Happy Johan Cruyff rejoices over Barca revival.


Johan Cruyff was full of praises for the new-look FC Barcelona squad, saying they were a deadly bunch right now which opponents should be careful with. The Barca legend and Dutch maestro also took out magical Messi for special praise and honour, highlighting the qualities and ability of the young Argentine forward, before going ahead to speak on Atletico de Madrid and on the Catalan giants. Starting with Messi, Cruyff opined that:

Lionel Messi has all the conditions to be a true star. He wants to be the best and is willing to work for it. There are players that will work as hard as anyone, but they will never be extra special because that comes from inside. You can improve on things, but you cannot create that. Iniesta should not be forgotten. It is obvious that he is best employed further forward, nearer the opposition area. But the circumstances meant that he had to play further back as there was nobody else. The best thing about Iniesta is that he has the ability to play anywhere on the pitch without being scared.

Cruyff spoke on the last La Liga match between FC Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, in which Barca trounced their opponents 3-0. The Dutch legend assessed both teams, starting with the visitors:

Atlético went from doing everything well to losing their positions and not going forward any longer. Playing such football against FC Barcelona is self-destruction. Sooner or later they will score and go ahead to tear your team apart. The Blaugrana players are precise. A player like Messi, for instance, is in the form and does not hesitate to finish off an opponent. Barça played well overall throughout the 90 minutes. Maybe people prefer the way they played against Real Zaragoza, but I do not think games should be compared, nor the teams. Every game tells its own story and Barça, who had some great moments and some not so good moments, continued playing in a style that had been missing before.

Barca’s next La Liga match is away against Villarrel on 21st October.