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Journalism of Courage
Lionel Messi came off the bench to move Barcelona to within two points of clinching the La Liga title with a 4-2 win over Real Betis at Camp Nou.
Dorlan Pabon and Ruben Perez had twice given the visitors the lead in the first-half either side of Alexis Sanchez8217;s equaliser yesterday.
Following their humiliating 3-0 defeat at the hands of Bayern Munich in the Champions League in midweek,that sealed a record 7-0 aggregate defeat,Barca started in the worst possible fashion.
A goal kick from Jose Manuel Pinto was headed back towards the Barca goal by Jorge Molina and avoided everyone on its way through to Pabon who finished confidently into Pinto8217;s right-hand corner.
The lead only lasted six minutes as Iniesta turned wonderfully on the left and delivered a tantalising ball into the middle which Sanchez bulleted home with his head to register his sixth league goal of the season.
Molina then headed just wide as Betis broke dangerously,but Barca went onto dominate for large periods of the first-half and would have been well in front but for some poor finishing from Villa.
Spain8217;s all-time record goalscorer inexplicably blazed over from six yards after being teed up perfectly by Iniesta and Xavi on 23 minutes. And five minutes later Villa passed up another great opportunity as this time Cristian Tello sped to the byline and cut the ball back only for Villa to place his side-footed effort too close to Adrian.
Pirlo,meanwhile,was quick to praise the 8220;tactical acumen8221; of Conte,who in his two years as coach at his former club has tested numerous tactical formations including a 4-2-4,4-1-4-1,4-3-3 and,this season,a 3-5-2 and 3-5-1-1.
8220;I was surprised by the gaffer8217;s tactical acumen but also what he does on a daily basis,8221; said Pirlo,who gave the club good news recently on announcing his international retirement after the 2014 World Cup.
But having witnessed first hand the might of Bayern Munich,Conte gave a stark prediction for any Italian side8217;s hopes in Europe next season. 8220;Playing Bayern was a good opportunity to see where exactly we are compared to the big boys in Europe. Where are we,what8217;s missing and how do we remedy it?8221; he said.
8220;We have to look elsewhere,to Spain,to England and to Germany to see what lessons we can learn. 8220;But if you have the money,you can buy players and win. Otherwise,it takes a lot of patience. The way things are right now,I don8217;t see any Italian teams winning the Champions League for the next several years.8221;
With Italy,and therefore Serie A,in the middle of a financial crisis,one of the world8217;s top football leagues does not have the attraction,nor the spending power it once enjoyed.
And that means that even Juve,whose finances are in rude health compared to their domestic rivals,still cannot afford to splash out millions on one player the same as Bayern,Chelsea,Manchester City or Real Madrid. Juventus8217;s top scorer this season so far has been Chilean attacking midfielder Arturo Vidal,who had nine league goals and14 in all competitions prior to the Palermo match. It has highlighted the squad8217;s need for an out-and-out goalscorer and the Bianconeri will hope that new striker Fernando Llorente,who will join Juve from Athletic Bilbao on July 1,helps fill that gap ahead of their title defence next season.
