Despite dominating virtually the entirety of last night's match with Real Sociedad, FC Barcelona only left San Sebastian with a 1-1 draw, although the result itself was immaterial as it booked the Blaugrana's place in the final of the competition. Fielding a strong line-up, potentially with one eye on resting players against Rayo Vallecano on Saturday prior to our trip to Manchester, Gerardo Martino will have been impressed by last night's display and maybe even confident that his side can lift the trophy in mid April.
After all, the tempo of the passing was slick; record breaking even, as Barça attempted over 1000 passes against their helpless rivals. Evidently, fielding Cesc Fabregas, Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets and Lionel Messi in the same line up seems to encourage the side to keep the ball zipping around the surface. Especially with the likes of Dani Alves (who I thought was majestic last night and has been superb all season long) and Gerard Pique in defense to help regain and retain possession.
Lionel Messi scored another incredible goal, while the scoreline itself could have been far worse for Real Sociedad if not for some heroics from their goalkeeper Enaut Zubikarai.
Without ever pushing themselves, Barça again dominated one of the best teams in the division -- and it's hard to find fault in that, even if the result doesn't necessarily reflect our superiority on the night.
Roll on April!