Aventura 25: Barcelona vs. Valencia, Barcelona vs. Valencia

Watching from the second row of Camp Nou the amazing skills, passes, touches, fluidity, togetherness, heart, and teamwork of F.C. Barcelona men's team play, I wonder where the magic comes from.

The luck of a tart from our local pastelería?

Game 1, Copa del Rey: Barcelona (53) v. Valencia (0) turned into Barcelona (2) v. Valencia (0)

Game 2, La liga: Barcelona (15) v. Valencia (3) turned into Barcelona (5) v. Valencia (1)

The storm of drums, songs, chants, and "Wakka, Wakka's" that the fans surround and engulf the team with?

Tot el camp

és un clam

som la gent blaugrana

Tant se val d'on venim

si del sud o del nord

ara estem d'acord, ara estem d'acord, 

una bandera ens agermana.

Blaugrana al vent

un crit valent

tenim un nom el sap tothom:

Barça, Barça, Baaarça!

Jugadors, seguidors,

tots units fem força.

Son molt anys plens d'afanys,

son molts gols que hem cridat

i s'ha demostrat, i s'ha demostrat,

que mai ningu no ens podrà torcer.

Blaugrana al vent

un crit valent

tenim un nom el sap tothom:

Barça, Barça, Baaarça!

The whole stadium

loudly cheers

We’re the blue and claret supporters

It matters not where we hail from

Whether it's the south or the north

Now we all agree, we all agree,

One flag unites us in brotherhood. 

Blue and claret blowing in the wind

One valiant cry

We’ve got a name that everyone knows: 

Barça, Barça, Baaarça!

Players, Supporters

United we are strong.

We’ve achieved much over the years,

We’ve shouted many goals

And we have shown, we have shown,

That no one can ever break us.

Blue and claret blowing in the wind

One valiant cry

We’ve got a name that everyone knows:

Barça, Barça, Baaarça!

The inability of Iniesta to lose the ball in the middle, the superhuman ability of Messi to score four goals in a game, the strong headers and even stronger slide tackles of Puyol, the dancing feet of Alexis, or the quick, smooth, unseen runs made by Xavi to always keep the triangles in the middle?

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Or is it something else, a combination of everything from the patterns of stars in the sky to the patterns of passes on the field, from the fans sitting at home watching every game to the fans at the stadium to the coaches to the players themselves, from the luck of a pastry to the luck that these players all ended up where they did - a combination that no one can explain exactly?

Which, you know what, might be okay with me.  As I realized recently, the most beautiful things in the world are made up of questions, not answers.