I remained optimistic for Barcelona to win this year. However, it seems as though fate had other ideas. Frank Rijkaard and his men won their match against Gimnastic FC in ecstatic fashion, 5-1 being the scoreline in Barcelona’s favour. However, more importantly, the other half of Barca’s La Liga hopes rested with the match Real Madrid had with Mallorca at the Santiago Bernabeu, the home ground for Real. Unfortunately for Barca fans, it was not to be with a 3-1 win for Real, not after a early scare for the Santiago Bernabeu faithful. Sevilla also was also in the hunt for the title, but as expected neither Real or Barcelona slipped up.

Steps Leading To End Of La Liga (Source: FC Barcelona)

Below is how the night evolved for the top three:

• 21:15 Varela gives Mallorca the lead in the Santiago Bernabeu (0-1), and Barça take the lead in the Liga by one point.
• 21:20 Puyol’s goal gives Barça a three point lead with 76 points.
• 21:34 Messi scores in the Nou Estadi following a great individual effort from the edge of the box.
• 21:37 Ronaldinho shoots over the wall to bag Barça’s third goal of the night.
• 21:50 Half time results: Real Madrid, 0 - Mallorca, 1; Nastic, 0 - FC Barcelona, 3 y Sevilla, 0 - Villarreal, 0.
• 22:05 Messi scores his second goal from one metre out following great work from Eto’o.
• 22:06 Villareal take the lead againbst Sevilla with a goal from Fuentes.
• 22:23 Reyes, who came on for Beckam, ties the game in Madrid.
• 22:37 Diarra, heads the ball in to give Madrid a crucial lead in the Santiago Bernabéu (2-1). Madrid take the lead at the top thanks to head to head goal difference.
• 22:39 A potent shot from outside the area gives Madrid an unassailable lead over Mallorca (3-1).
• 22:38 Grahn scores a consolation goal for Nastic.
• 22:45 Zambrotta rounds off a good performance by scoring Barça’s fifth in time added on.
• 22:50 Results in: Real Madrid, 3 - Mallorca, 1; Nàstic, 1 - FC Barcelona, 5 y Sevilla, 0 - Vila-real, 1. Madrid and Barça secure passage to the Champions League

Let’s Look At The Ronaldinho Goal

Another trademark Ronaldinho set piece. Curl over the wall and into the corner. In this one the keeper gets his hand to it however, there is too much on the shot. This goal seems irrelevant to the big picture but I enjoyed watching it. In addition I have added the Lionel Messi goal that put Barca up by 2 goals. This is a real gem and I truly believe Messi has no where to go but to the top, not for another 2 years I’d say. So here are both goals. On a sign off note for this post, I truly am saddened by the loss that we have suffered, but all we can do now is hope that Ronaldinho rests well and trains hard for next year, as he will not be playing with Brazil in the Copa Del Ray. All the best to him and Rijkaard who will now need to reflect on this loss and possible counter measures for next year. For now enjoy the videos.

What many football players don’t realise is that fitness is the fundamental aspect of their game that defines whether or not they can perform at their best for the entire match. Think about what I have just said. They need to perform at their best for the entire match. Now many players I know are very good technically, they are just great on the ball. However, when it comes to the game and putting in the hard yards, they will slack off and tire out much quickly than others on the team. This all due to fitness, lack of stamina and the slow decline of speed bursts that are required to get past defenders.

What Else Does Lack Of Fitness Mean?

It means lazy actions towards the game. This happens to be one of my most hated things about not being fit. Let me give you an example of lazy actions. Let’s say in the game that you are absolutely smashed and it’s only half-time. When you come out onto that field for the second half, I’ve got some bad news for you, your game will suffer, not only your running. Being unfit means that every touch that you do will be one that you have put a lot of effort into, when really, you don’t want to be putting much effort into the pass, and more effort on attacks made against the opposition. If you lack any effort for the pass, the chances are that you are so tired that it will come off your foot in a way that you don’t want it to, which can lead to loss of possession and even worse a counter-attack against you.

My Own Personal Experience

I can testify as to the mentally breaking feeling you get when you are unfit. Fortunately that isn’t the case right now, but when I first started, 15 minutes into a game I would be puffing and panting, unable to concentrate on the game, but rather on my breathing and what I needed to do to stop from falling over. Every single pass would take a lot out of me and half of them wouldn’t even be accurate, which resulted in a lot of frustration and clouded my thinking. When I think about those days, I really get distressed because that is not the way we play football and shouldn’t be played. Something like fitness that you can do something about needs to be addressed. If you don’t work on your own fitness then you immediately put yourself at a disadvantage to your opponent.

Fitness Plays A 75% Part In Terms Of How Well You Do

Maybe even more. If you don’t have your fitness down packed, then don’t even think about having a technically sound game for the entire 90 minutes. The following is a quote that I want to leave you with and will help put this in perspective for you.

Fit English players will always win against unfit Brazillian players

I received this little surprise in my mail box the other day. When I first read the item in my inbox it said:

From: Ronaldinho Gaucho
Subject: Ronaldinho Magazine

So here I am thinking that Ronaldinho has written a personal email to me or something along those lines. I shouldn’t have gotten too far ahead of myself But to my surprise he has launched a new online magazine that goes to all the emails of the Official Ronaldinho Gaucho Website members. If you are a Ronaldinho fan and you haven’t already signed up to the website for free access to special goodies, I suggest you do.

A Day With Ronaldinho

Whoever spent the day with Ronaldinho is one lucky guy. Can you just imagine it? I probably wouldn’t be able to talk to the guy properly because I don’t understand Portuguese but being around him would be a great privilege, not only for my personal reasons, but also for the improvement it may have to my game. Back to the magazine, I urge you to subscribe because if it can’t hurt you, it can only help you.