“In my neighborhood, there are four black people. Hundreds of houses, four black people. Who are these black people? Well, there’s me, Mary J. Blige, Jay-Z and Eddie Murphy. Only black people in the whole neighborhood. So let’s break it down, let’s break it down: me, I’m a decent comedian. I’m a’ight. [applause] Mary J. Blige, one of the greatest R&B singers to ever walk the Earth. Jay-Z, one of the greatest rappers to ever live. Eddie Murphy, one of the funniest actors to ever, ever do it. Do you know what the white man who lives next door to me does for a living? He’s a fucking dentist! He ain’t the best dentist in the world…he ain’t going to the dental hall of fame…he don’t get plaques for getting rid of plaque. He’s just a yank-your-tooth-out dentist. See, the black man gotta fly to get to somethin’ the white man can walk to.”

You see, Chris Rock’s bit about “black man gotta fly to the get something the white man can walk to” sums up perfectly FC Barcelona’s relation to the Champions League compared to Real Madrid’s. Hits the nail right on the head.

We have only won the UCL (1992, 2006, 2009, 2011) when we were completely dominating in Spain. And not only through results, mind you. From playing the best brand of football in Europe, the most attractive style you could think of. We have to FLY to win the UCL. And, also, at least win La Liga while doing it. We are a 115 year old team, with the biggest stadium in Europe and the best player in History, but, if we are not playing so well as to achieve the double, we simply do not win the UCL.

Real Madrid, on the other hand, is the “white man that simply walks to get something important”. They have won 10 UCL titles, 3 more than any other team in History, but only TWICE won the Liga-UCL double while doing it. And that happened on the 1956-57 and 1957-58 seasons, when not only did they have a certain Alfredo playing for them, but the rules to the European Cup were very different back then. We rarely played it, for instance, because only the actual League Champion could qualify. And, for some reason, the English teams could not participate back then, but that’s a subject for another article..

What I’m saying is: 100% of our UCL titles came from, AT LEAST, a Liga-UCL double (we won the Triplete in 2009-2009), while RM’s UCL titles only came with a double on 20% of their UCL titles, and on a time when not only they had their best ever player, but the European Cup was much easier to achieve than nowadays.

The 2011-12 season is a perfect example of that. We fought hard against RM for La Liga, tried to catch up to them after being behind by several points, but ultimately, could not win the title. A few days later, on a match our style was brilliant and luck failed us, we were also knocked out from the UCL by a coach that would win it, but then be unemployed for over 3 years.

If we are not completely dominating domestically, we simply do not win the Champions League. It’s Fly or Die for us.

That’s why we should never compromise. Sure, we beat Atleti 3 times out of 3 this season. We are doing well in UCL, almost in the Copa del Rey final. But the style is far from the one that brought us all the glory we have witnessed since 1988, since Cruijff took over.

There are many names for it: Total Football, Tiki Taka, Possession Football. You can use whichever name you like. To me, it does not need a label. It needs to be seen to be understood, and, when you actually stop do watch it, it’s quite simple, really.

You keep the ball, have 3-4 passing options around you, move slowly, but constantly, horizontally, and chaos will soon be generated. The midfield is key for all that. We have 3 or 4 defenders, whose job is quite simple: keep a high line to pin the opposition’s forwards back, and get the ball to the one player that starts it all: our CDM.
The CDM is the one who starts all the triangulations. He gets close to the 2 CMS (we can also play with 2 CMs and a CAM), and the magic happens.
Through triangles, and moving the ball to the players in a better position, these 3 or 4 midfielders generate the chaos we need.
But their job is only possible when we have two wingers pinned to each flank. That way, the adversary’s defense is stretched on all fronts: each CB has to help the FB deal with our wingers, so both CBs aren’t really able to stop our 9 (or false 9). Of course the adversary’s CDMs (usually 2, maybe even 3), could box in our 9 or F-9, making the CBs job easier.
But, when the midfield is well put together, chaos will happen either way. You can stop our center forward, but you can’t stop him, our 2 wingers and 3-4 midfielders who move around constantly, looking for that one opening, that one passing lane that will allow us a shot.
That’s it.
All of that happening while playing together, pressing like mad men and being focused not only on the adversaries, but in seeing and giving the ball to our player on the best position to create/score.

The system works (we have 13 Liga titles and 4 UCLs since 1988 to prove it),  and it is beautiful to watch. It’s art in motion.

Beautiful football will always be remembered. Because people may forget the results, but they will never forget how some teams made them feel. It’s about the little moments during the match that take your breath away, not only the goals count.

It’s Iniesta and his water dancing. Busquets and his “half pass”. Xavi and his 30 meter punt passes. Alves and Messi making 1-2s in the middle of 5 players.

No one talks about Italy 2006, Brazil 2002/1994 or Germany 1990. They played in a fashion to get a title, but not in a fashion to leave an impression on football lovers.

They talk about Maradona in 86. But the one World Cup team they talk the most is Brazil 82. And they did not win the title. But they made people happy. They had fun out there, and so did the fans. The style, the system managed to accomplish domination by providing a spectacle. And that is what we should always want.

Brazil 70 is also remembered by that. Argentina 78 and England 66 are more remembered by the polemics than the actual football. And Germany managed to best both Hungary 54 and Netherlands 74, the teams that caused awe in most fans and sparked footballing Revolution around the World.

Beautiful football will always be valued. It’s timeless. We have a system that has achieved results while playing superbly well on 3 different eras, under 3 different coaches (Cruijff, Frank, Pep). We should never compromise this treasure we were given because it’s “hard” to play that way. We may be winning most matches by using the flanks and giving it all for Messi and Neymar to create and score. But will that be enough to warrant us our first standalone UCL title? Or leave an impression on football that will be remembered and cherished on years to come?