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An embarrassing 2-1 defeat to Valencia in the Copa Del Rey final on Saturday night concluded another unsatisfying campaign for Catalan giants, FC Barcelona.
The Blaugrana entered the season with huge momentum and were on track to claim a historic treble once again, before hitting a rough patch and eventually seeing their season end facing the wrong direction.
Although Ernesto Valverde's men succeeded in retaining the LaLiga title, their 4-0 capitulation to Liverpool which sent them crashing out of the Champions League put that success in perspective. Hence, they'll need to wait for another season to shoot for the treble once again.
Having said that, below are 4 reasons behind Barca's collapse during the term:
#4 Managerial defect/Lack of identity
If we compare the current Barcelona side to that of the Pep Guardiola era, we'll discover that there is a huge contrast between the two. Under Ernesto Valverde, Barca have shifted from the core values that define the club, hence losing their identity.
The former Athletic Bilbao boss has implemented a pragmatic system at the Nou Camp and the team isn't as dominant and expressive as before. Valverde believes in going for the safest option, which limits the creativity and the ideological advantages that the team possesses.
This approach isn't getting the best out of the players either and we can clearly see that the team struggles to control proceedings, especially in the big games. They were totally outplayed by Liverpool at Anfield and weren't decisive when they met Valencia in the Copa Del Rey final.
It becomes even more humiliating to recall that they suffered the same fate during the 2017/2018 campaign, when they surrendered a 3-goal lead to crash out of the Champions League at the hands of Roma.
#3 Too much dependence on Lionel Messi
Another problem that hurt Barca during the campaign is their over-dependence on Lionel Messi. The Catalans relied totally on the magic of their talisman in order to win games as evidenced by their stats during the term, with Leo scoring more than 30% of their total goals in LaLiga.
The Argentine was also the difference-maker for the team in the Champions League as he scored 6 goals in the knockout phase of the tournament to fire them to the semifinals. This made the team more predictable and it became obvious that any team that manages to pocket Messi would surely keep Barca at bay.
This was well demonstrated by Liverpool during the Champions League semifinals second leg at Anfield. With The Reds moulding a wall around the Argentine playmaker, Barca had no ideas, and they became totally blunt as Jurgen Klopp's men rode on to humiliate the Spanish giants.
#2 Misfiring attack
As stated in the previous slide, Barca depended too much on Lionel Messi during the campaign, but it wouldn't have been so had the other attackers impressed with their performances.
Luis Suarez was the liveliest of Barca's other attackers with 21 LaLiga goals, but the Uruguayan failed to impress in the Champions League as he finished the tournament with just one goal to his name in 10 appearances, and couldn't get on the scoresheet in any of the big games.
While Ousmane Dembele showed flashes of his brilliance, bagging 13 goals and 9 assists across all competitions, constant fitness issues ensured that he also finished the term on a low despite a promising start. Philippe Coutinho was the worst among the trio as he failed to justify his big-money move, contributing just 11 goals and 5 assists for the Catalans in all competitions.
#1 Poor away performances
Barcelona's performances away from home should raise a lot of concerns. The Catalans remain a huge force at the Nou Camp, but they are totally different when they find themselves outside the stadium.
This was quite evident in the Champions League as Ernesto Valvarde's men could only settle for an embarrassing goalless draw against Olympique Lyon in France, and were aided by an own-goal to beat Manchester United at Old Trafford, before they were finally humiliated by Liverpool at Anfield.
This problem has been affecting the club for some seasons now, with memories of the Roma capitulation still fresh in memory. If they are to return to the summit of European football, Barca must do something about their performances away from home, because their idea of killing off games at home isn't producing positive outcomes.
