Barcelona Blog
When Barcelona fell to Rome, Liverpool and Lisbon, to give the hardest examples, the faces of the players on the journey home were sad and full of pure despair. With the smell of the end of an era and the desire to burn everything and start new projects.
Without going any further, Bartomeu later admitted he was wrong to keep Ernesto Valverde for another season after a terrifying night at Anfield and Quique Setién was sidelined after a 2-8 defeat against Bayern Munich.
There was disappointment, great disappointment, after the Europa League exit against United but without somber faces or emergency meetings between the president and the directors of the sports department or between the president and the coach. No one in the club felt a big failure, although the sporting and economical hit was hard.
And Xavi already said in the post-match press conference that the team has been the best this season in Europe and is in line with what FC Barcelona believes at every level. Without wanting to look for excuses, he admitted that football was too harsh for Barcelona both in the Champions League and in the Europa League. Wow, bad luck has affected Chaffee’s exciting reconstruction project.
There was regret about the misfortune in the draw, first by falling into the group of death in the Champions League and then facing the strong Manchester United in the first round of the European League, and also due to the injuries of the players, which weighed on the team in the decisive moments.
In the group stage of the major continental championship, I affected the defensive area, and yesterday in the middle of the field and in the attack. The refereeing factor is also another because the handball that didn’t count in Milan still hurts.
They are convinced in the club that with the current defense they could have qualified from the group stage and that with Javi, Pedri and Dembele, it is possible that the confrontation against Manchester United would not have ended with that result.
Backstage dressing room
The feeling is that they deserved more than that against the Red Devils, given the two matches. Those small details that Xavi talked about in the press conference and that this season all fell on the wrong side against the Catalan team.
While it’s bad news to be left out of Europe again so soon, yesterday’s players were already very clear that it wasn’t going to affect them emotionally. They take the “ordeal” as a good opportunity to focus all their efforts on the League and the King’s Cup. The local title is the absolute priority of the coaching staff and the club for this season. Can’t escape it.
In addition, they appreciated that this could be a good day to widen the gap again with Real Madrid, who will face Atletico tomorrow in the Madrid derby. Barcelona will go to meet Almeria on Sunday.
There is certainty in the coaching staff and in the sports administration that there was a shortage due to injuries and that the team was somewhat short in confrontation and competition in all competitions. Now without the burden of playing in the Europa League, the team will be able to focus on the league, as we said, the most coveted title needed in Barcelona’s great rebuilding process.
The masses feel the same
The team was well supported by the fans at Old Trafford. Almost 3,000 Barcelona fans traveled to Manchester to be with the players. Despite the defeat, the feeling of the majority was one of resignation but with a certain point of hope.
There was sadness at the elimination but also certainty that the team was on track again to be respected and competitive in Europe.
Unlike previous occasions, the attitude of the players was not criticized, quite the contrary, many of them praised the effort made in the two games and realized that with a bit of luck the team could have progressed to the next round. Hope is not gone in Barcelona despite the European farewell and this is a very important factor to take into account.
Source: Sport
