Mind the gap

Maybe it's just more mind games from the master. Or maybe he honestly believes it.

Either way, one of the more interesting storylines to emerge from Matchday 3 of the UEFA Champions League this week was the assertion from Alex Ferguson that Manchester United is closing the gap on Barcelona.

"That's always going to be the challenge (catching Barcelona)," Ferguson is quoted in The Mirror. "We've introduced some young players to the club this season who have tremendous ability and a great energy and spirit about them.

"So I think we're making great strides towards that level Barcelona have reached these past two or three years."

The timing of Ferguson's verbal salvo was curious, coming one day before United laboured to a 2-0 win over meagre Otelul Galati in Bucharest -- and that result came on the heels of shocking draws to modest Basel and Benfica in their first two group-stage matches.

Barcelona, meanwhile, has barely worked up a good sweat in earning seven out of a possible nine points. Easy victories over BATE Borisov and Viktoria Plzen compensated for a 2-2 home draw against AC Milan, a game that they dominated and should have won.

The blaugrana stand poised to clinch their place in the knockout round with two games to spare. United, on the other hand, appear to have a fight on their hands just to make it out of the group stage, as they sit on a precarious one-point lead over Basel for second place.

It would be foolish to give these recent results too much weight and importance, but they do suggest that United, for all of Ferguson's boastful gesticulating, is still a fair distance away from catching up to the mighty Catalans.

This is not to take anything away from Ferguson. The Scot did an astute job in the off-season of bolstering his already impressive roster with a talented crop of youngsters. Ashley Young, Phil Jones and David De Gea are players of considerable skill and class, and if all goes well they will be the backbone of a strong United team for many years to come.

Still ...

This is hardly an original thought, but there is just something special about Barcelona. Simply put, they are untouchable in the modern game.

Their dogged sense of self-belief and their wonderfully breathtaking tiki-taka have made them into the most dominant team of their era, earning them a spot in European soccer's pantheon alongside the great Real Madrid, Liverpool, AC Milan, Ajax and Bayern Munich sides of the past.

In Lionel Messi, Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta, Barcelona boasts the greatest trio in European club soccer since AC Milan brought together the deadly Dutch threesome of Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard in the late 1980s.

Having the best player on the planet doesn't hurt Barcelona's cause one bit. However, this team is more than just about Messi, as evidenced by their incredible roster depth.

Aside from the aforementioned Xavi and Iniesta, they can also rely on players the calibre of the vastly under-rated Pedro, Cesc Fabregas (who has a new lease on life since leaving Arsenal), Dani Alves, Gerard Pique, David Villa, Sergio Busquets and Alexis Sanchez -- all of them among the best in the world at their respective positions.

Like United they have young stars, too.

Central midfielder Thiago Alcântara is an exciting talent who, at 20 years of age, has already earned three caps for Spain. Defender Andreu Fontas is a product of La Masia -- Barcelona's famous youth academy whose graduates includes Messi, Xavi and Iniesta -- shows maturity and wisdom beyond his 21 years.

With a core of world-class stars supplemented by a group of exciting prospects, the Catalan club has effectively set itself up to dominate at home and abroad for years to come. The only team that can legitimately stop Barcelona is Barcelona.

This is a side, of course, that has self-destructed under previous managerial regimes. But with the cerebral Pep Guardiola at the helm this time around, the chances of Barcelona unravelling seems unlikely.

Closing the gap? Not likely, Fergie.