For those who thought Cesc Fabregas would be little more than an expensive addition to the Barcelona bench; how wrong you have been proved.
The ex-Arsenal captain has taken to life at the Nou Camp as if he had never spent all those years in north London. To date, Fabregas has scored four goals in Blaugrana colours in addition to a number of assists and looks to have already established a telepathic relationship with the creative heart of Pep Guardiola's team.
The Catalans' 8-0 thumping of Osasuna at the weekend was a near-perfect exhibition of football with Fabregas and Lionel Messi at the centre of everything good about Barca. Arguably, Fabregas rubber-stamped his intentions to be an integral part of the European champions' first XI when many pundits had questioned his signing and potential role in what can already be considered as one of the best teams to ever play the beautiful game.
It seems as if Guardiola's charges are hungry enough and capable enough of soaring higher than the magnificent achievements of last year. Fabregas it seems, may be a huge part of the plan. While Xavi may be considered as one of the best midfielders in the world, the former Arsenal man may be the perfect 'plan-B' if Xavi is off-form or if Barcelona wish to change the tempo or direction of a game.
While times appear to be getting better in Catalunya, Mourinho's Real Madrid suffered a shock 1-0 defeat at the hands of Levante on Sunday evening. Real president Florentino Perez must be feeling slightly irked by the constant brilliance of his side's biggest rivals while his Los Blancos were left floundering on the east coast. Wednesday sees Real travel to second-bottom Racing Santander and while the game is hardly a must-win tie, one suspects that anything other than three points would be most unsatisfactory.
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