Barça has dropped a step in the aristocracy of football in LaLiga. In Europe, that was already common knowledge since they lost 4-0 with PSG and 3-0 with Juventus (2017), 3-0 with Roma (2018), 4-0 in Liverpool (2019) and in Lisbon ( 2-8 against Bayern). The trend has continued this year in the Champions League (Juventus 0-3 and PSG 1-4) and has spread to LaLiga, where Barça has lost both games against Madrid (1-3 at the Camp Nou and 2-1 in Vadebebas) and has not been able to beat Atlético. In fact, he has not scored a single goal (1-0 at Wanda and 0-0 at Camp Nou). Thus, without winning the decisive duels, it is difficult to win Leagues.
Barça has harshly verified in all the key matches of the course that it is far from the super-elite, the one it abandoned after the 2015 treble. For a time, it was enough for Barça to win triplets (2017, 2018), but the years ended up sinking the team in 2019 and 2020; and now it is in full reconstruction. Koeman has laid the foundations of something new with young people like Araújo, Dest, Pedri or Ilaix; those who complement with veterans like Piqué, Busquets, Alba and Messi; and others who have gained more specific weight, especially Ter Stegen and De Jong; and, lately, Griezmann and Dembélé.
But Barça misses cracks. If Messi is not there, there is no triumph. The Argentine has not scored a goal for Real Madrid and Atlético this year. Key to winning the Cup, if the six-time Ballon d'Or doesn't score, nobody does. And Barça has to start passing that screen if they want to go back up the step.
The future does not seem promising for Barça, because that can only be achieved with cracks, and footballers like Neymar or Haaland have proven impossible for Barça, who will have to try to shield the squad with medium players who raise their competitive level and surrender again Messi to the possibility that Griezmann or Dembélé, if they renew, give a little more. For now, this is the reality of Barça these days, powerless against the greats.