do anything. Overtime, that would become a familiar sight but in this it was strange. My Chelsea fan friend was annoyed that his team didn't even try for the away goal. That said, they also didn't allow Barcelona to score - the only tme Barcelona would not score in a home game all season long.
The second leg, despite being at Stamford Bridge, would be more of the same, but this time Chelsea scored a wonder-goal (truly, Michael Essien's goal is one of the forgotten Champions League greats) and also had a good half dozen clear penalties not given. This of course was the first sign of another tentpole of the next five years: Barcelona getting very favorable refereeing.
It would happen the next year when Tiago Motta was undeservedly sent off (Inter still won), and the next year, when Robin Van Persie got a ridiculous second yellow when their tie was still tied, and Pepe getting a straight red despite not making contact. It would even happen to some degree the next year. Barcelona got call after call, and it was never more stark or more ridiculous then the second leg here.
It was agonizing watching this team that at the time people really thought played the beautiful way get break after break. It was depressing to watch my friend get more heated and flustered when clear handballs, and clear tackles were continually not given.
Tom Henning Ovrebo. The name still haunts the minds of any Chelsea fan (or Barca hater - a group that would become increasingly large over the years). Few football refs are known by name, and Ovrebo is one of them, solely because he let penalty after penalty go uncalled. Any one of them likely swings the tie Chelsea's way. There were some of the most comically obvious handballs not called. It was larceny.
So much of the 2010-2015 football world was defined by Barcelona (and the Spanish National Team, that featured and increasing amount of Barca players over that period), and so much of the fire and ire they brought out was due to this tie and more succinctly, their robbery. The 2009 Barcelona team was a truly brilliant group, but they needed every bit of luck to win the Champions League. Who knew when Barca says they are 'More than a Club' (Mes que un Club in Catalan), the 'More' refers to the refs.
