A DEATH IN THE FAMILY

Last week, we had a joyous time in Barcelona seeing the sights, visiting with friends, and taking in two Barca matches. In those 2 games, Barca outscored its opponents 7-2. That scoreline might lead you to believe that Barca looked invincible. However, I was left with a very different sensation- one of frailty.

That both wins came through a mix of good fortune and opponent ineptitude are not the only explanations for my feeling. The team seemed to lack any cohesiveness and was merely waiting for Messi to work his magic to get them out of a jam. Thus, yesterday's woeful, disgraceful 3-0 loss and exit in the Champions League did not come as a complete surprise.

This is the third straight year Barca has been eliminated in the Champions League, having lost one of the two legs of those ties by score lines of 2-0, 3-0, and again 3-0. Their was an utter lack urgency, attention, and steel in all of those defeat, but none more than yesterday.The team was simply unrecognizable.

The game plan should have been to go to Rome to win. With that mentality and a crucial away goal, Roma would have need 4 goals just to level things and get to extra time. However, Barca never attacked, never controlled, and seemed to merely sit back and hope to absorb the countless blows Roma dealt. Ninety minutes is an eternity, especially when your team is playing like a steaming pile of dung.

There is plenty of blame to go around. The coach did not prepare his side well. The team had not been rotated sufficiently in recent weeks. The lineup was poor. The lack of substitutions until very late on - and the incorrect substitutions - when they happened were the major determinants. However, the 11 players we fielded were good enough to not lose 3-0. They did not do their jobs, plain and simple, and they are to be derided and criticized for going out this way and letting down their fans and club.

Mes que un club is supposed to be Barca's motto. That means that life is about more than just results. That, too, means that how one plays -win or lose - matters, and if one is not giving one's all, one fails even if the scoreline says otherwise.

I do not see a road back for Barcelona in Europe unless they rediscover what once made them great. A strong and thriving development system whose principles and ideals and way of playing flow throughout the club's system all the way to the first time is a major missing piece. Having the best players at each position who understand what our philosophy is and who can execute it is also needed. Many players will need to make way, and we should buy the best while also promoting our best from within. Valverde, the coach, has brought pragmatism, but his run of non-defeats in league and Champions League feel pyrrhic. He lost the fans' belief in him last night, and he may have also lost the players'.

Gutted is the only word I can use to describe how disappointed I feel. It is as though a family member has died once again anew this spring like the last two years. To find peace, I am going to need to meditate more, or I am going to need Barca to work its way out of this morass.