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1 year, 9 months, and 3 days.
AS Roma were never supposed to stand a chance. Barcelona had all but thrashed them into submission in the first leg at the Camp Nou and were well on its way to another treble. Or so it seemed.
FC Barcelona is a club that has become increasingly used to success, and the Roma capitulation was unlike anything fans of the present generation had experienced. It couldn't get any worse, could it?
Anfield has always had an ominous atmosphere. There are shades of bright red everywhere you look, and Jurgen Klopp's menacing juggernaut of a team rarely fails to scythe through its opposition. Lionel Messi's otherworldly performance from the first leg should always have been enough, but the Barcelona team that showed up at Anfield was unrecognizable.
For nearly two years, fans of the club have been screaming for heads to roll. There has been something fundamentally anti-Barcelona about the club these past two seasons, and a combination of several factors have contributed to the team's spectacular failure in Europe.
Ernesto Valverde may not have been the root cause for all of Barcelona's failures, and he will likely make full use of his two La Liga titles at the club for plausible deniability. The team's style of play during his tenure, however, paints a horrifying picture.
The winds of change seem to have finally arrived in Catalunya, with Valverde drawing his last straw as Barcelona suffered humiliation yet again in the Supercopa last week, losing out to eventual finalists Atletico Madrid. What followed was a spate of awkward and unfruitful negotiations with a few former players, and the club finally decided to appoint Quique Setien as the new manager.
The former Real Betis boss was always in the reckoning for the head honcho's role at Barcelona. His credentials are top-notch and his team's style of play is reminiscent of the Barcelona of old.
While Setien's Betis side did have a few flaws, the team has spent the last two years winning hearts across Europe. Barcelona and Quique Setien are a match made in heaven, and here are 3 reasons why the Spaniard will change FC Barcelona for the better:
#3 A fresh start for fresh faces
Many of Barcelona's problems over the past two years have been attributed to an aging squad, and rightly so. With the likes of Sergio Busquets, Luis Suarez, and Gerard Pique entering the fag end of their careers, the club predictably tapped into the transfer market.
Frenkie de Jong and Antoine Griezmann, in particular, were expected to light up the Camp Nou. While the new signings have been some of the brightest of Barcelona's players this season, the fireworks are not quite as spectacular just as yet.
Frenkie de Jong has become a first-team regular at Barcelona and puts in excellent shifts more often than not. However, the Dutchman was a class apart at Ajax and virtually ran the show in the Eredivisie. The Frenkie de Jong of early 2019 is still in hiding, and one wouldn't bet against his rejuvenation under Quique Setien.
Junior Firpo has found it difficult to adjust to the team's structure, and a reunion with his former coach could work wonders for the youngster as well. Griezmann, to his credit, has successfully adapted to a role on the left-wing and is improving with every passing game. With Luis Suarez injured for the next few months, the Frenchman will have to step up to the plate, and a successful combination with Lionel Messi in Setien's fluid setup can be potentially lethal.
Setien also has to address the case of Ousmane Dembele. The French winger has had a torrid time in Catalunya, and a change in management could be a step in the right direction. Dembele is expected to return in mid-February and will want to make a good impression. A new lease of life is at stake.
Despite their recent failures, Barcelona's incredibly talented individuals always give the team a chance. One can only hope that Quique Setien's magic needle does what it has always done: stitch.
#2 La Masia's resurrection
Why is Barcelona a uniquely successful club?
A seemingly endless list of factors and variables, ranging from fiery rivalries to economic stability, have played a role in Barcelona's stunning list of accolades over the past few decades. Silverware is not what sets the Blaugrana apart; big clubs should be used to winning.
La Masia is the club's crown jewel, as it has always put them on a pedestal. Much of Barcelona's success rides on the efficiency of its personalized youth product supply chain. La Masia's success peaked when the likes of Pep Guardiola and Tito Vilanova - former La Masia graduates themselves - tapped into the youth academy's reserves and formed a team of world-beaters. Many of La Masia's students are household names across the world today.
However, post the Pep-Tito era, La Masia's fortunes have dipped, and that Barcelona's teams have not met expectations is no coincidence. In the past 5 years, Sergi Roberto is the only academy graduate to have established a place in the first team. Several talented youth products have had to leave the club in search of better prospects.
There is plenty of debate regarding La Masia's ability to meet its own lofty standards, but Barcelona's management also has to shoulder the blame to a certain extent. Sergio Busquets and Pedro Rodriguez were relative unknowns before Pep Guardiola placed faith in them and threw them into the deep end of the pool. Quique Setien's nature and history suggest that he is of a similar inclination.
La Masia often discovers exceptional talent in its ranks, and Ansu Fati and Riqui Puig are currently pushing for a place in the starting eleven. Establishing yourself as a starter is a Herculean task at Barcelona and while patience would serve the youngsters well, the pre-season made it abundantly evident that Riqui Puig can easily hold his own against the best of midfielders. Ansu Fati already has goals to his name in both La Liga and Champions League.
Setien's time at Real Betis saw players like Fabian Ruiz, Cristian Tello, and Marc Bartra transform into their most effective selves. The Spaniard's tactical nous and managerial ability make him an ideal mentor, particularly at a club like Barcelona. Carles Alena, who recently left Barcelona to play for Real Betis on loan, may also be convinced to return to the Blaugrana.
Most of Barcelona's kids seem to have the potential to touch the sky. Quique Setien could potentially provide the best possible trampoline.
#1 Compatible philosophies and a new direction
Much of the FC Barcelona's legacy stems from Johan Cruyff.
The legendary Dutchman gave the Blaugrana an indomitable identity, and the embers of his fiery philosophies burn brightly in teams coached by his loyal students to this day. "In my teams, the goalie is the first attacker and the striker the first defender." In addition to a generational footballing brain, Cruyff had a way with words as well.
Quique Setien's time at Betis strongly suggests that he might be the most stubbornly Cruyffian coach in world football today, although Marcelo Bielsa would certainly put up an impeccable fight. Setien's methods and end-products are as exhilarating as they are maddening: Real Betis, supposedly the lesser of Seville's teams, scored an incredible 60 goals in the 2017-18 season, but conceded 61. The end result, however, was excellent - Real Betis finished 6th in La Liga and qualified for the Europa League.
Barcelona is not the best defensive side in the world by any stretch of the imagination, but the team does a decent job defensively when it dominates and bullies the opposition. Setien may not prioritize defensive solidity in a side boasting immense attacking potential, but Barcelona's positional play under their new manager could make them intrinsically immune to the defensive frailties that have plagued them this season.
Barcelona's defense is arguably much better than its counterpart in Seville at playing a high back-line, and an attacking possession-based style is tailor-made for the likes of Frenkie de Jong and Arthur Melo.
Under Valverde, Barcelona had adopted a severely docile style of play and had deviated from its philosophy to a significant extent. While the extra dose of pragmatism did win the team a few high-profile matches, most of Barcelona's best moments have been centred around Lionel Messi and Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
The two stalwarts have unsurprisingly been the shining lights in Barcelona's armory yet again this season, and Quique Setien's first major assignment will be to ensure that the team does not rely solely on sorcery and wizardry. That being said, the Spaniard has always been very public in his admiration for Lionel Messi and will relish the challenge of pushing his talismanic Argentine captain to even greater heights.
The Catalan club are in dire need of a sense of direction, and the primary objective of Quique Setien's appointment is to ensure that the principles that have given the club its identity are prioritized. Only time will tell whether his time at FC Barcelona can bring the club's glory days back. One thing, however, is certain.
Bid farewell to the snoozefests. The mosaic triangles are back.
