Homage to Catalonia

Barcelona has had some bad weeks. The end of summer in 1714 wasn't so great. The middle of March in 1938 kinda sucked. Still nothing compares to the trauma the city has suffered in the last few days. Barcelona Football Club's loss to the hated Real Madrid on Saturday effectively cost them the Spanish Liga title, and their defeat at the hands feet of Chelsea last night knocked them out of the Champion's League playoffs.
To make matters worse, Real Madrid is in position to win both. To put the teams' rivalry in American terms, it could compare to the New York Jets and New England Patriots if:
a. The king of the Pats had repeatedly bombed Manhattan and banned Brooklyn accents.
b. The Jets were actually capable of winning anything.
It also takes away one of the city's favorite excuses to riot. (victory = rioting; loss = blaming the referees and quietly going home)
Considering the recorded baby booms that have occurred in the city nine months after major victories, I expect to see the streets littered with the corpses of despondent supporters over the next few days.
My hearts goes out to both the players, who only have their international pop star girlfriends to console them as they weep into their piles of money, and to the fans, who rose to the occasion by singing a lot while wearing blue and red. Better luck next year.