Sport
There is an argument to be made that Barcelona’s Champions League semi-final against Inter is one of the greatest ties in football history. It had everything: goals, drama and the sort of pace many have realised can’t be taken for granted in the modern age.
But it also had one team that was ready to win, and one that wasn’t.
Inter are reaching their peak under Simone Inzaghi. After losing the final in 2023 to Manchester City, it has felt as though they’ve come of age throughout the competition. While they conceded six over two pulsating legs, their defence first approach works well; they are aggressive and energetic but compact, with Nicolo Barella a master at exploiting space and Hakan Calhanoglu moulding from a good attacking midfielder to a world class tempo-setter. Up front, Marcus Thuram is potent and physical; Lautaro Martinez is simply world class. Because winning it seems to be a prerequisite these days, if Inter do complete the job against Paris Saint-Germain, he should win the Ballon d’Or.
It is easy to say Barcelona failed. After all, Raphinha thought he’d scored the winner just moments from full time, before Francesco Acerbi and ultimately Davide Frattesi broke their hearts. For fans of a certain generation, the Blaugrana were the team in Europe, dominant with three different managers – Frank Rijkaard, Pep Guardiola and Luis Enrique – between 2008 and 2016. Their style is so engrained in the football zeitgeist, it is hard to see them as anything but an elite side, let alone a work in progress. But they are very much the latter; winning the Champions League was never on the radar this early for Hansi Flick, or even the club more generally after their near combustion in 2021.
At their best, Barcelona really embodied their ‘Mes Que Un Club’ (More Than A Club) mantra. While eternal rivals Real Madrid relied on wealth and status to buy the best players, they made them in their image. The ‘total football’ ideals of former player and coach Johan Cruyff were fed into graduates of their youth academy, La Masia, creating world class players who all played the same way, including Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets and of course Lionel Messi. With no sponsorships, money was tighter than their rivals, but they offset their incredible production line with extremely shrewd recruitment. It led to four Champions League crowns in nine years and two trebles in 2009 and 2015.
Gradually, though, they fell away from that idyllic vision. Sponsorship relationships with Qatar Airways changed their image, and they moved away from focussing on their academy. After the £200m world record sale of Neymar to PSG, things spiralled. Their spending was out of control, more lavish than anything Madrid ever did, and the failure of signings like Ousmane Dembele, Philippe Coutinho and Antoine Griezmann meant they didn’t even get a return on their investments, which caused havoc with their finances. By 2021, everything came to a head; they couldn’t afford their running costs and the unthinkable happened; Messi left because he was unable to be registered. The very existence of the club was in doubt. It would take years to recover, if it were possible at all.
Yet, four years on, they were minutes away from the Champions League final, a first for a decade. It has been quite the turnaround; financial problems are still a hindrance, with midfielder Dani Olmo facing registration issues this season. But it forced them back into developing stars from La Masia, and as usual, it hasn’t disappointed. In Pau Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde, Gavi and particularly Lamine Yamal, they have produced the spine of another burgeoning team capable of anything. Add Pedri, a signing as a youngster from La Palmas, and the experience of Olmo and Raphinha into the mix and they are almost there.
Yamal is 17 and has 100 Barcelona games to his name already, which is not necessarily a good thing. But he is miles ahead of Messi at the same age, and is commanding games in his image; there seems to be nothing he can’t do. If he stays fit, he could be football’s next dominant force for the next decade and more; he should why in droves against Inter.
Replacing Robert Lewandowski’s goals in the coming years will be a test; at 37, he can’t go on forever. But it isn’t about critiquing Barcelona’s readiness now, like Inter two years ago, they are not there yet.
But just four years after imploding, Barcelona are back. Yamal, Gavi, Cubarsi and co. have a hell of a legacy to live up to, but a Champions League title, and potentially another treble, could well be in their future.
- SCCG Management. The Gambling Industry’s Global Connector. Access Here.
- Source: https://www.colossusbets.com/blog/four-years-after-imploding-barcelona-are-back/
