FC Barcelona have suddenly begun to play like Barca again, which is to say they look like the overwhelming, attractive, dynamic teams in which their current manager, Xavi, used to conduct magical football symphonies.
There has been a lot of dross from Spain's champions over the past few months. Winning dross, but pattern-free, stubborn, uninspiring stuff all the same. Yet this weekend's 5-0 win over Real Betis was an exhilarating display of instinctive, daring, one-touch, third-man running, passing-triangle soccer. Not since Xavi's team played with dash and delight in beating Real Madrid 3-1 in January, in the Super Cup final, have the men in Blaugrana produced anything even vaguely similar.