No defence from Barça makes it easy to criticise Alba and Busquets

Luis Enrique says there is a campaign against Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets, that in this country we get tired of veterans, that Alba is the best full-back in the world in the last third of the pitch and that, hopefully, Busi can play the next World Cup. And he is right, although I would not call it a campaign, because a campaign is what the coach himself is the subject of.

The issue with Busquets and Alba is another. It is a combination of circumstances. Their problem is that they play for Barcelona -- and what that means when eight from Barça and just two from Real Madrid go with the national team. If, in addition to playing for Barça, you add in their age, the Madrid-leaning Spain fans have more excuses to moan about as they call for successors to the duo immediately. But what is relevant, and paradoxical, is the aversion that comes from their own club and fans. Nobody defends them.

The recent crisis at Barça and the urgencies derived from it have put them in the eye of the hurricane. The club questions their contracts and, in some cases, encourages them to leave and the fans, eager for a revolution, blame them for the team's decline in recent years. Busquets and Alba are mainstays in the national team, but if they are questioned at Barça, it makes it easy for Madrid to turn on them as well.