FC Barcelona – La Liga Beaten by Juve, Atleti, Real Madrid, PSG …
The Champions League is becoming a forbidden land for Barcelona, have a heavy defeat at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain puts them on the verge of another disaster.
Since winning Europe’s premier club competition in 2015, the Blaugrana haven’t returned to the final and have only reached the semi-finals once: in 2019.
In 2016 they were knocked out by Atletico Madrid in the quarter-finals, the following year by Juventus at the same stage, and in 2018 it was Roma, once again in the quarter-finals, who eliminated the Blaugrana.
In 2019 Barcelona went one better, but eventual champions Liverpool denied them a place in the final, and last season they again lost to the eventual winners Bayern Munich, as they humbled the Catalans at the quarter-final stage.
That is a long period of disappointment for a team with Barcelona‘s expectations and ambitions, and things aren’t looking any rosier domestically this season.
In LaLiga Santander the Blaugrana trail Real Madrid by three points and Atletico by eight, with Diego Simeone’s men having one game in hand over Ronald Koeman‘s side.
The Copa del Rey now also looks like a monumental task after Sevilla won 2-0 in the first leg of the semi-final.
It all comes down to what is becoming a painfully familiar story for Barcelona: they have lost the knack of beating Europe’s top teams.
It can be seen this season alone, with Barcelona having suffered defeats against Atletico, Sevilla, Juventus, PSG and Real Madrid.
Barcelona must find a way to compete with teams of that level if they are to avoid ending a second consecutive season trophyless for the first time since 2000/01 and 2001/02.
– .
