La Liga Loca has got an awful a lot in common with Pep Guardiola.
We're not talking about the Barça managerâÂÂs hairline that has not so much receded since he took over at the Camp Nou, as retreated to a retirement village somewhere near Alicante to see out the rest of its days.
Nor are we referring to PepâÂÂs latest pitch-side fashion statement that sees the Barcelona boss dressing like a Mormon.
And LLL certainly isnâÂÂt suggesting that it too has a Freddie Mercury-style overbite.
Instead, LLL knows exactly what it is like to have to be consistently brilliant on a daily basis in order to keep millions of fans all over the world happy. However, unlike Barcelona, the blog has never had a âÂÂHércules momentâ where standards were dropped to such a level that a team featuring Royston Drenthe was allowed to come away with all three points.
However, LLL - which is currently soaking up the sweat and fending off the pickpockets in the Catalan capital - can feel a sense of relief from the Camp Nou with SaturdayâÂÂs defeat helping to reinforce the message that Pep Guardiola has been trying to deliver ever since he lead his side to the Treble.
ItâÂÂs a message that has fallen time and time again on completely deaf ears - the notion that Barça may occasionally lose games and just because they do it doesnâÂÂt mean the club is in a full-on panic-stricken, Guti-doing-his-five-times-table, hand flapping crisis.
It was a noticeably cranky Guardiola on display at the press conference ahead of TuesdayâÂÂs Champions League clash between Panathinaikos and his Dream Boys. âÂÂThis was a defensive discourse,â noted J.M Artells in Mundo Deportivo. âÂÂHe was paternalistic with his players.âÂÂ
Mundo DeportivoâÂÂs main man was referring to Guardiola huffing that âÂÂmaybe weâÂÂll have the worst season in our history but it is impossible to have doubts over my players,â and PepâÂÂs assertion that âÂÂI canâÂÂt promise a treble. WeâÂÂll do our best to beat Panathinaikos and see what happens.âÂÂ
It was performance before the press that Sport enjoyed with Joan Vehils gurgling that âÂÂI always feel that Pep is more natural when he is hacked offâÂÂ.
JoanâÂÂs paper - as to be expected - are fully behind the Dream Boys and are looking forward to the visit of the Greeks as a way to wipe SaturdayâÂÂs Camp Nou calamity from the memory.
âÂÂLet the goals return!â trumpets TuesdayâÂÂs front cover over a photo of David Villa with the paper then heralding the start of âÂÂOperation Wembley 2.0â by hoping that Barça can repeat their 1992 Champions League final win in the same stadium - all be it, shifted to the side a bit.
âÂÂWhat was won yesterday, isnâÂÂt worth anything today,â claims the calling for a clean slate Josep MarÃÂa Casanovas who will undoubtedly go back on his words whenever some emergency taunting of Real Madrid is required.
Squeezed into the middle pages of most of TuesdayâÂÂs papers, itâÂÂs Valencia and their return to the Champions League after two years and nine months of presidential problems and almost complete economic meltdown.
âÂÂItâÂÂs been too long,â notes Pedro Morata in AS. âÂÂFrom the end of the Soler era and all its consequences: Soriano, Dalport, economic warfare, the Valencia Generalitat saving the club...âÂÂ
The Mestalla men are in Turkey and hoping to avoid a stuffing against Bursaspor. And in charge of picking up at least a point from the group-opening affair is Roberto Soldado, a striker who claims that âÂÂplaying in the Champions League is the best thing a footballer can feel,â as Juan Mata cleared his voice noisily in the background whilst fondling his World Cup medal.
LLL hopes that the former Getafe forward is a little more accurate on Tuesday night.
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