You Can't Wash Off Your Hands That Easily Mr.Txiki

Txiki Begiristain, the Barcelona director of football, has given ample indications of the changes lying ahead of the team. He said and I qoute here "“The poor performances make changes an obligation”. Now we have to make an analysis, and the decisions will be made at the send of the season.Getting to Moscow would not have changed any of things we have decided. We don’t improvise, neither before, or after. Everything is ready but needs time. The changes will come in the end”. Barcelona fans and media were ringing up the decibels to see some changes in the side and if we can read between his lines then we might be inline for some big changes at the end of season. Txiki Begiristain in this interview have made it clear that its the players who need to be blamed for this abyssmal situation, not the board or the official. It would be easy for him to say that, but how much media and fans are going to buy into his assesment is a big question. Barcelona board indeed is as responsible as the players and the coach in this situation. They have let lose the players, which naturally have backfired when the players started to have off seasons. Let's take the example of Ronaldinho, he has been accused of drinking a lot and getting indulged in too much of parties and all. But the truth is he has been doing this from the begining itself. Two seasons ago also he might have partied the same way he has been doing this season. Nobody complained or raised an eyebrow then, why now? Everybody started to question his dedication when he started to have off season. The truth is Barcelona board and official never found the necessity of getting the acts together. Its easy to say that "we have a problem" when everything is going wrong, but it takes immense courage to stand up and say the same when everything was going great. if Barcelona board took a little interest in the state of affairs in the team, this moment would not have come.

When quizzed about Rijkaard's future, he has this to say "Rijkaard has done an extraordinary job, he is an honest club man. He has to find a way to end the season in a dignified fashion and remind us of the things he has won. This is the time for intensity and unity in the four remaining games.” Now that gives enough indication of where Rijkaard will be next season - Out Of The Club. But there are enough indications given that Txiki might be hitting the panic button too hard. His comments on new players who will be brought in is kind of tricky - ” It seems the club is looking for a new kind of player. The new players will have to offer immediate results. They have to be prepared, be mentally strong and able to lead and perform through difficult times”. Now that rush to turn things on its head might derail the syatem completely.

Manchester United vs Barcelona 2nd Leg Pictures

End Of All The Dreams; ManU-1,Barca-0

This season definitely have to end like this - a great performance put forward but got kicked out of Champions League royally. A fourteenth minute screamer from Paul Scholes was enough to damn Barcelona to their second consecutive trophy less season. Paul Scholes might have done enough to end Rijkaard's career at Barcelona also. There is a sense of desperation among all the Barcelona fans, but honestly speaking we didn't deserve to win anything this season. Our team never looked committed or determined to do that. Barcelona had one change from their first leg - Puyol coming in for suspended Marquez. Manchester United was forced to drop Rooney, because of injury and bring on Tevez and that played a crucial part in the game. Nani also made into the starting eleven. In my preview to the Deportivo match, I have written that it would be good to give Messi more time on the field, I was proven right. Even though he had a great night, he could not gel properly with other players.

Barcelona looked more settled in the initial exchanges. Messi made an excellent run into the box in the first minute; Scholes has to commit a foul to stop him. Zambrotta was in total control of the Ronaldo situation, he never allowed Ronaldo any decent possession. But in the 14th minute Zambrotta robbed Ronaldo off the ball and made the biggest mistake of his life when he gave the ball away to Scholes. Paul Scholes, who have an history of creating goals from long range did not make any mistake there. I would say it was very unfortunate for Barcelona to concede that goal, any other day it would have sailed past the cross bar. After that as usual Barcelona panicked. Manchester United with all its claim of being the best attacking side in business started playing the English way - Get a goal some how and put eleven players in the box. In the 29th minute Puyol had to intervene to clear a Ronaldo header to safety. With the half time approaching Barcelona started to look once again settled. In the 38th minute Evra made a crucial intervention denying Eto a clear cut chance when Van Der Saar failed to hold on to Messi's cross.

Barcelona started the second half pretty much confidently. Some beautiful runs were made but none could pierce the Manchester defense. On the other end Valdez have to bring a decent save from Tevez. The rest of the half resembled Barcelona's effort at Nou Camp; could not pierce a packed ManU box, they were getting frustrated. Henry and Bojan were introduced but nothing changes the tide. In the end it can be said that Sir Alex's side were deserved to go through. They may not have played the beautiful football, but they played the effective football. But as for the question of "who is the best player in the planet now?” It looks like there is only one answer - Lionel Messi. He may not have scored the goal but that was mainly because his team mates never supported him.