Barcelona look set to finish the season without a trophy, after they crashed out of the Europa League against Eintracht Frankfurt on Thursday night. The defeat was unexpected, as Xavi Hernandez’s side came into the game on the back of a 15-match unbeaten streak, but the most surprising aspect was the manner in which they lost.
Going back to the start of the season, it was clear that Barcelona were in for an extremely difficult campaign.
The Blaugrana had lost Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann, while their finances to strengthen the squad were extremely limited. Also, the relationship between Joan Laporta and Ronald Koeman was at its lowest ebb, after the Barcelona president had failed to replace him in the summer.
With a mounting injury list, Barcelona were eliminated from the Champions League at the group stage, with humbling defeats against Benfica and Bayern Munich.
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Xavi’s arrival signalled a turning point in the season and he was allowed to bring in four new players to bolster the squad. However, he was also unsuccessful in the cup competitions, as Barcelona lost to Real Madrid in the Supercopa de Espana semi-final, before they were defeated by Athletic Club in the Copa del Rey.
Optimism… before Barcelona’s latest elimination
From that point, the team began to improve significantly, as results picked up and the side triumphed 4-0 in El Clasico at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu.
There was enormous optimism at the club, and they targeted not only the Europa League but also the LaLiga Santander title, despite the points gap to Real Madrid.
However, everything fell apart on Thursday night. Once again hampered by injuries, Xavi was without Gerard Pique, Pedri came off before half time and Frenkie de Jong missed out through illness.
The Barcelona coach watched his side put in their worst performance in a long time, as they saw yet another trophy evade them.
