Nobody reading this should need reminding that the last time United met Barcelona was in the final of the same competition, in Rome 2009, where the Catalan team ran out 2-0 winners, but for the sake of pedantry, there it was again.
United’s performance was a wretched reflection of the players available. Perhaps a case of diminishing returns, given the squad included Berbatov, Tevez, Rooney and the low-carb Ronaldo – stellar striking names – a collective by default, but most definitely not operating as one. Whether by design or by his own judgment, the entire game that night seemed sublimated for the sake of the Portuguese and he took efforts from goal almost whenever in possession.
In Robert Tressell’s seminal book “The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists” he tells a tale of a socialist society and for many, one chapter stands out, “The Great Money Trick” in which the central character organises a mock-up of capitalism with his workmates, using slices of bread as raw materials and knives as machinery. Then “employing” his workmates to cut-up the bread, illustrating that the employer - who does not work – is able to accumulate personal wealth whilst the workers remain no better off than when they began, simply trading monies back and forth for sustenance.
Tressell was able to practically illustrate that the Marxist theory of surplus value, in a capitalist system is generated by labour. If ever a player could be used as a metaphor for “The Great Money Trick” it is Cristiano Ronaldo; an extraordinary blend of physical attributes and technique, he rightly won World Player of the Year, but he is one who operates only as an extension of the heart, mind and efforts of the other ten - reliant upon others to satiate his own expectations; apart but never a part.
It could concern some that United has not only lost Ronaldo since Rome, but also the Subterranean Homesick Blue [Tevez] - two famous names no doubt - but they have also gained a selfless, willing runner in Antonio Valencia - someone who recently bullied Ashley Cole in a way that his predecessor never did - and of course, a Little Pea. When the spring-heeled Mexican [Hernandez] said recently that, “we always think about the team, that is the most important thing. We don't need to be selfish and think only about scoring ourselves” he epitomised this team’s biggest strength: an innate willingness to acquiesce to a collective.
If the team of 2009 was a rudderless one, with a centre of gravity in CR7’s head, this team is a Marxist’s ideologue – should a front six of Valencia, Fletcher/Carrick, Giggs, Park, Rooney and Hernandez start for United, there will be passengers; no lack of effort; and no fear either, one senses.
And this is a moral that strikes a chord with Barcelona also. Whilst it may be temptingly English to disparage the brilliance of Messi, the genius of Xavi or the transcendental qualities of Andres Iniesta with accusations of languorous artistry, these would be unjust. Even the obnoxious Busquets and the insufferable Alves play their parts.
This Barcelona team may work the ball around and around better than any – on the carousel, as our Wizard described it – ever probing for weaknesses, seeking to pull players out of position and always able to rely upon moments of individual magic, but they press the ball out of possession like no other - and the entire team shoulders this responsibility. The best player on the planet, Lionel Messi, recently asserted that “Play for the name on the front of the shirt and they’ll remember the name on the back," which just underlines the club’s attitude.
Although one may be set to occur in the seats of Wembley, albeit initiated in the offices of UEFA - given the pricing and distributing of tickets - there will certainly be no “Great Money Trick” on the pitch itself; it will just be two teams built wholly on the principle of collectivism.
Given that this is the pinnacle of the sport, it is perhaps no surprise that both managers’ share the same political leanings and that they are reflected in their teams. Both managers have never been afraid to voice these opinions either.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s political views are as infamous as they are infamous now, at least for some – his human failings there to be analyzed over and over, after almost 30 years in the country’s most high-profile job - "I have never forgotten where I come from or how fortunate I have been to get where I have - and how important politics has been in improving the lives of the people I come from. I want as many people as possible to have the same chance through hard work to make the most of their talents. And I don't want families to suffer again the misery that the Tories caused as I saw in Scotland and the North West.”
If not always in his actions, then in his public ideals, Sir Alex Ferguson has long seemed a natural fit with the socialist political defiance of Manchester.
And in an interview with Time magazine, when aged 29, Guardiola commented that “there is a special relationship between Catalans and this team we call Barça. Catalunya was repressed for many years, culturally and in the use of its own language. That makes you love these things more and want to defend them at the national and international level. For many years [under the rule of Dictator Francisco Franco], the football stadium was one of the few places where people could safely shout "Visca Barça! Visca Catalunya!" (Long live Barca! Long live Catalunya!) It has been a point of reference for Catalans for 100 years.”
He may be prematurely bald, but Guardiola is a perfect manifestation of Catalunya and again, in the last couple of years, he managed to cause a stir with the Madrid based newspaper Marca when commenting "we are a country with our own language and when we leave its borders, those of us that speak it, use it.”
For Madrid and Barcelona almost read Manchester’s misanthropic relationship with the idiot wind blowing through some of London and Essex.
Indeed, the similarities between the two cities [and clubs] are myriad; there is even an old industrial area within the confines of Barcelona that the locals call “the Catalan Manchester”; unsurprisingly it is all red-brick buildings.
Moreover, an abridged history of Josep Lluiz Nunez’s tenure as club President during the 1990s could easily read: we sought to copy Manchester United; Bobby Robson was fired in order to insinuate a longer-term mentality into Barcelona and Louis van Gaal was appointed in lieu, tasked with replicating Sir Alex Ferguson’s combination of success and stability.
Barcelona’s renewed appetite for youth is a testimony to a Nunez success: where United produced Giggs, Beckham, Scholes, Butt and the Neville brothers; Barcelona have gone on to integrate Iniesta, Pique, Fabregas, Xavi and Pedro.
But Nunez also instigated an aggressive commercial process to claw back the disparity between merchandising revenues – back then, Barcelona accrued just 30% of United’s. And ultimately, he presided over a stewardship almost as unpopular as any of United’s owners and even conceived the ridiculous "Barça 2000" development – a Disney-esque aberration that would have surrounded the Camp Nou.
Indeed the links are closer than many large clubs and soon after United fans’ foiled Rupert Murdoch’s takeover of BSkyB, both Barcelona and United fans attended a conference that had been organised in London to discuss an increasingly commercialised game. One, Joan Laporta, represented a group called the Elefant Blau, which was lobbying for greater supporter democracy at Barcelona and sought to erode the power base of Senor Núñez whom, they believed he was selling out the club's traditions and values.
The Catalan presence that day inspired a belief amongst the English that supporter owned football clubs could exist, survive and also thrive; all British football clubs began as members' organisations and the brilliant Barcelona remained owned by its 140,000+ members.
Whatever your views, there is a close parallel with the “Green and Gold” campaign that enveloped United and even events before that. For younger readers, Andy Walsh spoke at the time for us; he went on to be a founder of FC United.
And yet once installed Joan Laporta proved to be nothing if not a realist. Barcelona’s income in 2002-03, before he took over was £84million, compared with £173m for United. But by 2010 Barcelona were achieving revenues of $488m, against United’s of $428m. Globalization has long been a phrase used as often as tiki-taka in and around the Catalan club.
The catalogue of both clubs’ sponsors bear close comparison in numbers and names with Nike, Turkish Airlines, Betfair and Audi each sponsoring both. And then, there is the Qatari Foundation - recently paying Barcelona £125m for the honour of association; would it be such a surprise if they had provided United (the Glazers) the money to pay off the PIKs, by virtue of an interest free loan or an advance payment for events that may come later? Stadium naming rights or “the other.”
And although it easy to cite both United and Barcelona as culpable in the commercialisation of the game, both survive without doping from Madrid banks, from Oligarchs or from Oil money; both stand on their own two feet.
The two biggest clubs in the world will meet in the final on the 28th May – the El Clasico of Europe – capitalists by necessity in the boardroom, but socialists on the pitch.
