THE double decker bus carrying a bunch of tourists from Salou to Barcelona two summers ago was one of my favourite journeys.
My son and I, side by side, at the front of the bus. For a couple of hours we had nothing to distract us.
Just our shared passion for football and the long stretches of sandy beaches to our right.
We gripped our match tickets for Barcelona’s La Liga game with Cadiz at the Olympic Stadium, the city’s ancient dust bowl, and tore off pieces of warm baguette along the road.
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It must have been the warmest evening sun in Catalonia history as I doused my son’s reddened face with cold water at the very top corner of the stadium.
At that time, Xavi Hernandez’s Barcelona were a work-in-progress, pockets of talented players but no-where near the great sides of the past.
I wished that my son was going to watch Pep Guardiola’s wonderful Barcelona side of the late ‘Noughties’.
Pep’s team had greatness in every position on the field.
Sergio Busquets was one of the greatest midfield pivots the game had ever seen. The way he played, Busquets had eyes in the back of his head.
It was just the way Andres Iniesta moved. A wonderful, easy-on-the-eye dribbler, Iniesta floated across the pitch.
No matter how hard the opposition tried they could never take the ball off Xavi Hernandez, a player Dani Alves once described as someone “who plays in the future”.
They had Carles Puyol, Gerard Pique, Jordi Alba, Alves and a steady stream of brilliant attacking players – Samuel Eto’o, Theirry Henry and David Villa.
And Lionel Messi – the greatest footballer to ever play the game.
But that was then and this was now.
Almost to distract themselves from being on the verge of financial collapse at the time, the Culés had pinned their hopes on a skinny 16-year-old winger Yamine Lamal from La Masia to help return the team to its former glories.
Shea, Brendan Crossan's son, at the Olympic Stadium in Barcelona in August 2023
Shea, Brendan Crossan's son, at the Olympic Stadium in Barcelona in August 2023
I remember watching Lamal that Saturday night from the top corner of the stadium thinking that he was good but slightly one-dimensional.
He had a trick or two but always cut in from the right wing onto his left foot. He rarely made the pitch wider or bigger.
I thought he’d be like so many other trumpeted ‘teenage sensations’ who would come and go – or perhaps become a good but not a great footballer.
I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Every day is a school day and that you should never rush to judgement, especially over a 16-year-old who is only starting to grow.
Read more:Brendan Crossan: Lamine Yamal a shaft of light through the darkness of modern-day football
Spool forward a couple of seasons and Lamine Yamal has morphed into the greatest player in the world – better than Kylian Mbappe.
Just as impressive as Yamal’s evolution is Barcelona’s accelerated development to become one of the big hitters in world football again.
It was only two seasons ago a ramshackle Manchester United team knocked them out of the Europa League in a mistake-ridden two-legged affair.
Even though their financial troubles aren’t exactly in their rear view, Barcelona had a vision, a clear pathway, an academy that served the first team, knew what profile of player they needed to compete again, while United remain in a ramshackle state.
If only for being ideologically wedded to their rich footballing traditions, having Barcelona compete for the top prizes in the European game is good for football.
The Catalan giants have always been the great givers, the desperate romantics of modern football.
Without Barcelona’s commitment to playing attacking, expansive football we wouldn’t have witnessed the two unbelievable games they were part of against Inter Milan in the Champions League semi-finals.
Barcelona needed a partner to dance with – but it was Barcelona who created two games that will live long in the memory.
Inter Milan are a typically tough Serie A team – physically imposing, brilliant on the counterattack and so dangerous from set pieces. Much like a lot of top teams these days.
But it’s Barcelona who brings the magic dust to the party.
They insist on a certain way of playing.
There is not a better midfielder in the modern game than Pedri who will prove to be as artful and impactful as Busquets, Iniesta and Xavi by the end of his career.
“Pedri is a joy to watch on TV but a nightmare to face on the pitch,” said defeated Mallorca coach Jagoba Arrasate recently.
“I haven’t seen a midfielder like him in a very long time.”
When you sift through the chances created in the two Inter-Barca games, it’s remarkable Barcelona didn’t go through to the final.
Even in defeat, Barcelona’s reputation was enhanced by their fearless and expressive approach to the game.
Performances like Barcelona’s leave an indelible mark on people, on football supporters, on the game itself.
If the game is about anything, it should be about how it makes people feel.
Legacy matters.
Brazilian legend Zico destroyed Liverpool in the 1981 Inter-Continental Cup Final with Flamengo.
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Football fans of a certain vintage would quicker be able to name the great Brazilian team of 1982 than Italy, the actual winners of the World Cup all those years ago.
In the lead up to Euro 2012, Xavi Hernandez, the Spanish midfielder, said: “The result is an imposter in football.
“There is something greater than the result, more lasting - a legacy.
“Inter won the Champions League (in 2010) but nobody talks about them.”
For players like Xavi, how the game is played and how a result is achieved matters.
“People,” he said, “have to focus a bit more on how things are done, not just on the final result.
“The result matters, of course, but people aren’t looking at how a player plays – whether that’s me or anyone else.
“They’re looking at who wins. It’s all about the result. I think that’s a pity because football is more than that.”
If the game was just about winning, we wouldn’t watch or care for football.
After Inter’s two-legged victory on Tuesday, Thierry Henry summed up the thoughts and feelings of nearly every football fan.
He said: “Thank you Inter and Barcelona - this is why we love football. Thank you for everybody who was involved in this game because recently I’ve been bored watching games.”