Sport
Despite El Clasico win, Barcelona aren’t “back” yet
Gerard Pique’s Twitter feed should always be taken with a pinch of salt. It has been four-and-a-half years since he posted a photograph with Barcelona teammate Neymar captioned ‘he’s staying’ mere days before the Brazilian signed for Paris Saint-Germain. But he wasn’t the only person to make the claim he did on Sunday evening.
Three simple words reverberated around the platform; ‘we are back’. The world was still coming to terms with what it had just seen; Barcelona, who had been completely written off as a basket case after a chaotic summer which saw Lionel Messi, almost undisputed as their greatest ever player, forced to leave due to financial issues, had just beaten Real Madrid 4-0 in El Clasico at the Santiago Bernabéu.
Debts had reached almost €2bn; there were some who believed no club, not even Barcelona who had dominated football not a decade before, could regain their place as an elite force in the game. They were lucky to still be standing; the best case scenario was a serious reset and the sort of transition which would take years to overcome.
Naturally, things got worse after Messi’s departure. The restoration had already begun when Joan Laporta, the man who instilled Barcelona as the club of the 21st century, was elected for another term as president 11 years after stepping down. Alongside from the disastrous money management, there was a sense that the club’s identity was eroding, and before anything else, they needed to get it back. Ronald Koeman was seen as the face of this style crisis, despite ironically scoring the winner in the 1992 European Cup final under Johan Cruyff, the man who instilled the high-pressing, possession-based ‘total football’ at the club.
Koeman was replaced by Xavi, a key player in the glory years of Laporta’s first reign and a true disciple of what has rather sanctimoniously could be dubbed the ‘Barcelona DNA’. His implementation as coach was seen as vital in the grand plan of kickstarting the club’s future.
Exiting the Champions League group stage, and dropping into the Europa League for the first time since 2003/04, was a stark reminder that Xavi couldn’t wave a magic wand, but it would be an exaggeration to say anybody expected what happened at the weekend. The improvement has been incredible; signings like Ferran Torres and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang have been transformative, building on the capable base of midfielders like Gavi and Pedri. The reintegration of Ousmane Dembele after he was effectively blacklisted has proven a masterstroke. Xavi has made Barcelona look like themselves again, and their performance at the weekend was their strongest case for improvement yet.
Perhaps some perspective is needed, though. Getting excited over what Xavi’s Barcelona could be in years to come is understandable; after years of decline and difficulty, there is a buzz around the club again. He is seen, rather unfairly, as the heir to Pep Guardiola; there are similarities in their beliefs and approaches, but polar opposites in circumstances. Victory at Real Madrid was emphatic; there was a purity and a dominance about the performance which stirred the idea of a new era and a page being turned. It is far from ridiculous to make that suggestion; the scoreline reverberated around Europe, to use a cliché, and it will stand in the history books, but the result said as much about Madrid’s issues as it did Barcelona’s great new dawn. This was not the 2-6 in 2009, weeks before Guardiola’s side completed the treble; there is so much more work to do.
There was a sense of difference and new ground; attempting to reign in the hyperbole is not denouncing any of that. It is so easy to get swept away; that is what fans do, and narrative does. Everybody loves a redemption arc, but it is worth remembering the depths of the hole Barcelona found themselves in; they have been dismissed somewhat by the arrivals of Xavi, Torres and Aubameyang, but it will take years to recover. Of course, the definition of recovery could differ for some people; given the issues both Madrid clubs have faced this season, La Liga title challenges could be in the pipeline soon, but if winning the Champions League is the bar, and it really ought to be, then it will be a long road.
The difference between Barcelona and Bayern Munich was stark in the group phase; add in Manchester City and Liverpool and it is difficult to imagine a competitive side right now. That is what ‘back’ should mean, but things are on the right track at least.
Looking at Inter, Milan, Arsenal and Manchester United, there is serious precedent for big clubs taking years to regain their previous levels. In most cases, clubs never do; but Barcelona’s level was so high at their peak, reaching only 70% of that would be a positive. Given the hell the club has been through in recent weeks by any elite standard, to even consider a near future with them as a real force shows the incredible work Xavi has done. Sunday’s Clasico win was little more than a spark in a much wider picture.
