FC Barcelona were recently knocked out of the Champions League after falling 1-0 in their second leg match with Atlético Madrid. That loss condemned them to a 2-1 aggregate defeat and a failure to reach the Champions league semi-finals for the first time in seven years. Atleti, who ended Barcelona’s impressive streak, have a chance to make further history by winning the club's first ever European Cup.
Fans and followers have become increasingly concerned after Barcelona were again defeated by a score of 1-0 at the weekend, this time to Granada in a loss that was a huge blow to their chances of a La Liga title defence. There is certainly a problem at the most successful club of the past decade and the cracks and faults appearing are increasing in size.
The past two matches for Barca have left an unsavoury taste in the mouth of their supporters. Barcelona used to be so motivated and passionate to fight opponents down to the last whistle. The 2009 Champions League semi-final comes to mind, when Andrés Iniesta's late “wonder strike” against Chelsea propelled Barcelona to the finals en route to an unprecedented sextuple that year. The question today is, where has that spirit and that drive to succeed gone?
Many may answer and say that the team is no longer motivated to win because they have won everything there is to win over the past 5 years. Some may even compound that argument, noting that most of the players have also been very successful on the international stage with Spain over that same period.
However, for a true football lover it is very difficult to accept that winning everything leads you to being less motivated; it's like saying that the rich are tired of being rich. That is not true. As a player all you wish for is to leave a lasting legacy after you hang up your boots..
So what’s the main reason for Barca’s depleted performances of this season? It may not be such a complex answer as many are looking for. Maybe it’s just simply that Lionel Messi is not firing on all cylinders, hence why the holistic machine Barcelona are not producing their usual performances.
The World Cup is Messi’s biggest assignment left to complete and surely he is eager to ace it. With the biggest test of his footballing career only two months away, Messi has taken his foot off the gas at club level. He is simply trying to avoid being one of the infamous players who will miss the tournament due to injury.
His quest is all about fulfilling his destiny of winning the World Cup and doing so in style at Brazil 2014. By winning the World Cup with Argentina as the star player, Lionel Messi will sit amongst the footballing gods and could even be crowned the best player to ever play the sport. He might just feel that one poor season with Barcelona would be a small price to pay for that honour.