In football, there are few moments headier than those after a goal which seals an improbable comeback victory. Last night the effect was amplified by coming back to beat an historic team, with the world’s best player, in a stadium steeped in history, by a club with glorious European memories. A castrato would struggle to hit a higher note. But amongst the deification of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Jürgen Klopp, are we missing the point, the broader context of the victory?
In the dying moments of the first leg, Messi squared the ball to Ousmane Dembélé, who shot tamely at Alisson. The final whistle blew and Messi dropped to the floor, exhausted but also angry. Perhaps he knew that a fourth goal could have been a knockout blow, certainly he knew that Barcelona hadn’t been great and that Liverpool were dangerous. He had made some pointed comments at the beginning of the season to say how much he wanted to win the Champions League this year, at kick-off last night that looked the most likely outcome. Or that at least was the narrative.
But why should it have been? PSG have been rightly chastised for their inability to win in Europe, but Barcelona have been guilty of underperforming, even capitulating, on the biggest stage for years now. Their last Champions League win came in 2014-15, since then they have lost out in a tight quarter-final against Atlético Madrid, been soundly beaten by Juventus in another quarter-final and sucker punched by Roma when ahead by three goals at the same stage last year. In contrast, Liverpool are last year’s beaten finalists and have lost only one game in the league all season – perhaps the first leg was the aberration.
Deloitte’s awkwardly named ‘Football Money League’ has Barcelona second in the world in terms of revenue, Liverpool seventh. Whilst not a totally meaningless exercise it misses the point – and probably misstates the financial reality of each club. Maybe Barcelona’s commercial income increased 2018 from 2017, but what football fan really cares? The only meaningful measure of a football club’s financial muscle comes on the pitch. As a giant head might reasonably demand ‘Show Me What You Got!’ and Barcelona don’t got much.
Yes, Messi, of course. Piqué and Busquets have still got something left to offer, ter Stegen is a good but not great goalkeeper. But pick away a little more at the façade and the team, let alone the squad, looks thin, anaemic, second rate. Sergi Roberto is not a top-class defender, neither is Lenglet. Alba, always a player who thought he was better than he was, has little left to give at the top level and will likely follow Xavi to the middle-east in the next eighteen months. Suárez has lost a yard of pace and a yard and a half of sharpness. Big money signings Coutinho and Dembélé have not, apart from in flashes, really come off. Arturo Vidal has looked a poor buy and is also finished at the top. The players on the bench last night have barely ten goals between them across their whole Barcelona careers. And then there’s Kevin-Prince Boateng, on loan from Sassuolo…
Yes, some of the problems in the squad are down to poor decision making but overall there is a sense that they have to take a make-do and mend approach as the Premier League becomes stronger and richer every year. Coutinho aside, when was the last time Barcelona signed a top player, near his peak, beating out competition from elsewhere? Ironically it is of course Neymar, a player whose departure weakened the team and diminished the club’s stature.
Yes, Liverpool have managed their financial resources much better, and there is much to admire in the team – skill, resilience, drive, sharpness, killer-instinct – but this is a Barcelona team comprising Messi’s ever so slightly fading genius, the last knockings of a couple of other greats and six or seven players who would not look out of place playing for Valencia or Marseille. Without wanting to kill the mood, we must all acknowledge that this was not David vs Goliath, nor was it Istanbul. It was not an inevitable victory, but perhaps in hindsight one which was always possible.
