A 3-0 loss to Bayern Munich was the last lump of soil put in the grave of Barcelona. An epitaph which was finally completed, says, “Here lies a team who dominated Europe once.”
Where it all began
Digging of the grave arguably started in 2017. But looking back in time closely, the downfall of this team, for whom once anything less than semi-final in the Champions League was seen as a failure to succumbing in the Europa league started in 2014. More specifically after signing a certain star - Neymar.
Not that Neymar destroyed Barcelona. But his 4 years at the club created a butterfly effect which brought Baca down to right where they are now. Let’s analyse it.
Neymar was bought by Barcelona in the summer of 2013 after a disastrous 7-0 defeat against Bayern where they felt the necessity to bring someone who can take the pressure off from Messi. Neymar’s dream campaign in the confederations cup also played a role.
How much Neymar fulfilled those expectations is a debate. But he was good for Barcelona winning 1 UCL, 2 League, league cups, A UEFA Super Cup and Club World Cup each, and also 2 Spanish Super Cups.
He had 105 goals to his name with 76 assists in that 4 seasons. Not to mention the glorious performance against PSG in one of the greatest comebacks ever. But this signing of Neymar created a series of events.
Neymar was reportedly bought by Barcelona for €57.1 million. Later, it was revealed that the sum was much higher, €86.2 million to be precise.
The then-president Sandro Rossell resigned from Barcelona after being accused of that fraud. Thus, Josep Maria Bartomeu, the vice-president claimed the throne. And what Bartomeu brought to the club afterwards is beyond description.
Isco and Sanchez
While buying Neymar, another player in the form of Isco was available in the market who openly shared his dream of joining Barcelona. He was also one of the hottest prospects of world football, let alone Spanish football. He might have been a perfect replacement for Andres Iniesta.
But Barcelona did not even contemplate that opportunity because they were so obsessed with Neymar.
In the process, they also had to let go of Sanchez who, even after his initial struggle, totally adapted to the functions of Barcelona in his last season. His 21 goals and 16 assists in that season resonate with that statement. He was also peaking as a player which was later proved by his Arsenal days. He was a much cheaper option.
But that didn’t hurt much because after that season, Barcelona had a great transfer window in the summer of 2014 and the glorious MSN trio was built.
They won their second-ever treble in that season. This triumph was a curse in disguise. Because in the next election, Bartomeu used ‘MSN’ in his election campaign with the slogan - “The trident, the treble.” He then became the president for the next 5 years.
Neymar's transfer
Let’s get back to 2017 again. In a shocking turn of events, Neymar left Barcelona for PSG for a mammoth €222 million. This took the transfer window by storm.
At that time, Messi was 30, Suarez was 30, Iniesta was 33, Raktic was 29, Mascherano was 33, Pique was 30. Barcelona needed to find replacements of almost a whole squad who were on the wrong side of the 30s.
The bright side of having Neymar was that he could replace Messi. So Barcelona could let that part go and try to replace others.
Neymar leaving at that moment was sort of a betrayal to them and also a huge setback to any potential plans they had for the future. So the topic of replacement of others got shadowed by the topic of Messi’s replacement. The Catalan club had to deal with the issue politically as well.
A club in identity crisis
Politically because, at that time, joining the teams like Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Bayern Munich was thought to be the absolute pinnacle of a player’s career. Assumably, at the highest point of their career, players could join these teams.
So a player on his peak leaving such clubs for anyone except the rest three was straightforward unexpected. Barcelona’s big club identity was at stake. They had to react quickly and they did that by buying two over-priced players.
Dembele was brought position-wise, and Coutinho politically. Coutinho was, as said by the president, brought to replace Iniesta. But he was never even near to that expectation. Both these signings failed miserably and to cover that, they bought Griezmann for 120 million.
As other clubs knew Barcelona had 222 million in cash from Neymar’s transfer, and that Barcelona were desperate to splash the amount, so every club tried to cash in from the situation. Players like Arthur and Malcolm cost 40 million.
Another point is that, after Neymar left for more salary– the then second highest-paid athlete in Barcelona, 3rd highest in the world– it raised a concern that maybe Barcelona doesn’t value others as much as they did Messi. So they needed to provide astronomical wages to everyone else. All these created the massacre of a situation in which they are now.
Had Barcelona not focused on Neymar in 2013, had they bought Isco, had Sanchez stayed, they could have avoided the domino effect that tore the club apart.
Maybe, they would not have won the treble. But then again, so much for one treble; everyone entitled to Barcelona will ask themselves now, “Was it really worth it?”
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