Back to the drawing board?

Much to my disappointment, Barcelona, the defending European champions, crashed out of this season's UEFA Champions League at the round of 16 stage. Their elimination came despite bearing Liverpool 1-0 at Anfield, because Barcelona lost 2-1 at home a fortnight ago. So Barcelona bow out on the away goal's rule, & to be fair, Liverpool deserved to go through to the quarter-finals. Barcelona were simply abysmal overall over the 2 legs, although to harp too much on this would do dissservice to Liverpool's efforts on both matches. Having got past Barcelona, Liverpool will surely fear no one in the Champions League. Good luck to Liverpool.

So, I wonder - is it back to the drawing board for Barcelona FC??? In this season's Champions League (not just the matches against Liverpool), Barcelona has been a shadow of their previous season's vintage - they never scaled the heights of last season, when they swept aside all comers to be champions of Spain & Europe. Their failure to retain the Champions League will disappoint their fans, & changes in personnel will surely follow - perhaps the signing of 2-3 top players in key positions will add to their strength in depth. I was hoping that Barcelona could have signed Fernando Gago, the talented young Argentinian midfielder with a bright future. Gago would surely be a great asset to Barcelona's squad, or to any other squad for that matter. But instead, old enemies Real Madrid snapped Gago up. On that ocassion, Real were wiser & quicker than Barcelona.

Barcelona were not the only ones to taste European disappointment overnight. Joining them at the exit door are Inter Milan, Lyon & FC Porto. Just looking at these teams eliminated gives a good idea of how tough it is to win the UEFA Champions League.

But all is not lost for these 4 eliminated teams. There's still plenty to play for in their respective domestic league & cup competitions. By the end of the season, all 4 could well end up being champions of their country. For Barcelona FC, besides being in contention in the Spanish league (1 point behind Sevilla who they lost to during the weekend), Barcelona are in the semi-finals of the Spanish cup. So, they could well win the Spanish double (of course, to do so would require considerable improvement on their current form). I would like to see them do just that, & hope that they do so by playing the free-flowing, cavalier attacking football that Barcelona FC are reknowned for. Hola Barca!!