Posted by Stephen Kuzner

By Stephen Kuzner - WFD Fan Correspondent

In European football, every country's top flight league has a title race, sack race, relegation battle, domestic cup, and sends teams to compete in the Europa League and Champions League. However, outside of what happens on the pitch, there is a PR race that goes on as well; a psychological battle played-out in the media about what team is the best. A little over a month ago the world was in love with Chelsea and Real Madrid. How things can change fast.

If you read my stuff you know I'm a Barca-homer. But, the numbers don't lie. Barcelona scored 21 goals in last 5 games with none conceded. That's an average score of 4.2 goals to nil against Almeria, Panathinaikos, Real Madrid, Osasuna, and FK Rubin Kazan. So far this year in La Liga, they scored 41 goals and let in 8 for a whopping goal difference of 33 after 14 games. They are on pace to record 100 out 114 possible points and to top last year's La Liga all-time record of 99. These numbers are staggering.

But, the stories this year will make Barca seem larger that life in the annals of history if they can win La Liga and the Champions League, two pieces of silverware that will be hard-fought to get. Let's start with the 0-3 win over Osasuna this past weekend where having to take a train and then coach because of an unexpected air controller's strike in Spain. They arrived shortly before the scheduled kick-off time and then played Osasuna off the pitch with 74% of the possession. Now remember, this was supposed to be the potential let-down after the high of trouncing Real Madrid in El Clasico on Monday 5-0. Nevertheless, pushing the kick-off back 45 minutes created an uproar in the Madrid press claiming pro-Barca bias.

Or you can take the next game in the Champions League against Rubin Kazan where Rubin needed to win in order to finish ahead of FC Copenhagen. Rubin had Barca's number the past two years in the Champions League as well. Then factor in that Barcelona had already won the group so they would feature a number or Barca B players including Víctor Vázquez (23), Andreu Fontàs (21), Marc Bartra (19), Jonathan dos Santos (20) and Thiago Alcântara (19). You wouldn't have guessed a 2-0 win with 79% possession and goals from Centerback Andreu Fontàs and attacking-midfielder Víctor Vázquez. It's almost as if Barca B won a Champions League game.

As if PR couldn't get any better for Barcelona, Lionel Messi, Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta were listed as the three finalists for the FIFA Ballon d'Or; this being the first year of merging the FIFA World Player of the year and Ballon d'Or. To many it was a shock that Wesley Sneijder did not make the shortlist having won the treble with Intermilan and advancing The Netherlands to the World Cup Final. Messi and Ronaldo are the two best players in the world, but judging by a body of work this year, most expected the shortlist to Xavi, Sneijder, and Diego Forlan.

Yet, things skill got better for Barcelona in the press this week with FIFA Top Class Referee (the highest level of referees on the planet) Claus Bo Larsen naming Real Madrid's Ronaldo as his 'most annoying player' because "He's always out to get a cheap free-kick, especially at home". This may appear like a minor swipe at Ronaldo, but there is a belief in Italy that the press can be manipulated to increase the points of a team as much as six by exerting pressure on officiating. Spain is not Italy, however, Barcelona is leading in La Liga's title race over Real Madrid by two points as well as in the PR race that may be worth an extra bonus six points.


If you have feedback, email me at skuzner@gmail.com or Facebook me. During the club season, I write pieces related to La Liga on Tuesdays and articles about FC Barcelona on Fridays. During El Clásico, I only live, breath, and sleep El Clásico.