Barcelona were put of their misery by the match referee at the end of their Champions League humiliation by Bayern Munich.
It was as if Damir Skomina could no longer bear to watch, blowing the full-time whistle before the full two minutes of stoppage time had even been played. The German champions had scored three goals in the final eight minutes. Philippe Coutinho had helped himself to a double against his parent club.
Bayern’s romp to victory made them the first team ever to score eight goals in a Champions League knockout match.
Barcelona’s capitulation handed themselves their biggest defeat since 1951 in a historic night in Lisbon.
Barcelona in Chaos as Drastic Changes Are Asked For
Lionel Messi Leading Calls for Change
Perhaps the worst aspect of last night’s Barcelona performance is that the whole football world could see it coming.
Two years ago, in the same competition, the Catalans brought a 4-1 first-leg lead to Roma for the second leg of their quarter-final. After Roma went through with a 3-0 victory on home soil, many were calling it the greatest European capitulation of all time.
One year on from that and Barcelona had outdone themselves again. Messi and co. took a 3-0 lead to Liverpool in the semi-finals of the competition last season. However, they managed to lose 4-0 at Anfield.
Failure after failure keeps coming back to haunt this team. In the 2019/20 La Liga season, they returned from the Coronavirus-induced lockdown to throw away their lead at the top of the table. It meant that they surrendered their title to Real Madrid.
Such events prompted Lionel Messi to describe his side as ‘a weak team who can be beaten with enough intensity and enthusiasm.’
The Argentine great is correct, of course. His point has been proven by results on the pitch in each of the last three seasons.
Messi would go on to mention a ‘need to be self-critical, starting with the players, but also across the entire club. We are Barcelona, and we are obliged to win every game.’
This alarming assessment of the state of his club exposes the opinion that Barcelona is a club in disarray from top to bottom. Problems run far deeper than results on the pitch.
Gerard Pique Demands Action From Barcelona Hierarchy
Manager Quique Setien will be immediately relieved of his duties following last night’s embarrassing showing, according to reports.
However, Barcelona players want that to be the first change of many within the corridors of power at the club this summer.
Sporting director Eric Abidal clashed with Messi in February over the players’ attitude, but kept his job. It remains to be seen whether that will remain the case over the coming days.
Josep Maria Bartomeu is also under fire, with fans and pundits taking to social media to attack the president for destroying the club from within.
Gerard Pique spoke to the media yesterday night to call for wholesale change within the club’s hierarchy.
“This [defeat] is very painful but I hope it serves some purpose… We all need to reflect deeply, the club needs lots of changes, I’m not talking about the coach, players – I don’t want to point the finger at anyone but the club needs changes on a structural level,” he said.
“If new blood needs to come for the club to change course then I’m not untouchable and I’ll be the first to leave if needs be, because it seems as if we’ve hit rock bottom.
“We all have to reflect about what is the best thing for the club and for Barca.”
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