Even while Real Madrid have been imposing a magnificent stranglehold on LaLiga's title race, it has been fascinating to see and hear Xavi Hernandez's early attempts to coax and even taunt a reaction out of Barcelona, as they languish seven places and 18 points behind their eternal rivals. To put it mildly, Xavi has been daring, even high-risk, with his vocabulary.
When Bayern thrashed Barcelona in Munich last week, sending the Spanish giants from the Champions League at the group stage for the first time since 2003-04, they were done an important service when Thomas Muller spoke the unpalatable, but pinpoint, truth that the Camp Nou squad aren't in physical or athletic shape to play the brand of football needed at the elite level right now.