For Barcelona, the End of a Campaign, but Not of an Era

Yet again, a bias towards RM and Barca and no credible mention of Atletico and the fact that they have reached the Champions League finals in three of the last four years. No doubt that CR7 and Messi are some of the best players of our time, but credit needs to be given to Griezmann, Carrasco, Gameiro, Saul and even Filipe Luis for their achievements. Griezmann is an absolute joy to watch. Jan Oblak is one of the best goal tenders in history, and has performed far better than Navas and Ter Stegen this season - even though he was absent with an injury for quite awhile. Diego Godin is as good as Sergio Ramos, but gets barely a notice. Atletico is famous for its defense, and not for overwhelming offense or the number of goals scored. Juventus simply out-mastered a team that has lost its way, enabled in my opinion by the ill-timed announcement by Luis Enrique that he is leaving Barca to "rest". I'm glad that Barca has been eliminated, as their egos had grown too big for their own good - as evidenced by Neymar's shameful exit last night with his jersey over his face. They need to just play straight-up and take it like men, no whining and no shenanigans in their attempts to create artificial fouls to obtain an advantage. Their play against PSG was shameful and I'm glad to see that the referees appear to be "on" to their tactics: Suarez was non-existent last night, the team lacked cohesiveness, but there are deeper issues facing them in the near and long-term.

Your subtle addition of Pulisic in that list generates a tremendous sense of hope for U.S. soccer.

As for Smith claiming that Messi, Neymar and Suarez being the best front line ever, I am not at all sure you can put them ahead of Bale, Benzema and CR, but that Milan side that won two straight European Cups with Van Basten leading the line, the Cruyff era Ajax teams, the Bayern of Gerd Muller's era, a couple of guys named Puskas and Di Stefano all have a legitimate claim to the title, but my best ever front line was the sublime Brazil side of 1970, and I don't think it is particularly close.

RM vs BM and Barca vs Juve are not quarterfinals - they are semi -finals in the best sense, if not finals. Luck of the draw allows LC to play AM and Monaco against Dortmund. Would we be having this conversation if Barca had played any of those?

The fact that Barcelona entered this game on a 3-0 deficit against Juvie and could not score a single goal in the 2nd leg, does speak volumes of their decline in the past two years, Messi's brilliance not withstanding. And yes, while Barce has the financial capacity to buy and endless stream of talent, integrating that talent into a coherent team does not happen by itself. I love Barca but am also prepared to face reality.

Would be nice for a new team to lift the trophy!!! Go Monaco!!!

Barca has the trident, but little else. the midfield and backfield failed this year. Who is their to get excited about , Umtitti? Sergi? and why Enrique demotic the Croat is like making borscht without cabbage. Major overhaul needed. B will be lucky to win the Copa.

It's always fun to watch Luis Suarez.
He looks like Freddie Mercury, and there's always the chance he'll bite someone.
Who says soccer is boring?

I concur with the author as it is established fact that Messi is clearly the best "player" of his generation to anyone that isn't a Madrista or CR fan.
Now CR is clearly one of the better "strikers" of his generation.
CR's never been a playmaker and at the same time leading team scorer like Messi and never will be as that is not his want or skill. CR has learned to assist more I'll give him that. CR rarely if ever tracks back and plays anything that could be remotely construed as defensive futbol either. I've never seen him run 75 yards and pick a ball of the boot of an opposing attacker.
Someone posted earlier that CR WON all these tournaments?
First off no player in a sport of eleven vs. eleven wins a tournament.
That's a common fallacy in any sport.
The '16 Euros? CR scored 3 goals in total, 2 against a Hungarian bar tender masquerading as keeper and CR did nothing in the final as he whimpered off from a bump from Dmitri Poyet.
CR's first goal against Bayern in the CL semi came off a defender's head, his second? Alaba left him all alone and there wasn't a defender within 5 yards of CR as he brilliantly slotted it in, his third was 5 yards off side. Those are facts.
I love the Messi/Ronaldo comparisons but the CR fans that claim he is the best are in the minority. What amazes me most about CR is how many goals he scores when he is unmarked while Messi generally has 3-4, 5 attackers collapsing on him when he gets the ball.

Once again an article from this writer that is short on facts, long on emotion, and nearly useless to the fact-based reader (me, anyway). Many decades ago I liked about Times sports journalism that it was fact-oriented and thoughtful, unlike the other papers' emotion-ridden, unanalytical writing. The Times lost that advantage when it absorbed the sports writers of the dying Herald-Tribune and World-Telegram, and it has never really recovered. Honestly, I hate writing like this. I can supply my own feelings; I don't need a "reporter" (who doesn't report much) to help me.

And no significant mention of the two mighty Mancunian Clubs?! City because of their money, and United because of their historical pedigree, will be back!

Full credit to Juve. They are a stunningly effective, disciplined and composed side, well coached and are by far the best defensive side left in the Champion's league.
They are a master class in tactical futbol discipline and execution.

Congratulations to all four semi-finalists.

We just were not good enough this year and Barca as an organization has many problems, some which are self induced.
Several very questionable and ineffective player acquisitions earmarked for key roles.
Letting a player like Alves go and on a free transfer was a colossal blunder.
We also have a woefully inadequate bench, aging players that have played at such a high level for club and country for a long time.

Clearly our cantera has failed to produce the magical players of years past. And Luis Enrique
was not the tactical adjuster he should have been.
Who will take over as manager?

Remember Barca also has the best player ever in Lionel Messi and Leo is far from done.

Barca will ascend once again albeit most assuredly in a different iteration, under different tutelage and new squad members in key positions.
It will surely take awhile.

Visca Barca!

I think the author is showing his bias towards Messi here. Stating, "Barcelona will still have an attack built around Messi, the greatest player of his generation," as if it was a well established fact, without mentioning Cristiano Ronaldo who won the Champions League (UCL) in 2015/2016 and 2013/2014, as well as the Euro with Portugal in 2016, not to mention all his other achievements, *and* who scored 5 goals against Bayern Munich in the other quarterfinal, is baffling. People can argue about who is better till the cows come home, but simply stating that one is the best without mentioning the other is shoddy journalism.
The rest of the article basically states the obvious which is that the power teams in Europe will remain powerful and dominate the competitions. To me, European football would be wise to take a page out of U.S. sports, and introduce a draft and salary cap. Seeing the big teams beat up on minnows in their leagues whose entire 11 on the field earn less than one mega star is dull. On the other hand, U.S. leagues could also learn and dump the playoffs. You win the regular season, you are champion, period.
Go Monaco!

All well said, but how about a smidgen of credit for the underdog winners? Juventus kicked Barcelona’s butt 3-0 at home in Turin and held them scoreless at Nou Camp, where foot-stomping Barcelona fans triggered a mild earthquake during their team’s victory over Paris Saint-Germain. The huge-bucks teams have stellar talent, but what’s remarkable is how good, motivated and capable of winning the so called also-rans are.

It's interesting that the article doesn't consider the fate of Manchester United: the world's richest football club, with the world's most expensive player, but looking likely to finish in fifth place or below in its domestic league for the third year in four since their talismanic manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, retired.

English clubs generally are proving that, when domestic competition is fierce, even competing for Europe's big prizes is not a given - never mind perennial upper-echelon status.

I would never argue the veracity of Rory Smith's logic, but I do wonder if Barcelonas style of play will be an impediment to them returning to be the dominant team they were.

I am a Madridista but it is sad to watch the great Iniesta not being able to do what he used to do, win games for Barcelona, and for Spain. He is such a great, and classy, player but time waits for no one.
Neymar is currently Barcelona's best player but he is not ready yet to start carrying the team. The only way Barcelona could have won the champions league was if the great CR7 was playing for them. That ain't gonna ever happen

The only commentators that are promoting and wishing for the demise of both Barcelona and Bayern Munich are the Brits. One can sense and hear the jealousy in their voices either calling/commenting on a game. Given the fact that no English team has reached the semi of the Champions League in 10 years.
When was last time the Three Lions win WC?
Almost sixty years ago.

The Italians have perfected the art of catenaccio.
The Azzurri have four WCs to prove it.
We saw how Juve defended yesterday aginst the immortals Catalans.The fearsome and super talented trio of Messi, Neymar, and Suarez couldn't penetrate The Wall that Massimiliano Allegri devised. To get a clean sheet @ Camp Nou is unheard-of.
Well done indeed.

Despite astronomical & ever-increasing player transfer fees, enduring success is built upwards from the academies. Barca & Bayern - even without mega-bucks from CL - will remain just fine.

First, congratulation to Juventus Football Club.
I would love to see a FC Barcelona goal today even if i knew already that its going to be very difficult for them to overcome a 3 goals deficits.

Smith missed the points, and there are two to make.
Barcelona's goalkeeping and defense have both declined, fairly precipitously, and the domination of the ball by a midfield of Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets is but a memory.
The second point was that the era of the La Masia grown Barcelona squad is also passing quickly. In the first leg against Juventus, when they were basically run off the pitch, there were only four homegrowns playing: Pique, Iniesta, Messi and Sergi Roberto. Was it only a couple of years ago when they had a match with all eleven starters homegrown?
Now the young homegrowns like Guardiola's 2009 treble winners looks much more like Monaco, irresistable against both Manchester City and Dortmund, 12 goals in four knockout matches, pretty heady stuff.
Bayern has begun their traditional retooling, by strip mining the rest of the Bundesliga. They saw the up and coming side being Hoffenheim, and nipped in for the midyear signings of Hoffenheim captain Sebastian Rudy and rising center of defense adonis Nicklas Sule. But now Borussia Dortmund does the same thing, having divided the attentions midyear of Leverkusen defender Omer Toprak, who isn't any better than what BVB already has, and central midfield starlet Mahmoud Dahoud from Gladbach. And as long as Thomas Tuchel thinks that Erik Durm and Raphael Guerriero give him a better chance to win than Ousmane Dembele and Christian Pulisic, well, I can't help him. And P-E Aubameyang looks like he wants to find the exit.

This was a strange season for Barca. Of course, Messi, Neymar, and Suarez are superlative and the team will always be a threat while they have the trident. But after those three, the team has looked surprisingly ordinary this year. Busquets, for years considered the best defensive midfielder of his generation, has been intermittently bad this year. Is that decline or an aberration due to injuries? Iniesta can't be relied on for 90 minutes consistently, and does not conjure the same magic that he did a few years ago. Pique and Umtiti have both performed OK, but the defense has leaked goals and has looked vulnerable to even weak teams. Where else on this team would you find players that could start for Real Madrid, Bayern, Atletico, or even the top four English teams? If everybody except the MSN are not that great, is it reasonable to expect Barcelona to be dominant?

We'll see how the next coach does. Luis Enrique had his strengths, but he did nothing to encourage development of younger players (except, strangely, Andres Gomes). Will younger players be given a chance to step up and rejuvenate a team that has looked tired and brittle all year?

If a team has big money, they can always restock. That is the one inevitable advantage that "great" clubs have. An equitable distribution of television money would be of great help in making championships more attractive. In the Spanish league, more than half of the teams pose no threat to the Madrid/Barcelona duo. Often the championship is determined by the results of the two games these teams play with one another. Nevertheless, there is a slight change in the equation. A Barcelona victory is no longer inevitable. They still win, but the win is slightly harder to get, and, because of it, it's more interesting watching the games.
I would like the draw to put the two Madrid teams in the semi-finals. It would be too much of a bore to have both of them in the final.