Barcelona are one of the strongest teams on the planet, and they have proved it over and over again. However, the Catalan club have failed to deliver on the European stage in recent years.
Since the turn of the century, the team from the Spanish region of Catalonia have won the prestigious UEFA Champions League trophy four times. Their last triumph came in 2014-15 when they defeated Juventus 3-1 in the finale. Ever since then FC Barcelona have failed to deliver consistently in Europe’s elite club competition.
We can consider the past two seasons where Barcelona have literally tossed the game to their oppositions in AS Roma and Liverpool.
Barcelona played their 2017/18 UEFA Champions League knockout fixture against AS Roma and won the first leg 4-1 at home. When they made the trip to Rome, they managed to lose 3-0 and were subsequently knocked out of the competition.
In the very next season, the story was no different. Liverpool were drawn against Barcelona in the semi-final stage. The first leg was scheduled at the Camp Nou, and Barcelona were easily the better side with an emphatic 3-0 victory. The return leg saw Ernesto Valverde’s men throw away a three-goal first-leg advantage.
The 4th Official tries to find the missing pieces in Barcelona’s puzzle in recent years :
Lionel Messi & Lionel Messi
Barcelona have been criticised on many occasions over their over-dependence on Lionel Messi. Understandably, the player is an integral part of the Barcelona set-up. However, it is beyond the imagination of many football pundits the importance and reliance the entire team has on one single player.
On the above mentioned two occasions, Lionel Messi failed to deliver on an individual level, and Barcelona were eliminated from the competition. However, in the first-legs of both the fixtures mentioned above, Lionel Messi was a standout performer. Messi scored two goals in the first leg against Liverpool which includes an astonishing free-kick goal from a distance.
It might be a harsh reality for Barcelona and its fans, but it’s also crucial for them to adapt to life without Lionel Messi. The Argentine is already 32 years and does not have time by his side. Sooner or later, he would be stepping down from the responsibilities he currently enjoys.
Lack Of Zeal
Barcelona have shown a lack of enthusiasm and zeal to win the competition in recent years. The club looks like a star-studded line-up which lacks any sort of motivation to win Europe’s premier club competition. Fine testaments to this statement would be Barcelona’s exit from the competition over the years.
Notable examples would be them being knocked out by Atletico Madrid twice in three years in the quarter-final stage to losing out to weaker teams on paper, like AS Roma and Liverpool. It’s high time things take a drastic turn at the Camp Nou before they face further embarrassment on Europe’s biggest stage over and over again.
