Four things Barcelona must do to return to their best

Dubai

As Sir Alex Ferguson famous exclamation perfectly encapsulated after his Manchester United side stunned Bayern Munich with two late strikes to win the 1999 Champions League final – ‘Football, b***** hell!’ – the capricious Beautiful Game has the ceaseless capacity to amaze even the most seasoned of supporters.

But who, with all their faculties intact, could have predicted the savage and shocking beating Bayern meted out to a side widely lauded as the best team in history, Barcelona, in the Champions League semi-final earlier this month?

A 7-0 aggregate triumph for the German champions was fully merited and, in fact, they could have won even more convincingly had they taken the succession of chances they created.

As the old joke goes, the Spanish champions-elect were lucky to get nil. For this was a jaw-dropping humiliation on a grand scale, as embarrassing and ignominious as having your pants pulled down while being beaten repeatedly over the head, cartoon style, with a wet fish to the point of concussion.

Shorn of their ailing talisman Lionel Messi, Barcelona lacked inspiration, perspiration and penetration, their depleted and suspect defence tormented by Jupp Heynckes’ imperious outfit.

Lacklustre performances in defeats to Real Madrid in the league and Spanish Cup and in earlier rounds of the Champions League (away losses to Celtic and AC Milan and an angst-ridden two-legged victory over Paris St Germain in the quarter-final) had hinted at a diminishing of Tito Vilanova’s men’s powers despite their irrepressible league form.

But no one could have predicted the nadir to follow.

Indeed, so comprehensive was Bayern’s victory that many commentators believe it portends an end of an era for the Blaugrana, whose recent glories have been summarily and unjustly consigned to the wastepaper bin of history by some unforgiving critics.

So are Barcelona really in terminal decline, or can minor surgery address a short-term malaise?

Gulf News examines the ‘ills’ they need to cure in order to become an outfit capable of competing with the Teutonic titans of Munich.

It‘s always been an unspoken truth that Barcelona are over-reliant on Lionel Messi. However, his extraordinary record of regularly playing every minute of every match have meant Tito Vilanova’s side have never had to accept a grim reality – a life without Messi.

But, after the Spanish champions-elect toiled without him (or when he was half-fit) against both Bayern Munich and Paris St Germain in the Champions League this season, their attacks one-paced and predictable, the open secret about what the Spanish media have labelled “Messidependencia” has become a truth universally acknowledged.

In Barcelona’s defence, who wouldn’t miss a footballer of such celestial gifts, the magical ability to conjure up a goal out of nothing and a goalscoring record more redolent of schoolboy football?

But Messi is (and this is hard to believe at times) only human, not a PlayStation player as Arsene Wenger once colourfully called him, and is prone to injury like mere mortals.

As such, it is a matter of extreme urgency that Barcelona find a way of addressing the intractable problem of replacing the irreplaceable when he’s injured or needs a rest.

The experiment of using Cesc Fabregas in Messi’s ‘false nine’ position – a floating central forward and not an out-and-out striker – was an unmitigated failure against both PSG and Bayern.

Fabregas lacks the speed, guile and sheer unpredictable genius of the man he grew up with at La Masia.

The under-performing David Villa has also not adequately filled the little genius’ boots when given the chance to play in his favoured central striking berth and is expected to move this summer.

Barcelona therefore lack someone else other than Messi, who possesses the invention to surprise and unlock the packed and well-organised rearguards the Catalans routinely face at the highest level.

According to some sources, including the well-informed Spanish journalist Guillem Balague, Barcelona are poised to sign a man who fits the bill perfectly, the precocious and much coveted Brazilian Neymar. Balague told Gulf News earlier this year that Barcelona have already paid €10 million (Dh47.4 million) towards the €40 million transfer fee for the Santos striker.

It was widely assumed that Neymar would move to the Nou Camp after the World Cup in his homeland next year, but Barcelona are believed to be keen to expedite his arrival to relieve Messi of the burden of being creator-in-chief and goalscorer extraordinaire.

Yet, if Neymar, a sublimely talented, snake-hipped striker, who can play wide or through the middle like Messi, remains in Brazil for another season, many pundits believe Barcelona already possess a striking talent capable of adding much-needed support to the Argentinian.

That man is Barcelona B team starlet, 19-year-old Gerard Deulofeu, who plays predominantly on the right wing, but who can also play in a central role.

YouTube clips of Deulofeu, who has made a handful of substitute appearances for the first team since 2011, reveal he possesses electric speed, good close control and can score goals (he’s scored 18 to date in Spain’s Segunda Division).

Reinforce their

defence

Barcelona’s unrivalled monopoly of possession in every match they play has often disguised their lack of defensive rigour. But what Real Madrid and, more ruthlessly, Bayern Munich have shown in recent times is that rapier-like thrusts on the counter-attack and crosses into the penalty box can cause Tito Vilanova’s men to go into headless chicken mode.

In the defence of their defence, it must be pointed out that the injury-enforced absences of Eric Abidal (due to liver cancer), the lionhearted, lion-haired captain and central defensive bulwark (Carles Puyol) and Javier Mascherano have been grievous blows this season.

That said, it is imperative that Barcelona sign a new central defender in the summer, preferably above 6ft, with Borussia Dortmund’s classy youngster Mats Hummels a rumoured target.

The battle-weary and ageing Puyol cannot be relied upon to play most games any more, so a young and thrusting centre-half is desperately needed to galvanise a vulnerable backline.

Goalkeeper Victor Valdes could also leave the Nou Camp this summer, following his rejection of a new contract beyond 2014. While Valdes is a fine shot-stopper, he remains unconvincing at times when high balls are launched into the box.

A goalkeeper capable of dealing with such tactics is therefore another priority.

Tito Vilanova would also be advised to curb the attacking instincts of his marauding wing-backs Dani Alves and Jordi Alba, whose lack of defensive nous was exploited continually by the incisive incursions of Bayern’s pacy wingers, Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben, during the Champions League semi-final.

Vary their tactics

When the pass masters of European football get it right – as they did in their 5-0 destruction of Real Madrid at the Nou Camp in 2010 – their dizzying passing carousel, as Sir Alex Ferguson once called it, is an unplayable delight to behold. But, if slowed down and faced with a packed midfield and defence, while still pleasing to the eye, the so-called tika-taka can appear meaningless and lacking in penetration.

One might venture, for instance, that closing down the gaps into which Barcelona can thread their precision passes can render their tactics as impotent as a lovesick teenager charming the object of his affections with a succession of love notes without consummating the relationship.

It’s therefore high time Barcelona developed a plan B to help them bypass the prosaic tactic of what Jose Mourinho called “parking the bus”, ie getting most of the team to camp in their own half.

Barcelona will never abandon their signature style, a doctrine ingrained in their youth players and nor should they.

But incorporating the element of surprise into a renowned modus operandi is vital. For instance, very rarely do Barcelona players dare to unleash a strike from the edge of the box, preferring not to deviate from their deeply ingrained “possession is everything” mentality.

More spontaneous, sudden shots on goal – think Andres Iniesta’s delicious, vicious prod with the outside of his right boot in the 2009 Champions League semi-final against Chelsea – should therefore be encouraged.

One of former boss Pep Guardiola’s most significant masterstrokes was making Barcelona not only the most attractive side in Europe, but also the hardest working.

On the rare occasions that his team of ball-hogging maestros were not in possession, he succeeded in getting supreme footballing artists such as Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi to become akin to rabid hounds snapping at the heels of rival players in an attempt to get back their most cherished object.

In order to accelerate his players’ ball-pilfering, he created a time limit of six seconds in which they had to try and win back possession. The marriage of silky skills and relentless pressing was an irresistible cocktail for Barcelona, and helped shield their shaky defence from serious examination.

But under Vilanova, only on rare occasions has the same high-intensity harrying been witnessed, their 4-0 rout of AC Milan in the Champions League a coruscating example.

Against Bayern Munich, though, it was ironically the Germans – who have made no secret of borrowing the best of Barcelona – who out-pressed the princes of pressing.

Barcelona’s players, many of whom appear fatigued and lacking in inspiration towards the denouement of another draining campaign, in contrast were slow to close down their faster and stronger rivals. A return to old and highly effective habits would do Barcelona the power of good.