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30 May 2006, by Sean Gillen

Deco 2005/06 season review

Barcelona star adds to incredible medal collection

Barcelona and Portugal playmaker Deco enjoyed another season to remember at the Nou Camp.

The silky-skilled 28-year-old played a key role in the historic double achieved by the Catalan club, in so doing picking up his second Champions League win in three seasons.

But the Brazilian-born midfielder Deco had a tough task to reproduce the form showed during his first season at the Nou Camp.

Arriving after Euro 2004, the former Porto man made an outstanding impact in Spain in 2004/05, and was regarded by many to have performed equally as well as Ronaldinho during the title-winning campaign.

Having won their first title in six years the previous season, Barca started 2005/06 slowly with a 0-0 draw at Alaves, and won just 2 of their first five games.

Deco scored in the first European game against Werder Bremen, but he and Ronaldinho had failed to perform during the opening month of the new season, and Barca boss Frank Rijkaard decided to leave them out of the squad for the trip to Betis in September. Barca won the game 4-1, and many feel that it was an important wake-up call for the star duo, who were angry at being dropped.

Sublime goal

Rijkaard restored both to the line-up for the Champions League game with Udinese. While Ronaldinho hit a hatrick, Deco curled home a sublime free-kick as Barca cruised to an impressive 4-1 victory.

Deco scored in the 2-2 draw at Valencia as three draws followed, before Los Cules then embarked on an incredible run. From mid-October to early February Barca won all but one game – a Copa Del Rey defeat to Zaragoza. This run included the memorable 3-0 win over arch-rivals Real Madrid at the Bernabeu. Deco then scored in a 2-0 away win at Villarreal in December and a 2-1 win over Espanyol in January.

With the league all but wrapped up by March, Barca were able to concentrate on the Champions League. Deco played in every game as Barca knocked out Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea and Portuguese champions Benfica before beating Milan 1-0 on aggregate to reach the final.

Historic double

Barca clinched the league title with three games to spare and a 2-1 win over Arsenal in Paris saw them lift their second European Cup and complete a historic double.

There is no doubt that Deco struggled to achieve the same consistent excellence of the previous campaign, although his season, particularly the first half, was disrupted at times with various niggling injuries. The long-term injury to fellow star midfielder Xavi also saw Deco constantly changing partners in the middle of the pitch, but he remained one of the first names on Rijkaard’s teamsheet.

Barca’s double saw Deco’s incredible collection of medals increase even further. With two Portuguese league titles, two Spanish league titles, two Champions Leagues, one UEFA Cup and one Portuguese Cup all in the last four years, Deco is without doubt one of the most decorated players in the game at the moment and could not be going into this summer’s World Cup with any more confidence.

Season Highlight

Barcelona 2-1 Arsenal - Champions League Final

Barcelona confirmed their status as the best side in Europe by adding the Champions League to their La Liga title, completing an historic double. In winning Europe’s top club competition, Deco added his name to a very select group of players to have won the trophy twice.

                                       Season stats

* League and European appearances only; substitute appearances in brackets