It was hard to believe that teams once tried to play like Barcelona. Not any more. Their football is stale, their soul has disappeared and too many players have seen better days. They are a shadow of their former selves and although it is impossible to envisage Quique Setién ever managing them again after overseeing a historic humiliation at the hands of Bayern Munich, the harsh reality is that Barcelona’s malaise extends much further than the dugout.
History will not be kind to the people who make the decisions at the Camp Nou. They deserve nothing but scorn for squandering Lionel Messi’s talent. Five years have passed since Messi last won the Champions League and it has reached the stage where he might have to do the unthinkable and leave Barcelona, who are rudderless off the pitch and lethargic on it.