David Leigh

It seemed like a close call, but in fact it wasn’t at all. However many goals Barcelona scored against Nastic on Sunday night it was really all down to how Mallorca stood up to Real Madrid. Although Mallorca were initially in the lead we only needed to hope for a draw.

That’s where Madrid show why they’re winners; they have the stamina to play hard for 90 minutes while other teams just burn out. So Barcelona didn’t win the league, not through their own fault - at least not in this round of the competition.

Well there’s always next year - if you do want to see them play you can reserve FC Barcelona tickets once the draw has been made in July.

Last night saw the first round of the Barcelona derby with Espanyol playing host to FC Barcelona at their home stadium on Montjuic. In fact the I can see the stadium from the front terrace and if I stretch a bit the other way I can also see Camp Nou - or as most Anglophones insist, the Nou Camp.

But what a terrible performance put on by Barcelona - the score was 3-1 to Espanyol, but could easily have been 5-1. They just didn’t get it together as a team and Ronaldinho was completely missing the spark that makes him Ronaldinho. I can’t wait for Messi to return to fitness and see if the team returns to form in the second half of the season.

Even the normally calm Frank Rijkaard managed to lose his cool at one point, slamming his fist into the perspex side of the dugout, knocking out a broken section and thereby drawing the close attention of two members of Espanyol’s ground staff.

BTW, you can buy FC Barcelona tickets online and save yourself the hassle of getting them when you’re in Barcelona.