The Weekly Take, Issue 125: Just What Is Their Future Direction?

To say that Juventus have had a turbulent off-season would be quite the understatement. Somehow, even in an off-season which was severely truncated by the Covid-19 pandemic, Juve went through more drama than most other clubs would have during an ordinary one.

Not long after the club's elimination from the Champions League at the hands of Lyon, the Turin club fired head coach Maurizio Sarri despite the fact that he had just left Juve to yet another Serie A title after fending off tough challenges from the likes of Lazio, Atalanta, and Inter Milan. Sarri would be replaced by Andrea Pirlo, the legendary midfielder who spent four years at Juventus.

The transfer window also did not go as planned for Juve. They had initially intended to sign Luis Suárez from Barcelona after it emerged that the Uruguayan was deemed surplus to requirements in Catalonia. However, before Suárez could have made the switch, he had to obtain Italian citizenship by passing an Italian exam due to rules governing the signing of players without European Union citizenship. When it turned out that the exam had been rigged, the move fell through; Suárez would end up signing for Atlético Madrid. As Juve felt that they nevertheless needed a striker, they made a last-ditch panic signing and brought in Álvaro Morata on a season-long loan deal from Atlético.

The difficulties and disruptions experienced by Juve during the past several months appear to have translated into their play. They were held to a 2-2 draw against Roma and, as has been the case on many an occasion, were saved from a loss by Cristiano Ronaldo whose two goals matched the brace scored by Roma midfielder Jordan Veretout.

It was evident throughout the match that Juve were nowhere near the level at which they are capable of playing. They seemed disjointed and discombobulated; they showed hardly any evidence of team chemistry. As has been mentioned, much of this is due to the difficult off-season which they had endured.

It should also be noted that the signings which Juve did make were likely not of sufficient benefit to the team. Their signing of Arthur from Barça was almost certainly a massive overpay at €72 million. Although this signing was part of a trade which sent Miralem Pjanić to Camp Nou, Barça sent €60 million to Juve to acquire the services of the Bosnian midfielder - a much more reasonable figure.

The Morata loan signing is also something of a head-scratcher. He has proven that at this level, he just cannot get it done. His career-highs in league goals and total goals in a season are just 15 and 20 respectively; he managed these figures for Real Madrid in the 2016-17 season. Furthermore, he has already proven that he is not suited to the style of play in Serie A; during his previous two-year stint at Juve between 2014 and 2016, he scored just 15 league goals in 63 matches. Although Morata was a signing made out of desperation more than anything else, Juve might have been better served by attempting to sign a striker like Alassane Pléa, Lucas Alario, or Gerard Moreno.

As is often the case when a new coach takes over, it could also take time for Pirlo to fully adjust to his new team and figure out the optimal tactics to be used. Since this is Pirlo's first time in such a position, his lack of experience could be exploited by opposing coaches over the course of the season; this could ultimately prove to be Juve's downfall when all is said and done.

In general, the main problem facing Juve at the moment is that they seem to have no clear direction for both their immediate future as well as the next few season. Ronaldo can't keep saving them again and again; he will be 36 in February. It's a cliché, but it's true - Father Time is undefeated. The "cliff" will come for him at some point; it could even be later this season.

It is certainly possible that they will successfully defend their Serie A title and perhaps even claim the Coppa Italia to seal the domestic double. However, based on the evidence thus far, while it's still far too early to make a complete judgment, a first Champions League title for Juve since 1996 which would also be Ronaldo's sixth appears to be an unlikely prospect at the moment.

The Weekly Take, Issue 124: The Gift that Keeps On Giving

Borussia Dortmund opened the Bundesliga season with an impressive 3-0 victory over Borussia Mönchengladbach. Although Erling Håland scored two of Dortmund's goals, the outstanding performance of the match belonged to Giovanni Reyna. Reyna scored one goal, earned a penalty which was converted by Håland, and tormented the Gladbach defense from start to finish.

Dortmund have done it yet again. The brilliance of the Ruhr club's scouting department and youth development program has made itself evident once more. Their track record over the last decade or so has been truly remarkable.

This is a club which has allowed the following players to rise to prominence: Robert Lewandowski, Marco Reus, Mats Hummels, Shinji Kagawa, Jakub Blaszczykowski, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Christian Pulisic, Jadon Sancho, and now Håland; Reyna and Jude Bellingham appear to be next in line. The club was also the place where Jürgen Klopp emerged as one of the world's best coaches.

This leads to the question: just what have Dortmund been doing that has put them so far ahead of the curve in this area?

Just as is true of any other football club, it all starts from the top. Reinhard Rauball has done an absolutely incredible job. His emphasis on and investment in young rising stars has become a core part of Dortmund's identity. It is largely thanks to his efforts that many players who cut their teeth at Dortmund have become so coveted by the world's leading clubs.

Dortmund have also always been extremely savvy in the transfer market. Although they might not possess the financial might of rivals Bayern Munich, let alone the wealthiest clubs in the world like Manchester City or Paris Saint-Germain, Die Schwarzgelbe are almost always able to maximize their limited transfer budget by picking up emerging players from unlikely sources who might often be overlooked by other top clubs.

To provide examples of this fact, Lewandowski was signed from Lech Poznan. Aubameyang was brought in from Saint-Étienne. Håland came to Dortmund from Red Bull Salzburg. Kagawa was signed from Cerezo Osaka.

For a club to have that kind of success from signings made from clubs like those over a sustained period is almost unheard of. Yet somehow, Dortmund have managed to pull it off again and again.

Dortmund's youth academy might very well be the world's best right now. When people think of clubs with some of the best youth academies in the world, those which often come to mind include Ajax, Barcelona, Liverpool, and Manchester United. However, Dortmund's is not only often overlooked - it might very well be the best of the lot.

This factory of talent has produced players such as Pulisic, Sancho, Reus, Marcel Schmelzer, Nuri Sahin, Antonio Rüdiger, and Mario Götze, just to name a few. The success rate of Dortmund's youth academy is truly remarkable. A tremendous amount of credit must be given to youth coordinator Lars Ricken as well as the rest of the academy staff - it is they who in large part have made it a relentless generator of footballing talent.

Another factor which is not often considered but undoubtedly plays a role in Dortmund's success is the culture of the team. The most obvious example of this, however, cannot be seen right now due to Covid-19 restrictions.

Yes, you've guessed it - the iconic "Yellow Wall" t the Westfalenstadion - perhaps the most intimidating home stand in word football. When playing in front of a raucous, almost rabid crowd like that, how could a young player not get a psychological boost?

The fact that the club has always encouraged and promoted the development of young stars as well as players often overlooked has also shaped the club's culture for the better. This is a team which thrives on its culture, and its results over the last 10 years clearly speak for themselves.

Hopefully I am not letting my biases cloud my opinion when I say this, but I honestly believe that Borussia Dortmund are in the top five and perhaps even the top three as far as the best-run football clubs in the world are concerned. Dortmund are truly a club which should serve as a role model for a great many others, and there seems to be no reason why this should end any time soon.

The Weekly Take, Issue 123: Another Tough Season Ahead

Tottenham Hotspur have not begun their Premier League season the way they'd hoped they would.

The North London club lost 1-0 in their season-opening match against a revamped Everton team. Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored the only goal of the match to defeat a Spurs team which was devoid of any real threat throughout proceedings.

After a turbulent 2019-20 season which saw a mid-season coaching change as well as the departure of Christian Eriksen to Inter Milan, many wondered just how Tottenham would fare with an off-season which would be expected to provide the club with a little more stability. However, things did not go as planned off the field.

For one thing, the stability mentioned never materialized. As noted after the Everton match by head coach José Mourinho, the club's pre-season preparations were disrupted by several Covid-19 cases within the team as well as multiple player departures for international matches. This instability and lack of preparation was clearly on display as Tottenham slumped to a tame loss.

Furthermore, Tottenham failed to land any signings of note during the off-season. The biggest name to arrive at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, who was signed from Southampton. Not only did Tottenham fail to adequately replace Eriksen; they did not strengthen their squad at all and even lost Jan Vertonghen to Benfica.

The failure to find a quality replacement for Eriksen in particular has to sting for Tottenham for one key reason: they are coached by Mourinho.

When looking at Mourinho's most successful teams over the course of his coaching career, one feature stands out: they tend to be built around an elite midfielder who is equally comfortable at either the number 8 or number 10 position. Players such as Deco, Frank Lampard, Wesley Sneijder, Mesut Özil, and Luka Modrić come to mind. Eriksen is just such a player and could easily have served as the fulcrum of this Mourinho team just as the names mentioned did.

Making this season even tougher for Tottenham is the fact that the chase for the last two Champions League spots will be very tight. Liverpool and Manchester City should easily finish first and second in the league in some order. However, behind them is a mass of teams which could all easily finish between third and ninth depending on circumstances such as injuries, suspensions, fixture congestion, or even perhaps (but hopefully not) the effects of another season hiatus caused by yet another severe Covid-19 outbreak.

Chelsea and Manchester United will be favoured to once again occupy the final two Champions League berths. Tottenham will also have to fend of challenges from North London rivals Arsenal as well as Leicester, Wolverhampton Wanderers, and the much-improved Everton team which just beat them if they are to return to the biggest stage in European club football next season.

After their surprising run to the Champions League final in 2019, many expected Tottenham to take the next step and become regular contenders for titles both domestically and in Europe. One reason this has not been the case lies in the fact that some of their players have not developed to the degree which had at one point been expected of them.

The likes of Dele Alli, Davinson Sánchez, Eric Dier, and Harry Winks had been expected to make improvements beyond what they have achieved to this date. This is rather disappointing because at that point, Tottenham looked like a team with a bright future and perhaps even a title or more on the horizon. However, this now appears to be a far-off dream.

The biggest worry of all for Tottenham has yet to be realized, but it very well could at the end of this season if things continue as they have: Harry Kane might just leave the club.

Having just started his ninth Premier League campaign as a Tottenham player, the 2018 World Cup Golden Boot winner must surely have become frustrated with constantly being on the outside looking in as far as silverware is concerned. With his club now in decline, another poor season might end up causing him to run out of patience with the club.

It's not really possible to pin down Tottenham's struggles over the past year to any one factor. Players? Coaching? Front office? All have played a role. Right now, the only thing that seems to be certain is that Tottenham are likely to face another difficult season.

The Weekly Take, Issue 122: Still the Team to Beat

When the draw for this season's UEFA Nations League was released, much of the attention turned to the World Cup final rematch between France and Croatia which would take place during the second of two matchdays with which the tournament would commence.

In an interesting coincidence, the match ended with the same scoreline as did their prior encounter in Russia in 2018: France emerged with a 4-2 victory. Antoine Griezmann, Dayot Upamecano, and Olivier Giroud found the back of the net for Les Bleus. France were also assisted by an own goal scored by Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livaković.

This match had been expected to be a hard-fought one between two of world football's powerhouses. However, after Dejan Lovren scored the opening goal of the match for Croatia, France moved into another gear and never looked back from there.

With under a year remaining before the European Championships begin and under two before the World Cup kicks off, it was evident that the reigning world champions are still the team to beat on the international stage. For the vast majority of the match, France dominated a team ranked within the top 10 of FIFA's world rankings and pegged as a possible dark-horse contender at next year's European Championships.

Clearly, France have hardly let up ever since their World Cup victory in 2018. Apart from a surprising slip-up in which they were upset by the Netherlands in the 2019 Nations League, it has generally been smooth sailing for France. What makes this even more impressive is that they might arguably be even better now than they were during their run to the World Cup title two years ago.

Among the players who took to the field in the navy blue jersey at the Stade de France included Wissam Ben Yedder, Anthony Martial, Ferland Mendy, Upamecano, and Clément Lenglet. None of these players were part of France's victorious World Cup squad. Even more remarkable is the fact that every one of these players would represent an upgrade at their respective position if they were to be plugged into the World Cup team.

France's strength in depth was also on display against Croatia. This was a team missing the services of two of its best players in Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappé following the duo's positive Covid-19 tests. As it turned out, France did not miss a beat. Ben Yedder and Steven N'Zonzi seamlessly fit in with the rest of the team as they made the starting lineup in a rare occurrence that only happened due to the unfortunate circumstances. Considering that France easily dispatched a team like Croatia despite not being at full strength, it shows that when they have their full squad at their disposal, they are going to be very difficult to stop.

Furthermore, after a difficult and turbulent season at Barcelona, it appears that Griezmann once again seems to be close to his peak form. Griezmann produced an outstanding performance against Croatia as he reminded everyone why he was the player of the tournament at Euro 2016, the recipient of the Bronze Ball at the 2018 World Cup, and a perennial Ballon d'Or contender at his best. Griezmann scored France's first goal, set up another scored by Upamecano, and was a constant thorn in the flesh of the Croatian defense who had no answer for a player who, if he can bring this form with him back to Catalonia, might be able to successfully take over the mantle of the leader of Barça's attack in the post-Lionel Messi era which could begin at any time.

Of course, it's not as though France will be unchallenged during the tournaments to come. Teams such as Belgium and England, as well as Brazil during the World Cup, will provide stern tests. The likes of Germany, Portugal, and the Netherlands have all either rebuilt or retooled; if they reach their full potential in time for Euro 2021 or the 2022 World Cup, they too could serve as threats to France's supremacy.

That being said, the way France are playing right now, it will take something truly remarkable to deny them a third European Championship title and first since 2000 when the tournament begins next year. Could they even become the first team in 60 years to win back-to-back World Cups? It will be difficult, but if any team could, it surely has to be them.

The Weekly Take, Issue 121: End-of-Season Special: Top 10 Moments of the Season

To say that this has been a truly remarkable season full of twists and turns would be an understatement. So much has happened during the 2019-20 European club football season that it is almost impossible to choose just 10 moments which stood out.

However, I have proceeded to do so. As you can probably imagine, so bizarre has this season been (both on the field and away from it) that some of the moments selected have never been seen before and will probably never happen again.

Antoine Griezmann signs for Barcelona (July 12, 2019)

Barcelona made a clear statement of intent during the transfer window by signing Griezmann for €120 million from Atlético Madrid. It was a transfer which at the time made Barça the favourites to win the Champions League for the sixth time.

Griezmann's debut season at Camp Nou, however, did not go according to plan. His nine league goals were his fewest in eight years and his form throughout the season was inconsistent. His Barcelona team also ended the season without any titles for the first time since 2008.

The impending departures of Luis Suárez and Lionel Messi, however, will make Griezmann the leader of Barça's attack next season; a role in which he thrived at Atlético. It remains to be seen if he can return to the form in which he struck dread into the hearts of opposing defenders all over Spain and beyond.

Eintracht Frankfurt 5-1 Bayern Munich (November 2, 2019)

Bayern Munich started the season in abysmal form. They dropped points in Bundesliga matches against teams they were expected to beat handily such as Hertha Berlin, Hoffenheim, and Augsburg.

It all came to a head when Bayern were destroyed by Eintracht Frankfurt to cap off a run in which they picked up just four points in four matches and conceded 10 goals while scoring six.

However, as it turned out, this crushing defeat might very well have been the best thing that could have happened to Bayern because it led to the firing of head coach Niko Kovač. After Kovač was replaced by Hans-Dieter Flick, Bayern's season took off and they never looked back thereafter.

Ernesto Valverde fired as Barcelona head coach (January 13, 2020)

Barça made a somewhat surprising decision when they chose to fire Valverde. While he had not always delivered at the level which many had expected, he had up to that point done well enough that most assumed his job was safe.

However, a slump which saw Barça win just one match in five saw Valverde lose his job. This was seen as something of a risk, given the fact that despite the slump, they were still top of La Liga and in contention for the Champions League title.

Valverde would be replaced by Quique Setién - a move which would go on to have disastrous effects on Barça's season. Setién was neither able to properly utilize his players nor connect with them; this led to Barça's finishing the season with no trophies and Setién's own firing.

Serie A suspended (March 9, 2020)

Just like all other areas of life all over the planet, the football world was not spared from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Italy was the first European country to suffer a mass Covid-19 outbreak. Thus, it came as no surprise when the Italian government suspended the league as well as all other professional sports leagues across the country.

As the virus spread across Europe, all other major leagues as well as the Champions League and Europa League would soon follow suit. The season had now truly entered uncharted waters.

Liverpool 2-3 Atlético Madrid (March 12, 2020)

This match was notable for two different reasons. The first was that it marked one of the most impressive upset victories of the season as Atlético stunned a Liverpool team in pursuit of back-to-back Champions League titles, knocking them out in the round of 16.

However, this match also served as a major catalyst for the eventual suspension of the tournament. It would eventually be discovered that the match was the cause of 41 Covid-19 deaths while also accelerating the spread of the virus in the UK.

Not surprisingly, the tournament would be suspended shortly after and not return until August.

Bundesliga resumes (May 16, 2020)

Germany was one of the European countries in which the Covid-19 outbreak subsided earliest. Thus, the Bundesliga was the first of the four major European football leagues to resume play.

With every match held in an empty stadium and with appropriate social distancing protocols in place, great care was taken to prevent a resurgence of the virus which may have been caused by unsafe holding of matches. It would not be long before other leagues would follow suit.

Bayern Munich would win all their league matches after the restart and won the league title by a large margin; a remarkable turnaround after their slow start to the season.

Chelsea 2-1 Manchester City (June 26, 2020)

This match will be remembered not for what happened on the field, but instead for what happened to a team not playing in it because of the implications of the result.

A penalty scored by Willian ensured that City would not be able to catch Liverpool at the summit of the Premier League. It was Liverpool's first league title in 30 years.

Such had been the magnitude of their drought that most Liverpool fans had longed for a league title far more than a Champions League title in spite of the fact that it is the less prestigious of the two honours.

Barcelona 2-8 Bayern Munich (August 14, 2020)

By this point, Bayern had clearly established themselves as the dominant force of the club football world, while Barça were in complete disarray after having tamely surrendered their La Liga title to Real Madrid. However, no one could have anticipated what was about to ensue.

In this Champions League quarterfinal, Bayern produced a performance for the ages as the Bavarian club made Lionel Messi and company look like complete amateurs. It was Barça's heaviest loss since 1951.

To the surprise of absolutely no one, this result also led to the firing of Setién from his position. It also set the stage for one other moment to be mentioned shortly.

Paris Saint-Germain 0-1 Bayern Munich (August 23, 2020)

Bayern completed their dominant treble-winning season by beating PSG in front of an empty Estádio da Luz. Just to rub it in for the Paris club, ex-PSG player Kingsley Coman scored the only goal.

The victory completed Bayern's second treble after having won it in 2013 under Jupp Heynckes. Regardless of what he does next at Bayern, Flick has forever etched his name into club lore.

Bayern unquestionably enter the 2020-21 season as the team to beat, especially given the fact that they are the only team in the modern era to have won every single match of a Champions League campaign.

Lionel Messi announces departure from Barcelona (August 25, 2020)

The season's final turn of events was not completely unexpected; however, it was perhaps the most noteworthy and game-changing of them all.

After much speculation, Messi finally confirmed that he planned to depart the club at which he had become perhaps the greatest player of all time. Messi had played for Barça since 2004, scoring over 600 goals and winning four Champions League titles.

Manchester City, PSG, and Inter Milan are the teams which are reportedly leading the chase for the Argentine. At the moment, it appears that City are the most likely to land him and thus reunite him with former coach Pep Guardiola.

The Weekly Take, Issue 120: Millions Well Spent?

When any team makes a major big-money signing, it is done with the idea that the new player will have a significant impact on the team and make them better almost immediately. Perhaps no signing exemplified this idea more than Paris Saint-Germain's acquisition of Neymar for a record-shattering €222 million from Barcelona in 2017.

Over three years later, it cannot be doubted that Neymar's time in the French capital has been nothing short of disappointing. The latest occasion in which the Brazilian and his club again failed to live up to the hype came under the brightest lights of all: in the Champions League final.

PSG missed their opportunity to win the Champions League for the first time in the club's history after losing to Bayern Munich 1-0. Kingsley Coman, a former PSG player, scored the goal which gave Bayern their sixth continental title and first since 2013.

Neymar, on the other hand, was a long way off his usual standards. He struggled against Bayern's defense throughout the match and missed a goalscoring chance which he had been expected to put into the back of the net.

This is not the first time that this has happened to Neymar. In fact, when assessing his career as a whole, the biggest criticism of him is this: he does not make his team better.

Consider the fact that when he was at Barcelona, he did not need to do any of that; Leo Messi, Xavi, Andrés Iniesta, and others made sure of that. However, after leaving Barça to join PSG, the role of being the main option was thrust upon his shoulders. Since then, it has been evident that Neymar does not elevate his team; he has come up short on the biggest occasions time and again. A team like PSG in a league like Ligue 1 has to be judged on the strength of its Champions League performances rather than its domestic league ones; thus, not a lot of stock can be put into PSG's three league titles since Neymar's arrival. All the evidence since his his debut in Paris points to Neymar being unable to lift his team to new heights.

This is arguably even more true of Neymar at international level. I would even say that when Brazil won the Copa América last year, they did so because of Neymar's absence rather than in spite of it. This was in stark contrast to the Seleção's performances in the 2014 and 2018 World Cups, when everything seemed to run through Neymar. They seemed to have no plan other than "get Neymar the ball and let him do the work" without actually considering what Neymar could do to most benefit the team.

There is no doubt that Neymar is an all-world talent; however, his playstyle and his fit with teammates, whether for club or country, tend to be mismatched. It's perfectly understandable that not every player is able to not only carry, but also elevate a team. However, when the player in question is signed for a record-breaking transfer fee which might not be eclipsed for another 20 to 30 years, you expect more than just "being a great player".

I'm not saying that Neymar has been a failure at PSG by any means. His goalscoring record cannot be questioned. If not for the fact that he is injury-prone, he would be a consistent 25- to 30-goal scorer every season. He has clearly established himself as one of the world's best strikers and has caused untold trouble for countless defenders in France and beyond.

However, as I mentioned, given the context of Neymar's acquisition as well as the fact that PSG would later bring in Kylian Mbappé for €180 million to partner him, you have to think that more would have been expected of him. Club owner Nasser Al-Khelaifi might very well be regretting shelling out such an extravagant amount of money to sign Neymar.

Some players are meant to be the alpha, while others may be remarkable talents but no more than that. As much as Neymar seems to believe he can be the alpha for PSG, the evidence to date clearly indicates otherwise. He is firmly in the latter group; while there's nothing wrong with that, it also means that unless PSG start building around someone else (perhaps Mbappé?), they are unlikely to ever win the Champions League.

The Weekly Take, Issue 119: Rock Bottom? Maybe Not Even That

 

It surely can't get any worse for Barcelona, can it?

The Catalan side were completely and utterly taken apart in an 8-2 loss to Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals of the Champions League. The Bundesliga champions tore the Blaugrana to shreds in what has to go down as one of the most one-sided matches in Champions League history.

It has been a dismal season for Barça by their usual standards. This is the first time that they have finished the season without a trophy since 2014. They recorded their lowest points tally in La Liga since 2008. The last time that they didn't win the league while also failing to make both the Copa del Rey and Champions League semifinals? That was in 2004 (they weren't even in the Champions League that year, for that matter).

There can be little doubt that the bulk of the blame for Barça's failures this season should fall on the shoulders of club president Josep Bartomeu and his board. They have utterly mismanaged a team which had been the favourite to win he Champions League heading into the season. The club spent an enormous sum of money to bring in Antoine Griezmann from Atlético Madrid, expecting the French winger to be the final piece which would take them over the top in their quest to clinch their sixth Champions League title.

Another major error was the hiring of Quique Setién to replace Ernesto Valverde as head coach. Valverde had endured a difficult season at the helm at Camp Nou and was understandably fired in January. However, his replacement turned out to be even worse. Setién showed a complete lack of understanding about the team's strategies and how Barça's players were to be best utilized. Setién was also never able to truly win the trust and respect of the players, and this in turn translated to the results on the pitch. Barcelona were nowhere near their usual level of play all season, but especially so after Setién took over.

Barça's struggles have even caused the likely departure of Leo Messi from the club. Such has been the ineptitude displayed by Barcelona's front office that they might very well have driven away arguably the greatest player of all time and the greatest asset that the club has.

On a related note, this Barcelona team is not one which is well-constructed, either. It is set up in such a way so as to be over-dependent on Messi. As great as Messi is, he isn't going to be in absolute peak form in every match. Thus, when he isn't firing on all cylinders, it's a likely loss for Barça. After Messi does leave Barcelona, this is the main problem which the club must address.

As things are right now, there does not appear to be much to be hopeful about in Barcelona's future. Unless Bartomeu steps down from his position, it is unlikely that the club's fortunes will begin to change for the better.

The fact that their crushing Champions League loss came at the hands of Bayern Munich is also interesting because the two clubs could not be more different at the moment. Bayern have been a well-oiled machine run in an exemplary manner for decades. Barça, on the other hand, have been mismanaged for much of the last 20 years. If a once-in-a-century generation including Messi had not emerged out of La Masia just when it did, Barça would not have even come close to achieving the level of success which they have in recent times. They have been carried by their academy; however, all have either left, retired, or reached the twilight years of their incredible careers.

Unfortunately, the reality for Barcelona is that there seems to be no end to their travails in sight. The club seems to have absolutely no plan for the future, and this time, there is no super-generation expected to come out of La Masia to save them. Do not be surprised if it takes several decades for Barça to reclaim the most prestigious honour in European club football.

Is it possible that Barça will find a way out of this sooner than expected? Perhaps, but do not count on it.