El Barça vuelve a las semifinales de la Champions tras seis años

The FC Barcelona obtained on Tuesday a long-term pass to the Champions League semifinals, the penultimate round of a journey that «Culrs» did not step on in 2019 during the painful elimination at Anfield and which has now arrived after a journey with several bad experiences, including two eliminations in the group.

The Barça is still far from being able to recover the European prestige it earned in the times of Pep Guardiola or Luis Enrique Martínez, but its victory in the final score against Borussia Dortmund, who is still the current runner-up, places Blaugrana Box in highly celebrated semifinals.

Due to its playing style, with flashes of quality that seem to be increasing, as well as the cohesion in the group of players and coaching staff and the bond with a newly excited fan base, this Barça seems to be on the right path. It is still alive in the Copa del Rey, already in the final against Real Madrid, and leads Laliga EA Sports, but it is in the «Champions League» where dreams are deposited.

Since 2015, in Berlin, Barça has not been able to win a «champion» as it did previously in 2009 and 2011. But this thought, which was almost chosen every year, won or not, disappeared in 2016 when the title defense ended in the quarterfinals, in a Spanish cross against Madrid.

And after three consecutive defeats, the 2018/19 season arrived, and the team then coached by Ernesto Valverde was planted in the «semis» to win 3-0 at Camp Nou and bring back enough joy. Furthermore, the team came from a big elimination the previous year, at the hands of the Romans, after falling again 3-0 in the Olympic stadium and losing 4-1 from the first leg in Barcelona.

But Barça did not learn from this mistake, as they, with a childlike action, failed to defend a corner that Liverpool quickly took advantage of, watching Jürgen Klopp’s «Reds» sweep them away from Anfield (4-0). It was a disaster for Barça with the likes of Leo Messi, Luis Suárez, Sergio Busquets, Arturo Vidal, Coutinho, and Company. It was the realization that Barça was no longer the team capable of marveling and defeating anyone.

Therefore, that setback, partially driven by a glaring error from Ousmane Dembélé in an almost empty goal to make it 3-0 from the first leg that could have been 4-0, gave birth to some hopes, more shadows than lights. And with heavy defeats that still hurt the «cules» fan base, like the 2-8 against Bayern Munich, who was then coached by the Barça coach Hansi.

A victory, a painted aspect, that did not improve in the 2020/21 campaign, as PSG under Mauricio Pochettino and Kylian Mbappé, who scored a hat-trick, won 1-4 at Camp Nou to confirm in Paris (1-1) their triumph in the round of 16 in the group stage.

In the last campaign, with Xavi Hernández on the bench, the team was able to overcome that psychological barrier and stay alive after a group stage where they were leaders against Porto, Shakhtar Donetsk, and Royal Antwerp. This time, in the round of 16, the team handled Napoli well with a draw at Diego Armando Maradona (1-1) and a clear victory (3-1), with goals from Robert Lewandowski, Fermă López, and João Cancelo.

But in the quarterfinals, again against Paris Saint-Germain, this time led by the former Blaugrana Luis Enrique Martínez, Barça was hopeful before, as they won 2-3 in the first leg played at the Princes Park. Even more so when Raphinha put the «Parisians» ahead in their return leg, but a 4-2 defeat for Xavi’s team led to a harsh elimination, with a red card for Ronald Araujo that facilitated PSG’s comeback through Ousmane Dembélé and Kylian Mbappé.

With the plot, the wind seems to be in favor, with the face of the arc towards the port at the end of the Allianz Arena in Munich, which must pass through Milan or, precisely, the city of Bavaria. It is not surprising that the opponent of this Barça in the «semifinals», the first in six years, will be Inter or Bayern; Either way, a heavy trap for the reconstruction of Barça.

FUENTE