HAVING EFFECTIVELY LOST La Liga to Real Madrid on Saturday, Barcelona endured another disastrous result against Chelsea tonight, exiting the Champions League in the process.
With that in mind, is it the end of an era for Barca? Will Pep Guardiola leave? Will they attempt to build a new team, while ditching veterans such as Carlos Puyol and Xavi?
Or is this just a temporary blip for the so-called best team in the world? Will they be back next season, with the same players, more determined than ever to silence their critics?
Let us know in the comments section below…
Don’t know about end of an era but the invincibility aura has been lifted off them
Exactly. Couldn’t have said it any better.
Nonsense. 80 odd percent over both legs. A missed Peno and a struck post would have had it 4 1 on another night. At Stanford bridge it could easily have been 5 1. The footballing gods just weren’t smiling on them this time. United beat them the same way in 08 amongst the same hysterical comments but it didn’t end their dominance then and it won’t now.
Barcelona are still the best team in Europe and the World.
They are not even the best team in Spain.
Theyre finished !!!…Guardiola will be sacked in the morning, Messi will be sold to stoke in the summer..They will be playin europa league next season…LOL
Not a chance. They were knocked out two years ago and came back and brushed my Team aside in the final last year at Wembley.
Every team has a hiccup and Barca will come back stronger.
Definitely not…..they’ll still be de team to beat next year!!! 2-3 matches that, ever so slightly, didn’t go their way and its game over
Have been playing non stop since last summer, it has caught up with them. Injury to Villa has left them without an out and out centre forward and as such no Plan B when the game doesn’t open up for them to play their usually very successful style of football. Could see them goin for Van Persie and over time Fabregas dropping into Xavi’s role. They will be back, no doubt
Just caught on a bad night though it was proven that the great Messi is actually human and can make mistakes
Barca’s players seem wrecked, a lot of them (Spanish internationals) have being on the go since the begining of 09/10 season, between world cup, champ lge, silly international tournaments etc). Mesi et al seem to play almost every game, they could do with a few more squad players and rotate them. But all bodes well for Gdansk in June.
Silly questions bring silly answers.
No
Just a very bad week for them. They were the better team tonight, but fair play to Chelsea for doing what they did
Agreed but John terry was utterly disgraceful. Even said later “I’m not that sort of player” !!
no!
your starting to sound like the English commentators a couple of bad results and you go chicken licken ” the sky is falling the sky is falling”
They’ve been revered long enough…they’re not infallible.
I hope Real Madrid gets to the final. Real Madrid will destroy Chelsea with John Terry and Raul Meireles missing.
Oh I forgot Ivanovic and Ramires will be missing also. This is great news :-)
It’s just been a week. Let’s not over react. But they have nothing to play for this May, and need to refresh things a bit. Tired players perhaps but the lack of a centre forward has been exposed.
I think Pep will leave, but if Barca have one major flaw its their squad. Their first 13 or so players are top notch, but the rest of the squad are either too inexperienced or not good enough. The level they’ve played at for the last 4 years, and many of them in the Spain squad too, has caught up with them over the last couple of weeks. Looks like the last three games in particular may just have been three big games too many for tired legs. In saying that, if that team goes out a signs 3 top notch players and a couple of decent squad players in the summer, they’ll be getting talked about as the greatest team in the world again next season no problem.
Barca are one dimensional team. They pass endlessly around the box and eventually try and walk it in to the net. Some of the things they coulld have done but didn’t (or couldn’t) a) shoot a bit more often b) cross and head the ball (but they are too small) and finally c) they need to be able to defend which they cant given than Chelsea scored three goals out of 4 attacks.
Their defence is total shite. They could do with a big centre forward also
No! There an amazing team. Its way to easy to say its the end of the barca era and its because they have set the bar so high. So when they don’t do what everybodys used to people think there finished. It’s the same with Messi, he hasn’t been as good of late just because he hasn’t scored two or 3 goals a game. He has nearly 70! That’s outstanding. They still are the best football club in the world in my opinion.
Got to give fair play to Chelsea. Down to 10 men you feared the worst. There is a great team spirit since Roberto took over. And when he brought on Torres it felt he could nick a goal. Must be fate.
That goal really meant the world to Torres as it booked his seat on the plane to Poland in the summer. Richie dunne will have no problem smashing him off the pitch.
Haven’t fully accommodated fabregas .. Unbalanced the team somewhat..messi is only human and villa a big loss… Well done to chelski..
That’s it exactly , fabregas doesn’t fit. Villas positioning and finishing takes the pressure off messi. He looked like he was forcing it too much in the second half last night. As a result they never got the machine going, there were only glimpses of what they can do.
Having said that it took a huge amount of luck for Chelsea not to lose by 3 or 4 over the two matches. If they win the champions league it will make a mockery of it. The sixth best team in England having butchered their way to a final.
If you can’t play out wide and a team like Chelsea put all their men back in defence, stuff like this happens. Credit to Chelsea, especially Cech. He played a blinder tonight. They’ll really miss Terry, Meireles and Ivanovic in the final.
And here’s a clip of the moment when Branislav got word of his ‘final appearance’ from Sky Sports Geoff Shreeves. Classic TV moment…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2X_5wMhIQc&sns=fb
~ JOBS ~
MEDICINE ~
~ PEACE ~
Ah yes, the three vital ingredients of any world class team.
No! This literally shows that they are fallible like all great teams.
They have an amazing youth system, the lose on Saturday and tonight will probably spur them on for next season
No just a bad week. Barca are a fantastic side that have come through three tough matches in seven days and could have won any of them. They lack a quick centre half and need to bolster up their squad in order to rotate players more when it comes to hectic weeks like this. I’ve no doubt they will be the team to beat again next year.
By the way, well done Chelsea, a fantastic achievement by Matteo, even when the so called captain let his side down so badly they dug in and held out for a famous victory. Terry was always overrated in my opinion, lacked the pace of a world class defender. He should never captain any side again.
They are lacking in defense but that’s about it. Sort that out and make sure it includes more height and they are sorted.
Never count Barca out in fact never count out any great team, case and point tonight’s match.
They won’t sign 3/4 players , the system they play has to be ingrained in you from youth at their academy. Their most successful players on the pitch and ones which fit into their system are their home grown players , players tired definitely a lot of matches played, would have to agree top quality 13 , but threadbare after that
It would certainly seem real Madrid have a lot more options when things don’t go their way! Ridiculous in the extreme to suggest Xavi should be sold still one of the finest players around and still has a few years left in him. It’s certainly a test of character
Their defence has never been great, most teams don’t get past their midfield.they need eric abidal back (if he ever comes back). They looked tired recently. But all that aside in full flight they area sight to behold.
Yes. No second option, need 4/5 (defender/strikers)players in order to have another way and they can’t afford to do that – they can afford one r two per year only.
Barcelona failed to address their lack of height and pace in the back line. If they can improve that in the summer they’ll be more solid but to be honest I think Real Madrid will be the team to beat.
Its just been a bad week for them effectively losing the title to madrid and 3 days later getting put out of the european cup by chelsea. I remember united having a similar week in 1995 when a league title was lost on the last day and an fa cup final too 6 days later, this was in between 2 double winning seasons 1994 & 1996, these things happen. So its hardly fair to say its the end of their dominance really. Give it 2-3 years and judge them on that.
Dont take away from Chelsea,down to 10 men and held off the ( best team in the world) and it no fluke they did this over 2 legs,first at home (beat Barca ) and 2nd at the cauldron ,came from 2 nil down 10 men and drew.i am not a Chelsea fan.
No team can keep up the level of performance that these guys have reached over the last three or four years forever, so it would be perfectly natural if their amazing run of success did tail off a little bit.
Even if this group of players don’t win another treble, it doesn’t mean the club is in decline, they’ve always had a world class team and will continue to have one.
No way, all teams go through a bad phase just like arsenal did a couple weeks back. It’s just bad timing for barca.
Lets put this into perspective, no team has won the Champions League in consecutive years, but Barca came close. Pep and Barca’s style of play has earned them 13 trophies in just over four years. They believe in how they play and it produced two goals for them last night. However what transpired was a succession of missed chances against a dogged defence, over two legs. Chelsea defended heroically and hats off to them but to say that Barca are down and out is premature. Chelsea, Madrid, City buy in talent to get them to this point but Barca’s ethos in developing young, home grown players has brought them to the standing they are held in today. They are still without doubt a brilliant team and their belief in home grown players will reap rewards for them in the future.
I think that the track record of Pep speaks for itself….if he had not delivered in first season, I still think he would have been kept on, unlike at Chelsea. As for the blues, the fortune of hitting on a manager with few worries during a brief period has made the club more relaxed, open football, and the loudmouths in the club having a chance to feel like they are in charge …. Somehow it has all worked out. Barca are not in decline, it is a blip. Yes the invincibility factor may be damaged slightly, but teams still have to follow what Chelsea and real Madrid did this week….many can park a bus and play on the break but sustained over 90min? I don’t think so… This season may be over for barca, 2012-13 will see them back at the top again
Barca on another day could have put 8 past chelsea. With Abidal’s illness, they have had no settled back four which last year was huge. Small matter of David Villa being missing as well. How many trophies have Barca won in the last 3 years? They are in fine fettle though their debts would concern anyone
I think they’re in need of a couple of quick big centre halves and a striker and that’s it. Keep Pique as back up and play Mascherano just behind Messi, Fab and Iniesta. They looked wrecked tonight. Alves is a bit devoid of ideas and Cuenca had a nightmare. They’ll dust themselves down and carry on, though I do think their squad is a little thin. Certainly compared to Madrid’s.
They weren’t 2.0 nil down , they were 2.1 down , one of those nights that might never happen again , when was the last time messi missed a penalty . Barca hit the post 4 times also , Chelsea will be destroyed in final , missing four influential players . They played brilliantly last night and rode their luck
Is this the end of the Barca era?
Not any more than this being the dawn of the Chelsea era.
Blip.
Barca will do alright in the next few seasons, will Di Matteo get the Chelsea job??
The beginning of the end for the GREAT Barca team. Thanks for the memory.
Think your right Victor – sides have realized how to play against them to fashion a result. A short period of readjustment required for Barca with maybe a focus on defence.
Barca will be back no doubt about it..Still the best team in the world..Pep’s selection let them down.fabregas was poor over 2 legs.Pique and abidal were missed considerably..especially with him going off.Messi was out of sorts
Some of the comments are bordering on hilarious ….. They’re still the No.1 team in the world ….. People will chip in by saying they won’t win la liga or champs league but that’s like saying the worlds No.1 golfer win win every major or the heavyweight champ can beat every boxer out there.
The rot is setting in a team on the top for 3-4 years now has run it’s course , changes will have to be made but can Gaurdiola make them, that’s the difference between him and Fergie knowing when to change and showing no mercy . Teams run in cycles and I think this teams cycle is maybe up, look at Utd 3 CL finals in 4 years and this year a disaster in Europe not trying to compare the two but if Barca hadn’t peaked when they did Utd probably would have 2 more CL trophies under their belts having lost to them twice in the final so really it could well have been Utd we’re talking about now and their down turn. So interesting to see will Gaurdiola make the changes and has he got what it take to show no mercy
Pep=Fox
The No 1 team in the world and they couldn’t beat chelsea over two legs???? Couldn’t beat a team with ten men and there two central defenders off at home ?????
They need a new defence and probably a back up striker otherwise they will be also rans again next year. They have always had a poor defence but there ability to hold on to the ball in midfield has masked that.
I think its unfair to suggest its the end of an era. Barcelona have always been a strong side and will continue to be long after I am off this planet for a number of reasons:
1. Their youth academy and policy are second to none
2. They always look to breed home grown players if possible
3. Their support is incredible
4. The tradition of the club is quite clear to see and they don’t suffer from the same nonsense as Real do when it comes to managers.
5. Consistency
Like all great teams they have had a bad spell when it mattered most. What will make them an even greater team is how they come back from this next season. I have a lot of time for Pep Guardiola and this team, they play exciting and skillfull football whilst being effective.
I think they do need to look at their defensive lines and tactics as they don’t have many big players in terms of height or power but you cannot help but admire the skill. They must be the most successful team this season not to win their domestic league or a european trophy.
They will be back next year as strong as ever…but will it be with Pep Guardiola????