“A fragile and soulless Barca, playing with ten men, failed with a bang against a vastly superior Madrid, with Vinicius scoring a hat-trick in 39 minutes.”
“Sport” went one step further: “Barça was humiliated.” A defeat that requires decisions.”
In the capital of Catalonia, the splendor of bygone times has been crumbling for years. The departure of superstar Lionel Messi, debts running into billions – although FC Barcelona won the Spanish championship last year, the five-time premier class winner has been sinking into insignificance internationally for years. Now it’s not just the head coach’s chair that’s shaking.
Xavi at the center of criticism – the team seems weak
What was frightening about the Blaugrana’s performance in Riyadh, aside from the fact that they scored two goals from Real’s Vinícius Júnior in the opening minutes, was the team’s reaction to going behind.
Or rather: the lack of reaction. “We can’t go into a final like this. We played poorly in defense and pressing,” the coach said at the press conference after the game. “In a final you can’t be down 2-0 so quickly. The second half was really bad.”
The problem: From the Catalans’ perspective, the score was 1:3 at halftime. The coach could have reacted during the break and made changes, or he could have woken up and motivated his team. After the break, Barcelona played even weaker than before.
The former world-class midfield director wanted to put Real under pressure with early counter-pressing and high full-backs. A “suicide tactic,” as the French newspaper “L’Équipe” later called it.
Xavi Hernández saw his team perform poorly in the Super Copa final.
Photo credit: Getty Images
Flick, Klopp and Márquez are already being traded in Barcelona
For Xavi, the air in Barcelona is noticeably thinner. The Catalan portal “El Nacional” reported at the beginning of the week that club officials were already looking for new solutions for the coaching position.
However, the current coach still has support from his former teammate and sports director Deco: “This question makes no sense. The coach has our complete trust. Even a defeat doesn’t change that at all.” However, Xavi himself no longer ruled out resigning on Wednesday.
How firmly Xavi actually sits in the saddle also depends on how FCB ends the season. The Blaugrana are still represented in three competitions. If a title is won at the end, the 43-year-old could secure his place.
Robert Lewandowski can’t be too happy about his medal.
Photo credit: Getty Images
Lewandowski out of form, Busquets misses badly
Exactly a year ago everything looked so good. Back then, Barcelona dominated their arch-rivals from Madrid in the Super Copa final, winning 3-1 thanks to a goal and two assists from Robert Lewandowski. Defender Ronald Araújo even expressed himself exuberantly: “A new era has begun.”
But this season, his second with the Catalans, the ex-FC Bayern striker isn’t really getting going. While former BVB star Jude Bellingham has now destroyed La Liga for Real Madrid and has already scored 13 goals, Lewandowski only has eight goals.
So far he has only been able to score once in the premier class – the worst rate since the 2011/12 season, when he still wore the Borussia Dortmund jersey.
This season, Barça’s number nine is largely up in the air. This is also because the structure in the central midfield is currently not right. Last summer one of the mainstays, Sergio Busquets, left the team for the USA.
They were able to recruit the captain of the German national team, Ilkay Gündogan, from Manchester City as a replacement. However, he lacks the strength and dynamism to win the ball and has not been able to control the Barça game so far. Frenkie de Jong, who has been at the club for over four years, has not yet lived up to his high praise. Overall, the team simply doesn’t have the quality of past golden times.
Frustration among the Barcelona players.
Photo credit: Getty Images
Financial chaos prevents “reset”
Xavi had called for a “reset” after the Clásico defeat, but simply turning “on” and “off” like a technical device is difficult for a football team. Especially since filling new staff is actually not possible in the financially precarious situation.
The club has billions in debt. In order to secure new signings like Lewandowski in the recent past, shares in the club’s assets either had to be sold or the focus was placed on free transfer stars like Gündogan.
The coach, who commented on possible new signings after the defeat against Real, also knows this: “At the moment we, the club, cannot sign any players. The situation is what it is.”
And this situation also means that you can’t be at the top in terms of sport at the moment. So you are still waiting for the “new era” at FC Barcelona.
You might also be interested in:
Rüdiger admits: “I’m a little crazy”
Not all messages on the site express the site’s point of view, but we automatically transmit and translate these messages using programmatic technology on the site, rather than by a human editor
2024-01-17 23:52:15
#Liga #Barcelona #hasnt #close #golden #days #years #coach #Xavi #wobbling
