FC Barcelona are going through their toughest period in the last five years and their era will be on the line when they face AC Milan at Camp Nou.
FC Barcelona have been going through their toughest period in the past five years; it all started with a shocking 2-0 defeat at San Siro against AC Milan, which wasn’t a mere bump in the road but a sign of things to come. A few weeks later, Barcelona are out of the Copa del Rey after a crushing 3-1 home defeat to Real Madrid, lost three of their last four matches and are on the cusp of getting knocked out of the Champions League. What was shaping up to be a great season for the club is now looking to end up being a relatively disappointing one. Winning the league title – the Catalans currently hold a very comfortable lead – is great in itself, but considering the standards set during the Pep Guardiola era it’d feel a bit disappointing for many fans.
Given the quality of the players at Jordi Roura’s disposal, a second leg comeback against Milan is far from impossible, but recent signs aren’t encouraging at all. The team has been looking flat lately, with only moments of genius from Messi or Iniesta adding some life to the team’s attack, and Jordi Roura looks quite devoid of ideas. The myth propagated by some that anyone could manage this set of players at Barcelona has been debunked once and for all, watching the Catalans play lately the lack of leadership (Tito Vilanova) has been more than apparent. Keeping a clean sheet might actually be a bigger challenge than scoring two or three past Milan: Barcelona have conceded more goals so far this season than in the entire 2011-2012 season and have been conceding in every match for months – not so much because the defense is weaker but because the team as a whole doesn’t press and close down spaces as relentlessly as they once did.
Barcelona’s Champions League prospects look bleak indeed at the moment, especially considering that Tito Vilanova won’t be back in the dugout for the second leg. It will take something truly special to turn the tie around and avoid the first Champions League elimination before the semifinals since 2007. The likes of Messi and Iniesta will have to step up, but that won’t be enough. The team will need to press just an intensely as they once did from the very first minute. It is not an exaggeration to claim that such an early exit, especially in the emphatic way it’s shaping up to be, would signal the end of a golden era of domination from Barcelona – that’s how much it will be at stake during those 90 minutes at Camp Nou, an entire era of Catalan dominance.
Milan’s strategy shouldn’t be too different from the one that was so successful in the first leg; they will defend deep and in numbers, closing down every space and looking to frustrate Barcelona and get a goal on the counterattack to (almost) kill off the tie. Jordi Roura will have to find ways to open up the pitch and create space for his stars to shine; with the center of the pitch extremely congested, exploring its width will be crucial. It’d not come as a surprise if Christian Tello is given a start in the second leg to run at Milan’s fullbacks and open up space for his teammates down the middle; given how the first leg panned out, this would be a logical situation, with Fabregas being sacrificed assuming Xavi manages to get fully fit for the match. At the back, Mascherano will probably be given the nod over Puyol, who has really been looking his age in recent big matches, not only San Siro but also in recent El ClA?sicos. But that’s as far as changes in the lineup can or should go: more than a matter of lineup – after all, these are roughly the same players that shined under Guardiola and earlier this season under Vilanova – it will come down to a matter of attitude and hunger at the end of the day.
It will all come down to whether Barcelona’s golden generation of Messi, Xavi, Iniesta and co. have it in them to make one last push and somehow get out of this hole or whether they will finally relinquish the ‘best team in the world’ aura they’ve had for the better part of the past five years. The challenge is huge and the odds seem slim, but if there’s one thing the last five years have taught us is to never write out this Barcelona team, they will not go down without a fight.
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