Jude Bellingham’s stoppage-time winner ended any Barcelona hopes of defending their La Liga title — just as defeat by Paris Saint-Germain brought their Champions League quest to a close five days earlier.
And nothing encapsulated the club’s disastrous week as much as Joao Cancelo’s horror showings in those two key games.
On Tuesday against PSG, Cancelo gave away a penalty and failed to defend Ousmane Dembele throughout the game. On Sunday, he made two big mistakes that led to two of Real Madrid’s goals in their 3-2 Clasico victory over Xavi’s side.
His poor marking let Lucas Vazquez get past him into the box too easily in the first half. It exposed centre-back Pau Cubarsi, and the 17-year-old committed the foul for the penalty that Vinicius Junior put away for 1-1.
Later on, Cancelo’s disconnection from the game was even more blatant: he seemed to forget all the basics of defending as he stopped tracking back, leaving Vazquez totally free to smash a cross into the net at the back post for Madrid’s second equaliser of the night.
All this added up to another calamitous performance. The defeat in Madrid was harsh on Barcelona, who arguably did not deserve to lose and had a right to be angry at the absence of goal-line technology in La Liga.
Lamine Yamal was denied what looked like a goal before half-time (when it was 1-1), with the VAR seemingly only able to make a decision based on two camera angles that did not provide conclusive proof of whether his deft flick did beat Andriy Lunin.
“Goal-line technology is not a financial issue, it is about use,” La Liga president Javier Tebas said earlier this campaign. “In one season there are only four or five incidents of this type.”
As La Liga has no goal-line technology, the decision was left to VAR (Thomas Coex/AFP via Getty Images)
After the game, Xavi had a rather different point of view. “It is a disgrace that there is not the right technology in our league and that we pretend to be the best league in the world,” he said.
“The day before the game, you asked me about the referee. I replied I wanted them to get things right and not to be too much of a protagonist in the game. Well, nothing like this happened.”
No matter what Xavi says, though, the facts are that, by the end of April, Barcelona have no chance of winning a trophy this season. They must take the main part of the blame by themselves.
Club executives — who, like all sources cited here, preferred to speak anonymously to protect their position — have told The Athletic in the past how Barcelona want to be careful with any appointment of a new manager because they cannot afford to spend on someone who can’t make it right.
This is a debate that, after El Clasico, has to be translated into their squad planning too.
Over the past few months, senior figures, including president Joan Laporta, have said the club is interested in signing Cancelo and Joao Felix next season.
“I think they will both stay,” he said last month. “Their agent Jorge Mendes already knows about our intentions to keep them. It will depend on how much money is asked, but it could be we extend their loans as well.”
The relationship between Laporta and Mendes is regarded as a big factor in Barcelona’s desire to negotiate for Cancelo. The wing-back’s crumbling at the crucial stages of the season, though, does not back the idea that spending money to sign the 29-year-old this summer will be sensible business for Barcelona.
Cancelo has played in 36 games in all competitions and he’s become a regular starter, given Alejandro Balde’s long-term injury, but his performances have been below expectations.
What happened in El Clasico was just the confirmation of what he showed in the Champions League. After falling to 10 men against PSG, Barcelona needed an extra level of awareness and resilience. Instead, his two sloppy mistakes led to two goals conceded, and in one of them, he failed to defend the far post in the same way as for Madrid’s second goal through Vazquez last night.
Xavi has said he intends to step down at the end of the season (Javier Soriano/AFP via Getty Images)
Barcelona being ruthless with their planning for signings this summer is important. But more important still will be deciding who the next manager is going to be. In that regard, crunch time is coming.
There is still uncertainty around Xavi’s position. He has said he is stepping down at the end of the season, but in recent weeks Laporta and others have said they will try and convince him to stay.
Xavi has been pleading that his team needed to focus on football, as two competitions were at stake — but now that the Champions League and La Liga are gone, choices can’t be postponed.
Club sources have told The Athletic that Laporta is still willing to try to convince Xavi to reconsider his decision to resign.
Sources close to the manager’s camp say there is no scheduled meeting to discuss his future, but there is an understanding that he and Laporta will talk on the subject “sooner rather than later”.
Last night, Xavi refused to entertain any questions on whether he had taken charge of the final Clasico of his tenure, or whether he saw the game marking the end of his cycle. Some well-placed sources at Barcelona believe Xavi is having doubts about what decision to make.
“My future? It is not the right moment to talk about this,” said Xavi at the Bernabeu.
“Now it’s the moment to process this defeat, which will be tough. Then we’ll think about the next game. We have the target to finish in second place.”
If Laporta does not find a positive answer from Xavi soon, the club will turn to their second option: Rafael Marquez.
The Barcelona Atletic (the club’s reserve team) boss has risen up the succession list partly because Barca have been unable to find an ideal alternative, but he also represents a financially feasible option.
Club sources say they are pleased with how Marquez is performing with the second team, which is fighting for promotion to the Spanish second division. The pathway Marquez has followed, learning the ropes from the bottom of the club, and the knowledge he has about all La Masia’s talents as a result, are seen as strengths in the 45-year-old’s favour, too.
In the short term, the remaining La Liga season (six games) will feel tough and long for Barca fans. For some, the only motivation left will be to pray Real Madrid do not win the Champions League.
In the club’s highest offices, though, things are different. This latest Clasico defeat will force everyone at Barcelona to define who should be the face of the next sporting project.
Now it’s time to make big decisions for the future.
(Top photo: Mateo Villalba/Getty Images)
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