Good Lord, the Barça's on a tear. I was waiting until I felt I had grounds for either optimism or pessimism before commenting in detail about the "new" FC Barcelona squad under coach Radomir Antic. Well, last weekend Barça beat Español in Español's home ground, the Estadio Olímpico, then on Tuesday they shellacked Inter Milan 3-0, and last night they whupped Betis in the Camp Nou, 4-0.

Is this just a flash in the pan or does it mean something? I think it means something. I think for the rest of the season we are going to see a Barça that will play up to its ability, which might even get them fourth place and will almost certainly get them sixth. Antic is running a tough-defense, physically-fit squad whose morale is up with three straight wins and the defenestration of Van Gaal. He's using a conservative, standard 4-4-2 alignment which, horrors, uses the stale old kick-and-rush! Passes the ball down the side and centers to somebody's head! Looks to catch the defense out of position on the counterattack! Practices strategy plays off corners and free kicks, since that's how most goals are scored! Shocking!

There are certain nutcases prominent in the Barcelona sports press who think that the Barça is above this kind of proletarian play, this grind-it-out Steel Curtain four-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust take-it-to-'em stuff. They want pretty-boy Dan Marino crap, clever passes and flashy plays, like they had back when Johan Cruyff was coaching Romario and Laudrup and Pep Guardiola. They're going to have to settle for some Jack Lambert and Mean Joe Greene kick-'em-when they're-up kick-'em-when-they're-down English-midtable-style football, with Saviola as the fast little goalscorer and Kluivert as the big oaf.

Here's what we've seen so far. Bonano, in goal, hasn't given up a goal in his last three games. The defense of Reiziger, in his natural position on the right, Puyol and Frank de Boer playing zone in the center, and Sorín on the left, is much solider than the risky three-man defense that Van Gaal was running. Reiziger and De Boer both look a hell of a lot better as part of a line of four rather than a line of three. They're not good enough to stop the opponent with only three of them back, but they do just fine with four. This guy Sorín is a pretty good player. Antic has been using the two outside defenders to mark the two guys he thinks are most dangerous, so against Betis they slapped Sorín on Joaquín and Reiziger on Denilson. It worked. Those guys were completely anulled. Cocu is not the factor he used to be but he's steady enough as a defense-oriented midfielder, and if he's turned loose he can score. Xavi has been allowed to move up as far as he wants, which puts him right behind the two forwards, big oaf Kluivert and Saviola. Saviola is on a roll, with a hat trick against Betis and two more against Inter; he's a pesky, fast little guy, the sort of guy who'd be a leadoff hitter in baseball. The wing positions are still up for grabs; Overmars was injured against Betis, so he'll be out for a while. Mendieta is looking a lot better than he was looking a couple of weeks ago. Luis Enrique is back, though I wouldn't use him to play a full game yet; I'd start him and then sub him with Motta when he gets tired. Rochemback, Gerard, and Gabri are the guys on the bench. I'd like to see them try replacing Frank de Boer with Gerard; the few times Gerard has played defense he's done well.

Barça is not going to win the League. It'll be very lucky if it finishes fourth, but I now firmly believe that sixth place in the League and the corresponding UEFA Cup slot are a legitimate possibility. They're not going to win every game, but they just might win two-thirds of them, in what's left of the League. There is still some time yet in which to make up ground, especially on Betis, Celta, and Real Sociedad, which is beginning to feel the heat and will be caught soon by either Madrid or Valencia or both. As for the Spanish Cup, they're eliminated, which is too bad, because Barca managed to redeem its two previous worst League seasons ever by winning the Cup in both years. (I distinctly remember watching the Cup Final in April 1988 on TV in a bar in Soria. Barcelona beat Real Sociedad, the Bakero and Beguiristain Real Sociedad, and salvaged a horrible season in which, of all people, Luis Aragonés took over as coach partway through.) And as for the Champions' League, it's not unthinkable. Barça will certainly make it through the second group and then will be in the quarterfinals with seven other teams. In a head-to-head competition like that, whoever's on a hot streak has an excellent chance of winning the whole thing, though the other teams are going to be tough; they're likely to be Man U, Milan, Inter, Juventus, Valencia, and two of this group: Roma, Arsenal, Ajax. No soft touches here.