THE END

It was an utter humiliation - the end of an era. Barca were battered 8-2 by Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals of the Champions League. Rory Smith called it the end, and sadly that description feels very apt.

In retrospect, we should have all seen this shameful defeat and the end of Barca's dominance on the European stage coming. In 2018, Barca were eliminated by Roma, losing 3-0. In 2019, Liverpool sent the Catalans home after winning 4-0. However, 8-2 seemed unthinkable when the two teams lined up yesterday.

Both teams started off strong, and Barca could have easily been up in the first 20 minutes. However, their chances went begging, and Bayern ruthlessly took advantage of a Barca team that looked a shell of its former self - a team that created far too many unforced errors.

The coach and his player selection and tactics played a role, and he will be gone soon enough. The players were the ones who made the mistakes though and did not respond properly. Many of them will be gone, too. However, the problems run far deeper and go to the very top - the President and the Board. It is they who have squandered the past decade, buying expensive players who were ill-suited to the Barca team. It is they who failed to unload players - albeit beloved players - before their "sell by" date. There were far too many Barca players last night on the wrong side of 30, and they were the biggest culprits in the capitulation.

The club's motto is "More than a club," but Barca are not even half the club they once were. The possession-based, pass and move, high-press style has been gone for years as the club shifted into a counterattacking style. This is explained in part by the fact that Barca's prior style is hard to maintain, especially with an aging squad. That is why the ethos of the club and its philosophy must always take primacy versus the players - no matter how beloved they are. The failure to renew the squad and unload their wages is perhaps even more sinful than the Board's profligate spending on the wrong transfers.

In the end, perhaps 8-2 is the wake-up call that the club needs because the humiliating defeats in Europe in the past two years have clearly not brought about the changes the club needs.

This time feels different though. It feels as though I have watched a loved one die a slow, painful death from a chronic disease that was preventable. Death is a part of life, but I pray there will be an afterlife for my club.