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#1 The club's poor run of form this season
Barcelona ended last season by falling to Liverpool in the Champions League and Valencia in the Copa del Rey and in hindsight, these were premonitions of what was to follow this term.
The Catalans begun their La Liga defence in the worst possible way, losing 1-0 away to Athletic Bilbao on the opening day and things got worse from then on, with Barcelona winning just two of their opening five league matches.
Results picked up significantly following the return of Lionel Messi but by then, the seeds of doubts had already been planted about Ernesto Valverde's inability to effectively manage the club.
There have been some positive results this season, with victories over Sevilla, and Atletico Madrid in the league, as well as wins over Inter Milan and Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League but there have been far more unconvincing results.
Losses to Levante and Granada were shocking to say the least, while there were also inspiring stalemates against Real Madrid, Osasuna, Real Sociedad, and bottom-placed Espanyol.
The latest setback came when Barcelona fell to a comeback defeat against Atletico Madrid, a team that they have not lost to since April 2016.
The defeat meant that the Catalans could not defend their Spanish Super Cup title and apparently, this was one setback too many this season for Barcelona.
