Barcelona 5 - 1 Real Sociedad

Messi comes back as he left. Leaving mouths open and victims in his path. He doesn't even need to be average, for him blinking suffices. Unbothered by summer cramps or the threat of heat. The wave the Nou Camp saw tonight was produced by his goals and his numerous patented skills. They provided the crest of the wave on which Xavi, Cesc and Co ride and which wipes out those who try to stop it. Once again the Argentinean took the game by the scruff of its neck with his hunger and his sharp shooting to put the night onto a perfect track for Barça. He scored twice. He put Barça back ahead when Real had somehow managed to draw level and if he didn't walk off with the match ball for a hat trick it was only because of Bravo and his reflexes.

It wasn't the best Barcelona that turned up tonight, and even so they trounced Real Sociedad. They lacked accuracy at the start of their moves, co-ordination when repositioning and surprises from midfield. In spite of all this they are clearly built on the excellent team of the last few years. You can play spot the difference between the styles of Tito and Pep, but not enough has been seen of Tito to really draw any conclusions and in any case it doesn't appear that there are significant changes. Whilst the world waits to see if Song is fish or fowl, Jordi Alba looks like a copy of Alves for the left. The rest can be recited from memory. Puyol and Masche push, Xavi creates, Busquets watches and balances, Cesc stirs it up, the wingers threaten and Messi executes. Real can testify to that. They only managed to rob Barça of 21% of the possession. In part because Montanier decided inexplicably to begin by rotating his squad (leaving good players on the bench) forgetting that the season started tonight.

Vibrant half hour
Puyol scored the first almost without warming up. The same play as seen for Spain in the world cup. Xavi delivered, Puyol fired home. Real appeared to be on the edge of tragedy then, with only 4 minutes gone. However in one of their rare adventures into the Barça half on the counter a flowing move from right to left saw Alves embarrassed and Chory crowned. His left foot strike left Valdés stranded. Messi still hadn't asked to speak. But when he did he settled the Nou Camp nerves. In 10 minutes he left no doubts that nothing had changed from last season, stepping into the area and spitting an unstoppable left footer to make it 2-1.

Real couldn't cope. In spite of their prayers Messi kept appearing and his partners had woken up. Tello first. Tito gave him his chance out on the left and the player who came up through the ranks took it. He destroyed Estrada. In one of his incursions he let off a skewed shot that Messi, ever vigilant grabbed to score. Subtle and precise. A fine start at 3-1 only added to by Pedro who finished off a cross from Tello.

Icing on the cake
The first half was enough to put them top of the League (so far) and to start the first comparisons with their eternal rival (Madrid having had less spark and more opposition in their 1-1 draw with Valencia). It was also enough to let Vilanova start to rotate his squad in expectation of the Supercopa. Puyol and Cesc came off to rest and Piqué and Iniesta came on to show why there had been few signings: it's hard to improve on this squad.

Barcelona could have increased their advantage from a fine run from Messi, and Chory, Real Sociedad's best, had a chance or two to make a name for himself. But the scoreboard didn't move until Villa, "el Guaje", arrived on the scene to taste again the glory of goal scoring. Barcelona started the league strongly and their fans appreciated it. It's priceless to enjoy a wave of magnificence when a wave of fire was expected.