Don’t worry Barca will rise up again

Because no team has ever won 7-0 on aggregate over the two legs in the semifinals of the Uefa Champions League history, it’s only fair to say congs to Bayern Munich after they dismantled Barcelona home and away.

Friday, May 03, 2013
Hamza Nkuutu

Because no team has ever won 7-0 on aggregate over the two legs in the semifinals of the Uefa Champions League history, it’s only fair to say congs to Bayern Munich after they dismantled Barcelona home and away.No one, not even the Germans or Barca’s biggest critics saw that one coming and now that it happened, everyone is blabbing about how this is the end of the Spanish domination of European football since Real Madrid were also eliminated at the same stage by another German side Borrusia Dortmund.I hate going into the lazy old debate of which league is the best and I also hate to admit that what we just saw happen to Barca is just a one-off, which will never happen again—I guess it also will act as a wake-up call for the Catalan side, who have been the dominant force in world club football in recent years.They have won three Champions League and four La Liga titles in the last seven seasons, not to mention success in other competitions like Copa del, Spanish Super Cup, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup.They are also the only European club to have played continental football every season since 1955. In 2009, they became the first football club ever to win six out of six competitions in a single season.Under former coach Pep Guardiola, Barca became dominant that they created more enemies than allies—which is why; inevitably, supporters of rival teams are having a field day, and will continue doing so until the status quo is restored.You could say they are the enemies of their own unprecedented success for setting the bar way to high even for their own highest standards, and such a moment was always going to happen at some stage. No team, not even Barca can be at the top indefinitely because of a number of factors including players getting fatigued physically and mentally, the opponents learn your tricks and to some extent, the players reach a time when they’re no longer as self-motivated as at the start. Whatever goes up, comes down and remember the higher you go the harder you fall, so Barca’s loss at the hands of the best team in Europe at the moment didn’t come as a big surprise but it’s the manner in which they got hammered that shocked the football world.For them due to their success in the last six/seven years, every loss in a big game these days is immediately pronounced the end of an era. In my opinion, Bayern would have to win two Champions League titles and reach three semifinals, three domestic league cups and two club World Cups in the next three seasons, starting with the current one before they can even be at equal football with the Barca. Don’t forget, the Spanish giant, with the core of the team led by four-time World Player of the Year, Lionel Messi, isn’t going anywhere.I predict a quick return to the top provided head coach Tito Vilanova remains healthy for a whole season, so that the team doesn’t have to endure another spell in the hands of his assistant Jordi Roura. Tito’s absence as he received treatment for throat cancer in the U.S affected the team’s rhythm.Barca can attract any player they so wish to sign to bolster their squad and after what happened to them at the hands of Bayern; one would assume they would be one of the busiest teams in the summer, especially to tighten their shaky defence.Football is such a cruel sport and only people who don’t understand how it works would read too much into Barca’s humiliation and also count them a wasted force, because that’s far from the reality. Barca will rise up again and those talking about Bayern, even with Guardiola in charge, being the next big thing in world club football, will be surprised sooner rather than later.