Barcelona's descent into turmoil continued on Wednesday as the team was defeated 1-0 by Atletico Madrid in the Champions League. The team has now failed to reach the final in three straight years and had its earliest exit since 2007. While the defeat was not by such a high margin as it was in 2012-13 when Bayern Munich scored a woeful seven goals, the result was equally embarrassing for Los Cules.
For starters, the match on Wednesday showcased a Barcelona team that lost 1-0, but should have lost by far more goals. That they lost 1-0 is more a result of Atletico failing to capitalize on major scoring than it was on Barcelona keeping it close. While the team retained the ball for 75 percent of the time, they only managed three shots on goal to Atletico's five. Atletico hit the woodwork on a number of occasions and could have easily walked away with a 3-0 win at the end of 90 minutes.
For Barcelona the loss was a result of poor tactics by manager Gerardo Martino but also by its players. The tiki taka, which has led this team to greatness in seasons past, seems to have run dry. Even Bayern Munich, which relies on the short passing game, was frustrated by Manchester United at home until they switched to a more fast-paced and direct game. Barcelona unfortunately is unable to play that style.
So what happens next? Many might claim that a transfer for better defensive help and midfield backup is of the essence but FIFA's current ban puts that plan on hold until the summer of 2015. In the interim the team must decide whether its future is with Gerardo Martino. The manager came with good will to improve the side but he has not done that at all. If anything Barcelona has become more mediocre under the manager.
Martino promised to make Barcelona more direct in its attack, but the result has been a team that not only does not know how to implement that style, but resorts to an even more conservative passing game. His failure to get his players to adapt to him shows that either a) they do not respect him or b) he is simply clueless to how to manage them.
The latter seems to be more realistic as evidenced by some questionable tactics he has repeatedly employed. A few weeks back he put Neymar on the right wing against Real Madrid where he was pretty invisible. On Wednesday he put Messi on the same side and rendered him completely useless. While his hope was to open up space in the middle by drawing more defensive attention to Messi on the right, the plan not only backfired, but his superstar became a non-entity throughout the game. When Atletico was creating chances on the counter, Martino simply looked lost at how to regain control of the game. The players started passing around frantically (and chaotically), but Martino did not seem to have a backup plan to break down Atletico Madrid.
With the transfer ban making it impossible for Barcelona to upgrade its talent pool, it may be essential for the team to simply refocus its current crop of players with a new vision and a real leader on the bench capable of getting them to buy in.
Should Gerardo Martino be let go?