As a proud Culer, I find it exasperating enough to have to watch a Barcelona team that fails to dominate an opposition team, whichever one, wherever we play them, so you can imagine how disgusted I must be when we surrender a 3-0 UEFA Champions League semi-final, first leg advantage to lose 4-3 on aggregate to a Liverpool that’s without Mohamed Salah or Roberto Firmino, just six days after beating the same team heavily at the Camp Nou.
This is not to suggest that Barca should be walking all over Liverpool because they are a poor team that can’t beat us, but rather that I expect a team of Barca’s stature to protect a 3-0 lead they had earned just days prior. I was infuriated on Tuesday after that 4-0 hiding at Anfield, not only because of the shocking score but because I also realized how this Barca team, led by the inadequate Ernesto Valverde as manager, has become average. This team has lost its identity, that is, its aggressive possession-based style that made it so great in the eras of Pep Guardiola, the late Tito Vilanova, and even recently Luis Enrique. It has compromised its values which previously caused many, if not all, of Europe’s teams to fear it and dread facing it in the Champions League.
Pep Guardiola. Picture: fcbarcelona.com.
Nowadays, there’s a huge difference between the Barca team that plays at home, particularly in the Champions League, to that which plays away from home, especially against the so-called ‘big boys’ of Europe. An even greater eyesore is the sight of opposition teams playing with increased levels of confidence at our home ground, the great Camp Nou, and even dominating sometimes, as was the case with Liverpool just last week. Chelsea also did it in last season’s Last 16 stage, although they did lose the tie 4-1 on aggregate, while Real Betis got rewarded with all three points for it in a La Liga match earlier this season after they managed to win 4-3.
This happens because teams now know that, as the commentators of Tuesday’s match kept reiterating, the current Barca team is not as obsessed with keeping the ball as the previous teams of recent years. They are now happy to let the opposition have it and try to come at them, while they sit back and defend, especially when they have the lead in a match. And I abhor that! I don’t understand why on earth Barca would want to all of a sudden play that way, when the previous way brought so much success.
I’m sure you remember that Guardiola won a total of 14 trophies in his four seasons at Barca, playing a strict possession-based style that even had the famous six seconds rule when marking (which encouraged the players to press the opposition so furiously to try and win the ball back in six seconds, whenever they lost it). You could also remember that the late, great Vilanova won the La Liga title with 100 points in the 2012/13 season, while Luis Enrique did in his first season what only Guardiola had previously done in his maiden season, that is, to win the treble, in 2014/15.
Luis Enrique. Picture: 101greatgoals.com.
These managers knew how to bring out that level of excellence from their teams, and would never stand quietly on the touchline while their team was being bossed by the opponent, as we sadly see happening these days. Hell, Valverde couldn’t even inspire his team to take the fight back to Liverpool even after conceding three goals at Anfield, and his team only came to life in the dying minutes of the game, when they were already 4-0 down.
This, coupled with the fact that this Barca team has made a tendency of letting big first leg advantages slip their fingers (think Roma in last year’s quarter-finals), is, in my opinion, reason enough for the former Athletic Bilbao manager to be fired. He did well to win two La Liga titles and the Copa del Rey in his first two seasons – they are in another Copa final, and will play against Valencia later this month – but he is clearly not good enough for this great club that demands so much more from a manager.
*Feature image: independent.co.uk.
Khunu on Sports 
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