UD Almeria 0-8 FC Barçelona

The 0-8 scoreline at the Estadio de los Juegos Mediterraneos is testament to a slow build-up, a ramping up of the intensity, of the pressure that the Barca squad has brought to recovering balls and springing counter-attacks up the pitch, in space and in overlapping runs on the wings, over the last two months. Everyone realizes that the league was going to come to 6 points settled in Barcelona and Madrid over two legs in November and in early April respectively. Did anyone think any differently?

Juanma Lillo didn´t. He, and his relegation threatened side clearly came to compete, it was evident early on, but as what happens sometimes to squads that open their game up in that open pitch, Barcelona over-ran them. Lionel Messi got all the space in the world. Dani Alves made uncontested runs on the wing, and the opponents never tested that area where either player had vacated. A 0- 8 drubbing doesn´t just spring from nowhere, Barcelona were clinical, but Almería had quit on themselves long before Bojan Krkic came in and padded his scoring with a late brace.

Cristiano Ronaldo wasn´t impressed. ¨Let´s see if they score 8 on us¨, he said, but I´d rather focus on Lillo. People can question his squad´s lack of commitment, but listen to what they´re saying. Goalkeeper Diego Alves said, ¨In my career I have never felt so ashamed. After the third goal, an own goal, we lost the will and didn´t have the strength to face what was in front of us on the pitch.¨ Does that seem to be coming from a careless player? It was a do or die match for the Almería coach and he was fired soon after.

Lillo becomes the second coach this week to lose his job, and is the fourth to do so this year in La Liga. Who would take over? The first candidate is former Chile coach Marcelo Bielsa. He was shortly coach of Espanyol before getting called up as Argentina coach in the late ´90´s. That is unlikely more from the coach´s perspective than from the club´s, so ex-Tenerife coach José Luís Oltra has been mentioned, but it seems former Recreativo de Huelva, Racing Santander and Real Zaragoza coach Marcelino García Toral is actually more likely a candidate. Look for that to happen soon. Maybe by Monday.

In other news, Barcelona and Real Madrid next week after Champions League mid-week. Yawn.

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