“Bayern Munich will destroy Barcelona”, “Lewandowski will show Messi who is boss”, “Barca will be humiliated 7-0 vs Bayern again” – Signed: Anonymous Internet trolls hiding behind a keyboard all around the world.
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, shall we?
Barcelona qualified for the Champions League quarter-finals by defeating Napoli (3-1 on the return leg and 4-2 on aggregate), showing a slight improvement on their recent La Liga performances in the process. During the first 45 minutes of that match, the Catalans were effective in front of goal and benefitted from the on-fire version of a refreshed Lionel Messi. After the halftime break, they focused on somehow administering that advantage to progress to the next round.
As we analysed in a lot more detail in our latest The Barcelona Podcast, the Blaugranes were far from convincing. Despite having just enjoyed a two-week break, many players still looked slow and tired, with key protagonists such as Luis Suarez or Griezmann were still far from the level Barça needed from them.
Listen to The Barcelona Podcast for our in-depth Napoli analysis and Bayern Munich preview now:
There’s no two ways about it: The style of play that Setien promised when he was hired as our manager is a million years away from what Barca is showing under his leadership – as proved by their 48% overall possession or the fact that the Catalans did not have a single shot on goal in the second half vs Napoli.
Unfortunately, I suspect that Setien is betraying his own Cruyffist ideals because he doesn’t believe he has the necessary tools at his disposal when looking at first-team player options and, clearly, he just doesn’t trust Barca B youngsters enough.
Given his impact at Barcelona so far, it is obvious that Setien has not added anything that Valverde couldn’t have – and that’s not a sentence that anybody should have ever been forced to type. Ever.
Veteran first-team players seem to know this and actually run with it, most likely due to their crude self-analysis and acceptance of their limited capabilities at this stage of their careers.
As I debated with Dan in our latest The Barcelona Podcast, the Catalans must assume their limitations if they are to have any chance of defeating the much more intense and relentless Bayern they will face in Lisbon on Friday.
Barca’s obvious physical (and mental) limitations can no longer be dressed up. They must be assumed, accepted and worked on. There is no choice. Sure, this is a hard pill to swallow for us Culers but, in 2020 and with a starting XI with an average age of almost 29, this is what our reality is.
Barcelona must accept that their only possibly successful game plan against Bayern Munich is to push as hard forward as they can in the first half and hope their defensive scheme allows them to survive the second.
Would that be enough to beat the mighty Bayern, a team clearly with more reliable attacking options upfront, more physical and more mentally ready for a tight battle? Doubtful, but the Germans should not underestimate a team with that much collective experience, winning pedigree and Messi in their starting XI.
Culers must trust that their players will try their best, compete as if their lives depended on it and, ultimately, hope that Messi produces a couple of extraordinary moments which could enable their team to defeat the undisputable favourites to win the 2020 Champions League in Lisbon.
Barcelona are only three games away from Champions League glory and, despite no longer being the dominant, attacking team Culers used to love, it is now time to get behind the players – there will be plenty of opportunities to analyse the reasons that took our beloved club to this point once the season is over.
Francesc Tomàs is a Catalan columnist featured in ESPN, The Guardian and many others. Born and raised minutes away from the Camp Nou, Francesc has been sharing his opinionated views with thousands of faithful Culer listeners via The Barcelona Podcast since 2017.
