Matchday: FC Barcelona - Great Production, Awkward Narration

I watched the new 'Matchday: FC Barcelona' documentary on Netflix, simply because I watched the Sunderland documentary and needed another football documentary to compare to. However, both documentaries achieve different objectives. While "Sunderland Til' I Die" covers all the aspects of the city and community of the club and the city, the FC Barcelona documentary focuses largely on the first team and the coaching staff during the second half of their 2018-2019 season.

Right off the bat, I want to say that I was not a fan of having John Malkovich narrate the documentary. I found that his droning and rather depressing voice took away from the understated excitement that the cinematography created for the documentary. I found it so bad that I thought about quitting watching the documentary. Thankfully, there were other enjoyable aspects of the documentary.

The overall production and cinematography of the FCB documentary is excellent, and it has to be, considering that there is a sharp rise in football documentaries profiling different clubs. The camera work, especially on the pitch is top-notch (such as when Lionel Messi has the ball and is weaving through defenders). There is the pairing of the camera work with different transitional tricks that the documentary uses for dramatic effect. One such example is when Barcelona conceded the fourth and decisive goal in the Champions League semi-final second leg against Liverpool. There is a camera in a bedroom where an angry and shocked Shakira is watching the TV screen to see a dejected Gerard Pique (her husband) after the fourth Liverpool goal.

As mentioned in my first paragraph, 'Matchday: FC Barcelona' gives the large majority of the focus to the first team players and the coaching staff. I found it interesting to see some of the coaching process of Ernesto Valverde, particularly in the pre-game and half time team talks in the locker room, as well as to see how Carles Alena made it to the first team from the Barca academy. The documentary also profiled some of what the first team players did when not playing or training. The players were so professional that those segments felt so mundane and boring. Sure, Lionel Messi eats strawberries with a knife and Luis Suarez loves a good barbecue, but they are global mega-stars, and I cannot possibly relate to them.

Watching this FC Barcelona documentary helped me to realize my interests in watching a general football documentary, and I like to see a true effort on how a documentary can relate to the watcher. Although you see the emotions on the players and the coaching staff around the important matches, there are elements of corporatism and soullessness within the documentary. For me, I want to see how the fans experience these matches, and there just was not enough of that for me. However, I do realize that this could be a bit disingenuous as FC Barcelona has a large global fan base and does not have the same community feel as a club like Sunderland A.F.C.

If you are a FC Barcelona supporter, then 'Matchday: FC Barcelona' is a necessary watch for you (even if you do not want to go through the heartbreak in losing in the Champions League or the Copa Del Rey). If you are a football fan who needs something to watch during quarantine, then this documentary will fit nicely for you. At the very least, appreciate the production and try not to cringe at the narration.