A trophy eluded season for Barcelona?

Dejected Lionel Messi

Eight days. It took just eight days for Barcelona to perceive how will they conclude this season-TROPHYLESS. After the inglorious 2-1 defeat in Copa Del Rey final at the hands of eternal rivals Real Madrid, Barcelona now face the ramifications of missing out on any major silverware this season. The 3 consecutive set-backs within the space of a week, leave Barca’s title hopes in a deep jeopardy. This will be the first time since 2008 that the Catalans will finish the season empty-handed. But whats more odious is that this was the first time in Barca’s 114 year history that they’ve lost 3 games in succession in 3 different games.

Until the 2nd leg of the Champions League quarter-finals, Barca was in firm contention to win any of the three trophies. Perhaps, even a treble. But the 1-0 loss away to Atletico Madrid in the return leg saw the Blaugranas bow-out in the quarters and ailing to acquire a spot in the semis for the first time in 7 years. 3 days later, they again were at the receiving end of humiliation as they crashed to a 1-0 defeat away to Grenada and eventually dropping to 3rd in the league. Their last hope-Copa Del Rey, was vanquished after Bale netted a stunner by sprinting 65 yards in the dying stages leaving the Catalan giants in a profound quagmire.

After a stupendous start to the campaign with a 7-0 hammering of Levante at home, Barca looked very determined to retain their position as La Liga champions. Their 15 match unbeaten streak in the first quarter of the season was a testament to the same. But slowly as time progressed, clinches had started to show in their armory.

With Messi’s absence due to recurring thigh injury piling on Barca’s pressure, 2 defeats-both away to Ajax and Athletic Bilbao in a gap of 5 days are an allusion of it. And now when the season approaches its climax, the Blaugranas are going through some of the darkest days of their history.

Manager Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino, who was newly appointed as the coach at the start of the season after the departure of Tito Vilanova, was the cynosure for many criticisms coming his way and may now be replaced at the end of the season. Despite orchestrating the first league double over Real Madrid since 2009-10, he has failed to emulate the tactical brilliance of Pep Guardiola, under whom Barcelona had become an indestructible force to be reckoned with. 2 years after his departure, the Catalan giants are now going through , in what way is nothing less short of a harrowing period.

Without an iota of doubt, Barcelona is stooping to disgraceful depths which they never had before, but I strongly opine that everyone has to go through tough phase at one point of time. Consider the case of once-European-behemoths, A.C Milan. The Italian side too is facing one of their worst seasons and are currently languishing 8th in the Serie A chart. Trailing Napoli by a massive 20 points who occupy the last European qualification berth, Milan are sure to miss out Europe’s biggest platform next season. The scenario is no different at Old Trafford. David Moyes-led Manchester United also had a dismal season post the SAF era and they too are enduring a trophy-less campaign.

However, there’s something really intriguing about Barcelona. They were without any major silverware for 2007-08 season. But the year that followed, saw Barca re-creating history-they became the first ever side to win a sextuple (6 trophies in a year) including an unprecedented ‘treble’. That heralded a fierce domination and successfully restored hegemony in Spain. The rest…is history.

One can anticipate the same prospect the coming season, considering the conjecture that Barcelona will end this season empty-handed. But will history repeat itself ? Well, only time will tell.