NUTMEG, CHAPTER 6: HAVOC

8^th OCTOBER 2018, 03:15 AM
 

The mosquito traversed the airspace of the room in zig-zag motion, leaving a buzzing sound in its trail. It sensed a warm-blooded host in its vicinity and notoriously landed on the leg, the one without a plaster cast on it, of the only person in the room. The human didn’t seem to notice though as he was lost in the thoughts of his own. His eyes, almost mechanically, followed the rotation of the three blades of the ceiling fan, hoping in desperation for sleep to drag him in its comfort and relieve him, at least for a few hours, from the pain in his muscles and the fatigue of his mind. It had been a rough few weeks for Parth and he had been drowning himself under the depth of self-pity as he couldn’t fathom the hope and inspiration to get back to being himself again. Perhaps part of it was because the team that had always brought a smile to his face, were facing a mini crisis of their own. Few minutes ago, Barcelona had drawn 1-1 against Valencia at the daunting Mestalla stadium and had now gone four games without a victory in the Spanish La Liga and dropped to second place in the standings. Though this match was much better in term of performance taking these four matches in consideration, the lapses were too prominent to be ignored. Valencia took the lead within two minutes, again Barcelona’s defence being exposed by a corner into the box which Gerard Pique failed to clear and Garay capitalized on it to score early. Parth was delighted when Messi restored the parity with a curling shot in the bottom corner of the net following a neat one-two pass with Suarez. However, despite dominating the play for much of the match, Barcelona’s players couldn’t up the tempo to snatch the win. Part of the blame lies with coach Valverde who delayed the substitutions late till the 81^st minute, when the game was calling out for a player with fresh energy. The players on the field were clearly fatigued, having played just 4 days ago in the Champions League and every Barcelona fan remembers very well that mis-management of players and fatigue is what caused the team to be handed one of their biggest loss of last season.

Barcelona’s slump began two weeks ago, when they had lined up to face local rivals Girona. The very same night, Parth suffered his fateful injury. Ever since joining his colleagues for weekly football games, Parth had rediscovered his love for football. Unlike the college team where the focus was more on result, the abundance of newcomers meant the players here mostly focused on the basics. Thanks to his previous experience, he quickly became integral to the squad, which rubbed few people the wrong way. Akhil, who had joined the company the same time as Parth, always seemed to be eager to prove himself better. That evening, as Parth nutmegged him to score a goal, he raced towards him and slid with his boots pointed at Parth’s ankle in a moment of rage. Blinding pain surged though his legs as Parth dropped on the ground clutching his ankle as Akhil claimed innocence in front of others. He tried standing up, bearing the pain but dropped down again walking a few paces. As he was rushed to a doctor, he was examined and advised to wear a cast and bedrest for atleast a fortnight. Sulking at his bed about his injury later that night, he watched the match against Girona when Messi scored within the first twenty minutes to hand Barcelona an important lead after receiving a pass across the penalty box from new signing, Aturo Vidal. The plot quickly turned on its head defender Clement Lenglet, another new signing, got a straight red card from the referee to raising his elbow to the face of the opposition player. It was always going to be an uphill task for Barcelona to play the remaining three-fourth of the match with one player less, and Christian Stuani made Barcelona pay with a brace. Luckily, Pique rose highest to head an incoming cross into the net to bring Barcelona level as the match finished with the final score 2-2.

For months, Parth had been excited for a new feature coming up and was included in the team selected to work on the feature. The feature was to be completed under strict deadlines, but it was a wonderful opportunity to learn about a new technology. He was scheduled to travel overseas to the client location for a discussion on the feature requirements, along with the team leader. He had even acquired the requisite visa, but the injury now forced its hand and Parth had to cancel his trip. Disheartened to the core, he typed the mail explaining his condition, adding the need for a two week leave. Even Barcelona’s match against Leganes, the team rooted at the bottom of the league table, failed to lift his spirits. Coutinho, continuing the long tradition of Brazilian flair in Blaugrana colours, unleashed a powerful volley from far to score a fantastic goal. Messi’s love affair with the goal post continued as he hit the woodwork again this season. Despite numerous attacks, Barcelona couldn’t increase their lead further and they paid for it as they again succumbed to a cross, which they couldn’t defend. Just a minute later the unthinkable happened. In efforts to clear a counter attack, Pique passed the ball to an opposition player who had the goal at his mercy and he struck to hand Leganes an emphatic victory, causing a major upset.

More bad news followed as it was revealed that the ever-dependable defender, Samuel Umtiti will be out for at least a month with a knee injury. Barcelona were already conceding a lot of goals this season and Umtiti’s absence provided more cause for concern. The air of pessimism continued into the next game against Athletic Bilbao as the Barcelona started the match without Busquets and Messi. With the two most creative players on the pitch, Barcelona hardly created any chance worth mentioning and it came as no surprise to Parth when Bilbao took the lead via Oscar De Marcos. It was only after Messi’s introduction in the second half that the attack found some impetus and his pass was finished by Munir El Haddadi to rescue a draw for Barcelona. The frustration from the match was further escalated when Parth read the mail from his new team leader, that he will be replaced in the team formed for the new feature as the work was to be started right away and they couldn’t afford to wait for him to return from his injury layoff. Parth clenched his teeth as he read the name replacing him on the team, Akhil.

The only solace that Parth could find in this difficult moment was through his sketchbook as he finally found time for his favorite hobby. The shades of black, grey and white helped him see some silver linings across the darkening clouds. Barcelona’s match against Tottenham in the Champions League also came at a perfect timing. Playing at Wembley, 8 years after their historic win in the 2011 edition of the tournament, which made many proclaim that team as the best club side ever, Barcelona ran rout with 4-2 score line. More than the goals, what really brought back the smile that had disappeared from every Cule’s face, was the intensity of the performance and Arthur Melo. The young 21-year-old Brazilian midfielder signed at the start of this season, staked his claim for more game time and turned back the clock, to remind all the faithful of the controlling play that was associated with club legend Xavi Hernandez.

Parth still lay on his bed reflecting on the ups and downs of the prior weeks, determined to come back stronger from his personal disappointments as both he and Barcelona now had two weeks off until their next challenge. His recovery was on track as he had started walking again. An unexpected chime stole his attention away from the mosquito’s buzz as Parth turned towards the light emanating from his mobile screen. It was a message from Navya, “Tough luck again about the match. Coffee tomorrow morning?”