The loss to Celta Vigo at Camp Nou on Sunday was Barcelona’s seventh defeat of the season, the most since the 2007-08 season, which means the team can finish third in the Spanish football league at best.
And after winning 8 of the last 12 league titles before the start of the current season, where is the mistake that brought Barcelona to this degree of decline and defeats?
If not Messi, who?
Captain Lionel Messi has scored 30 goals in the league so far, and coach Ronald Koeman - after losing to Celta Vigo - said, "If (Messi) is not in the club, who will score the goals for us?"
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Creativity does not end with # Messi 👏 # Barcelona # La Liga pic.twitter.com/FmZqK53fpq
- beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) May 16, 2021
Antoine Griezmann ranks second among Barcelona's top scorer in the league with 12 goals, including 5 in the last 10 matches.
Barcelona squandered Luis Suarez and forced him to leave for leaders Atlético Madrid last summer for a pittance, and the veteran Uruguayan striker scored 20 goals that directly contributed to his team being close to crowning the local title, missing it for 7 years.
And Atletico Madrid became one victory away from winning the La Liga title after beating Osasuna 2-1 with a fatal goal by sniper Suarez.
Atletico Madrid close to the LaLiga title with a late win 🔫🇺🇾
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Goal (D 88) Suarez returns Atletico Madrid to the top with a deadly goal # Spanish League # Atlético_Madrid_osasuna pic.twitter.com/PyH5MrPesQ
- beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) May 16, 2021
Barcelona's motto - when it gave up its second historic scorer, Suarez - was to renew the team, although his presence next to Messi meant 50 goals, a huge number that would have been the heroic team instead of the third place he seeks to preserve after he approached Seville, two points away from him.
Messi's contract expires next month, and if Barcelona fails to keep him, he may find himself fighting one of the qualifying spots for the Champions League next season instead of competing for the title.
Summary of the "Celtavego" victory over "Barcelona" in the Camp Nou # BarçaCelta 1-2 pic.twitter.com/5FUQpUy1QI
- LaLiga (@LaLigaArab) May 16, 2021
Defensive disasters
Koeman has always complained about the opponents' ability to win offensively against Barcelona, but that reflects the seriousness of the opportunities his team is offering to his rivals.
The team is still dependent, as always, on Gerard Pique, 34, and it is clear that Climo Lingley and Samuel Umtiti are finding it difficult to participate in the center back.
Nevertheless, the constant dependence on Pique appeared to be a failure against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.
The image of Kylian Mbappe running quickly with Piqué behind him holding his shirt miserably in the French team's 4-1 victory at Camp Nou has spread - strongly on the Internet - and has become a mockery of the player and the Catalan club alike.
Barcelona must find a reliable partner in the center of defense next to Pique, as well as a successor to the Spanish defender, who is close to retirement.
Another mistake in contracting
Barcelona's decision to sack coach Ernesto Valverde - who won two consecutive league titles in January 2020 - was a stark example of improvised, ill-advised decisions.
This decision angered the players, headed by Messi, as the successor to the former coach was Quique Setien, was less than Barcelona coaching, which was evidenced by the disastrous results that ended with the historic 2-8 defeat by Bayern Munich in the Champions League, which was followed by the departure of Setien last summer to take over Coman. Responsibility as his successor.
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Vidal summarizes Barcelona's condition against Bayern Munich. # Allo_beIN # UCL # Champions League pic.twitter.com/2E47RgZvkj
- beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) August 15, 2020
Although he is a club legend as a player, Koeman's club coaching history makes signing him an adventure that appears to backfire.
Barcelona won the King's Cup, the Dutch coach's first title since 2009, yet the club suffers from a modest record in major confrontations with Koeman.
Local media speculate that he is about to leave, while Xavi Hernandez - another legend for the club - is shown in the picture to succeed him.
According to press reports, he may take over the coaching of the team after a soon planned meeting with the club's president, Juan Laporta, especially since Xavi had already arrived in Barcelona, but he had reservations and said that he had come on vacation and did not know anything about training the Blaugrana.
But Xavi himself has reservations as a coach, as he does not have the necessary experience yet to coach Barcelona, and his experience is limited to coaching the Qatari Al-Sadd team only since his retirement about two years ago, and not so long ago, Andrea Pirlo's failed experience with Juventus due to his lack of training experience as well.