We go to football to forget that we have to work the next day. That’s enough. But Piqué wants to go further and asks that we forget about “la Catorce”. I tried. I went to see Madrid with only thirteen Champions Leagues, trying to free myself from the guilt that it caused me the Fourteen. But those saves by Courtois (Liverpool), that pass by Modric (Chelsea), that hat trick by Benzema (PSG), that discount against City came to mind… when the logic already seemed definitively perverted. And above all I remembered when 80,000 spectators stopped being people and became electrified fans.
In every club, feelings roll over time until they solidify and the crowds end up knowing what they have to be proud of and what they are ashamed of. The stellar episodes make a great contribution and those of those days were unforgettable for Madrid. So, despite the attempt, I was fourteen again.
A skilled responsible
And already in the match, against the worthy but insufficient Braga, we saw a Brahim who gave another dimension to skill. I like it when the unthinkable prevails over the foreseen. I am more attentive to those moments than to all the coach’s plans. But that skilled, fragile-looking player who seemed to play with a top rather than a ball and who lived more from the humiliation of rivals than from association with teammates, is disappearing. Brahim is a skilled player with solid supports to break and enough speed to escape. The thread follows the needle. But to be accepted by modernity he added intelligent movements without the ball and the fulfillment of defensive obligations to his game. He left cheered by the fans and praised by his coach. That is: he put on a show and served the team.
The answer, before the question: no
Saying “the only important thing is winning” is like saying nothing. Like saying: “the only important thing is to harvest.” Don’t plant, don’t water and you’ll tell me how the harvest went. But this is a very sophisticated truth for these times when the result is God. You lose three games and everything breaks down. Sevilla is the example. You are going through one of those distressing moments and you are running out of decisions. The board has already changed a coach they did not believe in and brought in another one for whom things are not working out. They suture on one side and the wound is opened on the other. The last thing was to apologize to the fans, which is a demonstration of the extent to which intelligence fears emotion. Now Betis awaits in a “life or death” match on matchday thirteen! Is it possible to play football (well) in the midst of such great tension? The answer came before the question: no.
An intruder full of merits
Just as sometimes football is a horror movie, other times it is a fairy tale. Girona is extending theirs with an unusual audacity, that of the humble rising above his economic class. Since money rules, we are not used to seeing it. Two years ago, on matchday 12 of the Second Division, they were in relegation positions. Today, on the same day, he commands the League. A patient club, a talented coach, convinced players and an enthusiastic city are the energy that allows them to invade a territory only suitable for the rich. He doesn’t achieve it by playing football, but with an admirable sense of risk. We’re less than a third into the League, but it’s good for football to continue showing that two plus two don’t always add up to four.
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