Barcelona’s struggles in European competitions continue

When it comes to European competitions, it hasn’t been easy for FC Barcelona in recent years. The latest loss to Manchester United in the UEFA Europa League was another sign of that. The team coached by Barcelona legend Xavi Hernandez failed to take complete hold of the tie and were soundly defeated 2-1 by the Red Devils in the second leg this past Thursday, much to the chagrin of the Catalonian.

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Barcelona already struggled in the UEFA Champions League, failing to qualify in the group stages, ending up in the Europa League and against United because of it. This was something very similar to last season where they also finished third in the Champions League group stages and were eliminated quickly in the early stages of the Europa League.

🔴 The goal that sent @ManUtd through…#UEL || @antony00 pic.twitter.com/hpxxEtWgws

— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) February 25, 2023

If you didn’t know much about Barcelona’s current season, you would think that things are at a critical point for them. But upon further inspection, they recently won the Spanish Super Cup, they are in first place in La Liga, eight points above Real Madrid, and they have to face Los Blancos in the Copa del Rey.

So, what is the problem with FC Barcelona? Why are they struggling with European competitions in recent years? After winning the Champions League in 2015, the club has struggled more and more every season to compete on the international stage, quickly becoming a running theme for them.

There are a lot of reasons to explain this. One of them is the lack of generational change at the club in recent seasons, which Xavi has focused a lot on. Before this season, Barcelona struggled to replace a lot of the core players that were so key with Pep Guardiola and Luis Enrique. That lack of rebuild was felt in many key moments when they failed to deliver in the Champions League.

Another element is the lack of physical intensity. Xavi’s Barcelona do press a lot, but they cannot impose themselves physically like a lot of English teams do or even as Bayern Munich do. So, they are a bit in a no-man land when it comes to this area, which was shown against Manchester United because players such as Casemiro and Fred, players with notorious engines and physical fortitude, rang circles around their midfield.

The lack of experience at the highest level is also an issue. For example, only Robert Lewandowski, Marc Andre Ter Stegen, Jordi Alba, Sergi Roberto and Sergi Busquets have experience winning the Champions League in this squad and winning trophies on a regular basis, which is worrying when you consider that most of them are veterans that are not going to be a part of the club long term. This is shown in a lot of matches when it’s been do or die for Barcelona in the Champions League or the Europa League.

There isn’t a perfect answer as to why Barcelona have struggled so much in Europe, but these are some of the most logical reasons as to why they are where they are right now.