It’s nothing Messi(y). It’s just Barcelona wanting to win every game.

It’s nothing Messi(y). It’s just Barcelona wanting to win every game.

by rick olivares

It could be a bump in the road then again it could be a pothole.

It could be a molehill or maybe it could be a mountain.

Or William, it was really nothing. Oh, theres' my nod to The Smiths.

I was surprised that the on field argument between Barcelona’s Leo Messi and David Villa during their 2-0 win over Granada at the Camp Nou last Saturday got a lot of ink.

In case you don’t know what happened, Barcelona reporter Francesc Tomas quoted of the exchange:

Messi: "First-touch pass, Guaje, first-touch!" 



Villa: "Leo, I couldn't even control the ball! It's the first ball I've touched today and was going to pass it to you!" 


Why do I think that it is nothing? Prior to this match, Barca was at 4-0 with the optimum 12 points. Second place (although I am not that surprised) Mallorca was at 2-2 with eight points. Champion Madrid sported a 1-1-2 record for only for points!

When was the last time you saw this in a Barcelona match? Always! Just watched Carles Puyol (who is unavailable because of injury) when he is in there. He really rails at Gerard Pique when he zones out and he has acknowledged this. Pique knows it is nothing personal and it’s all about doing their jobs well. 

True enough, Messi seemed surprised about the reaction: “People shouldn’t look for a problem where there isn’t one. These things are part of football, with the tension of wanting to score to make everything easier and win. It happens in training and in matches as well. I haven’t got any problems with El Guaje, quite the opposite. These things show the character of the team to want to win and keep on playing well. We get ‘heated’ because we want the best and the tension makes you react like that."

And let’s leave it at that.