Chapter 1: The Glory Days
The story begins in June of 2015, FC Barcelona had just lifted The Champions League Trophy, the most prestigious award in club football for the 5th time in their history and in doing so became the first and only club to date to have completed two trebles. Barća had a certain Lionel Messi, arguably the greatest player to have ever graced a football pitch, playing at the Absolute peak of his powers who along with Neymar and Suarez formed ‘MSN’ the deadliest attacking trio ever in world football.
The midfield and defence were equally formidable with a balanced mix of the legendary old guard like Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, Pique, and Alves along with a plethora of young talent like Rakitic, Ter Stegen and Alba. All in all, Barća had tremendous talent a great coach in Luis Enrique and most importantly a sense of brotherhood within the squad. Things couldn’t have been any better for FC Barcelona and its fans.
Chapter 2: The Signs of Erosion
The 15-16 season began with the emotional departure of a true club legend, Xavi Hernandez, who at the age of 35 decided to gracefully exit the club of his heart on account that his best years were behind him and now the young players should step up and make his position their own. The season roared and Barcelona looked unstoppable from the get-go, even in periods when Messi was injured that Season, Suarez and Neymar never made his absence hurt with exceptional performances.
Till March of 2016, Barcelona was undoubtedly the best team on the Planet but starting in April the team started to lose momentum with losses against their eternal rivals Real Madrid in the league and against Atletico Madrid in the Quarterfinals of the Champions League. Although Barcelona ended the campaign on a better note by Clinching the Laliga Title and The Copa Del Ray there was a sense of regret and a feeling of ‘what could’ve been within the club as Real Madrid lifted the coveted Champions League trophy.
Many put the loss of form in April down to luck and something just sometimes happens in football, no one anticipated that these were the first signs for what was to come in future
Chapter 3: Papering Over the Cracks
The 16-17 season came around with high hopes and lofty expectations but failed to live up to them. This season was one of the most polarising as a Barça fan, consisting of insurmountable highs and stooping lows. This Season FC Barcelona did the famous ‘Remuntada on PSG in the Champions League round of 16 by overturning a 4-0 deficit in the first leg of the contest. This match went down in history as one of the most remarkable Champions League encounters ending with a scoreline of 6-5 in Barcelona’s favour.
Another high point of the season came in a 3-2 win against Real Madrid which kept them in the race for the Laliga title with Messi scoring the winner in the final seconds followed by an iconic celebration in front of the Real Madrid faithful. Unfortunately, the impact of both these performances would be dampened as Barcelona would go out against Juventus in the quarterfinals of the Champions League and also lose the Laliga title at the hands of Real Madrid.
With these poor results many fans turned against the manager and even the seemingly unbreakable unity of the dressing room began to show a few cracks with rumours of spats between players and staff. With all of this playing a major part, Luis Enrique the club manager did not extend his contract and left at the end of the season.
Chapter 4: Messi to the Rescue
Ernesto Valverde was appointed as the new boss with hope and optimism that he would lead Barcelona back to the glory days but it was not to be as the future would soon tell. The unexpected departure of Neymar to PSG for 222 million Euros at the start of the season shocked everyone and left a sour taste for the club and fans alike. The story for the next 2 seasons was fairly straightforward. Barcelona will continue to do well in Laliga, winning It on both occasions, but the Champions League was where the team’s frailties were exposed.
In both seasons Barcelona bowed out of the Champions League in Humiliating fashion first to Roma in the Quarterfinals and then to Liverpool in the Semifinals the next season. The loss was not humiliating in itself rather it was the way these losses were inflicted in both matches Barcelona took a 3-0 advantage in the first leg but ended up crumbling in the 2nd leg.
In this difficult period there was only one ray of hope and happiness for Barcelona fans it was their Messiah Lionel Messi, countless times in these seasons Messi covered up for all the weaknesses in the team and week after week he provided moments of magic to steer the ship in difficult patches. He was the main reason for having a lead against Roma and Liverpool in the first place.
But Alas one man can only do so much as it was just not his day in the second leg. The club and fans were in a state of embarrassment and despair as the 18-19 closed with Barcelona just winning Laliga
Chapter 5: Debacle on and off the Pitch
The 19-20 Season was the one in which things began to visibly fall apart. Barcelona was playing average football, unable to get good results even against weaker opposition and the criticism began to reach its peak. Midway through the Season Ernesto Valverde was sacked and a new coach was appointed after a dismal display against Atletico Madrid.
From here things just went from bad to worse, the new manager Queqe Setien took charge but never really won over the dressing room. All this drama culminated in one of the worst nights in the history of FC Barcelona where they were thrashed 8-2 by Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals of the champions league.
Barcelona had hit rock bottom or so we thought but there was more to come. It was discovered that the Barcelona Board Led by President Joseph Bartomeu had been making horrendous financial decisions and undertaking illegal measures like hiring a social media company to degrade the image of its own players. As a result at the end of the 19-20 season, Barcelona found themselves drowned in financial debt and sporting demise
This is how the story stood at the end of August with Barcelona at rock bottom, the laughing stock for the entire Europe and fans of the club hanging their head in Shame
A lot was to come in the following two years, this journey of Barcelona to where it is now will be covered in a subsequent article
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Visca el Barça
Written by Shagun Shukla
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