Today, Barca were thoroughly dismantled by a superior Bayern Munich team. This blog post will certainly not be the most definitive account or explanation written today about that thrashing and an end to Barca's era of football domination. However, it will be among the most personal.
I realize that this blog has been dominated by a single subject in the past three years - Football Club Barcelona. The reason is simple. Nothing else in life gives me the same singular sense of pleasure as watching the way this club has played football for the past three years.
Happiness is not a word I would ever use to describe me. Life is hard, busy, challenging. Yet, happiness - no, joy - is what I felt for the first time in many years when I saw Barca play at their iconic Camp Nou Stadium on a cool November night last year.
My kids, Nicholas and Catherine, feel a similar affinity for the club, and it has been great to enjoy this Barca team with them.
Indeed, there are few things in life I have ever witnessed that are as beautiful as the way these players have transformed a ball into a brush on the pitch that has been their canvas. They play their music as a team - like a symphony with many "first chair" players - with very few solo goals. Because of that, it is sad to see something I love struggle, whither, and fade.
There are several reasons for Barca's decline. First, their coach Tito Villanova suffered a relapse of his cancer that required a 3 month leave of absence. In Tito's absence, the void in leadership became great. Despite his return, leadership has continued to elude this team. Tito's decisions have been poor and have cost the team dearly. Second, the team has not invested wisely in the right players. Barca has been without proper defenders for over two years, and this has caught up with them. This year, the team conceded a record number of goals compared with the prior four seasons, and this season is not yet done. Third, the players no longer have that drive to fight until the end and to focus for every second of the match. This is a necessity for competitions like the European Champions' League, and our lack of hunger has cost us dearly this year. I do not blame anyone person for this. This lack of hunger is merely a by-product of these players winning literally every trophy there is to win in the past 5 years- 2 European Championship titles, 1 World Cup title, 2 European Champions' League titles, 3 Spanish League titles, 1 Club World Cup title, etc, etc. Compared with a Bayern Munich team whose players have won none of those trophies, the chasm in desire and intensity between our players and theirs was stark.
So, where do we go from here? I will remain a committed fan - sad - but still committed. However, the team needs to make several crucial decisions if they are to evolve and move forward.
In my day job, I study cancer evolution. That chaotic process leads to changes in the genes of cancer cells. The process of cancer treatment gives certain cancer cells a survival advantage. Commonly, the cancer cells with the greatest number of different gene changes are the "fittest." Particularly virulent are the cancer cells whose gene changes work in concert with each other. As opposed to cancer cells with one gene change, or monstrous head, these complex, Medusa-like cancer cells are very resistant to treatment and nearly impossible to stop.
To extend this to a football club, the team with the greatest number of different threats that complement one another are the winners. Bayern will be in their third Champions' League final in the past four years three weeks from now because each summer they have strengthened their squad and improved their tactics. Today's result speaks for itself.
Barca, too, will need to evolve if they are to regain the crown as the world's best club. First, as painful as this sounds, Barca needs a new coach. Battling life-threatening cancer and coaching Barca are truly incompatible. Despite his recovery, Tito is a shell of his former self, and the fans and players have lost belief in him due to his recent decisions and the team's poor play. Second, we need to sell (trade) players who once brought this club pride and trophies alike. Their accomplishments are remarkable, but the team needs to plan for the future rather than dwell on the past. Third, the best players in the world who are most compatible with Barca's selfless system of passing and team attacking must be bought... at whatever cost. Finally, the team needs to find a way to score and win without Lionel Messi.
Today, Messi watched from the bench because he was not fit. In fact, he probably re-aggravated his thigh injury by playing in Barca's meaningless Spanish league game over the weekend. Messi should not have been risked that day, and when today's lineup was announced without him in it, we all knew that Barca had no chance.
Last year many people celebrated when Messi broke the record for the most goals scored in a calendar year. I was not one of them. Surely, Messi's record was partially explained by his skill and dominance. However, lack of other goal-scoring threats on the team was as important for Messi setting that mark.
Many have said that Messi would be nothing without his Barca teammates. However, this season has revealed that Barca is now literally nothing without Messi. He needs some support. If we are lucky, Messi will never break another goal-scoring record again... because there will be other Barca players equally capable of scoring.
So, tonight is a sad night. This loss today did not come as a shock. It actually came as I expected - resoundingly. For someone who considers himself an obsessive, today was a painful day. When I am enamored with someone or something, I go all in, and I hold that thing deeply and dearly. This team more than anything else has been that obsession for me the past few years. That obsession has not been without disappointment... especially in the past week.
Perhaps I should find a new passion? That may be easier said than done with this team.
I will leave you on a high note: Barca's last Champions' League title game from 2011.
Barca's level and style of play that day remind me why I love this team and explain - to borrow a quote from Heath Ledger's character from "Brokeback Mountain" - why I cannot quit Barca...
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