Barcelona: from riches to rags

The date is May 28th, 2011. Wembley Stadium, London. The closing seconds of the Champions League Final. Whistles echo around the field. Manchester United Goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar kicks the ball downfield just as the final whistle blows. Barcelona have beaten United 3–1 in a rampant display. Barcelona players who were on the touchline now flood onto the pitch to celebrate. Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola and his counterpart Sir Alex Ferguson shake hands out of great respect for each other. United players and fans bow their heads and cover their faces, but deep down they know they’ve been beaten by one of history's greatest teams. 

This was Barcelona’s crowning achievement. Arguably no other team had so few equals. Fans, coaches, and players demanded success in the Champions League. However, success was a double-edged sword. Continued progression would lead to them facing Barcelona at some point. It was inevitable. Many called it “A long and painful death”. 

In his book Alex Ferguson: My Autobiography, Ferguson, who lost to Barcelona in the 2008 final as well, wrote that “The 2011 bunch were at the height of their powers… I had to wrestle with the knowledge that we were a really good team but had encountered one that had handled those two finals better than us.”

Barcelona were just as ruthless domestically. The Blaugranas had just annihilated bitter rivals Real Madrid 5-0, sleepwalking their way to a third straight La Liga title. The word dominance would be an understatement—I think the word butchery is better suited. Though Real Madrid were never far behind Barcelona in the league, Los Blancos were never seen as favorites against them. When Barcelona turned up the heat, Madrid might as well have been butter in the pan. 

So what was their secret sauce? Amongst their exceptionally talented squad were four humble, quiet players. Andreas Iniesta, Xavi, Sergio Busquets, and Lionel Messi. At first glance, you’d be more intimidated by an oatmeal cookie. But try to get the ball from them, and you’ll soon remember what you had for lunch. Guardiola’s style of Tiki-Taka play was a series of one touch passes that completely took opponents out of the game. His idea was to make the opponents lose concentration, then capitalize on it.

How did Barcelona acquire these players? Yes, they did dip their toes into the transfer market, buying the likes of Dani Alves, Eric Abidal, and Zlatan Ibrahimović. However, their key to success was in their academy, La Masia. While transferred players needed time to adjust to Barça’s style of play, academy players had been playing “The Barcelona Way” for their whole lives. They didn’t have to adjust to the system because they were the system. This worked so well that seven players of Spain's 2010 World Cup winning team had came from the Academy.

In 2008, Club President Joan Laporta was falsely accused of money laundering, severely damaging his reputation. He was succeeded by Sandro Rosell in the following presidential election. Rosell may have come right after Laporta, but their philosophies couldn’t have been more different. While Laporta was patient and preferred developing young talent, Rosell wanted instant success, dipping into the transfer market for players who were already in their prime. 

This went against Barcelona’s philosophy. Rosell’s marquee signings would take the spot of a talented academy player, stunting their development. The temple which the football world looked at with envy was, in the eyes of Rossel, a dirty dish towel that he wouldn’t touch.

In 2014, Rosell was found guilty of mishandling the funds from Neymar’s transfer, and was sacked. However, the damage was done. Rosell had set the precedent for the next in line, Josep Bartomeu. He continued with the lavish spending, and the disrespect for La Masia. 

When Neymar eventually left Barca to join PSG in 2017, the Parisians had to fork over a whopping 222 million euros. Now, under a competent owner such as Laporta, the money would have been used to fund the academy, or pay off debt. But as soon as the January transfer window rolled around, Bartomeu had only one thing in mind: Another flashy Brazilian player. He found that in Phillipe Coutinho, for 142 million euros. 

And It didn't end with Coutinho. The Blaugrana would continue to spend, spend, spend, even when the well went dry. The Blaugrana would compensate for an expensive but disappointing player with another expensive but disappointing player. The cracks that Bartomeu was papering over were the result of his own negligence.

These small cracks became fractures, which became gashes. As the years went on, their superstars from 2011 grew older. In 2015, Blaugrana legend Xavi turned 35 and departed for Qatar. Two years passed, and Iniesta was on his way out as well. Just this year, arguably the greatest player ever, Lionel Messi, had to leave due to Barcelona’s financial woes.

Had things gone Laporta’s way, Barcelona would have had multiple options to replace Iniesta and Xavi. However, when the time came to address these absences, Barcelona brought in Kevin-Prince Boateng, Paulinho, and Malcom, none of which stayed longer than two years.

And that brings us to today, where the extent of their extraordinary demise is fully apparent. A team that was once on the cutting edge of tactics, and one of the most well run clubs in the world, is now tactically inept and struggles to win against weaker teams. This is a club whose success is firmly in the past, not in the future. While they have recently produced young talent such as Pedri and Ansu Fati, they won’t be enough to carry this team into a new golden age. 

The date is December 8th, 2021, Allianz Arena, Munich. It's been over 10 years since Wembley. After a string of poor results, Barcelona are on the verge of group stage elimination for the first time in 18 years. Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer goes to kick the ball down the field, just as the final whistle blows, cementing Barcelona’s fate.

Where before in 2011 the final whistle crowned Barcelona as European Champions, this whistle has relegated them from Europe's elite—a ghastly reminder of their crumbled empire.

Though there wasn't a soul in attendance, millions of hearts were broken. The empty stadium perfectly encapsulated Barcelona’s destiny as a club without a soul.