Champions League: Vilanova’s back problems show where he has come up short

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1 May 2013

For the past four years the world has watched awestruck as Barcelona have produced the seemingly impossible. But forget the impossible, what the blaugrana need in front of a packed Nou Camp tonight if they are to reach the Champions League Final is nothing less than a miracle.

Never in the 57-year history of the European Cup/Champions League, call it what you will, have a side come back to win after losing the first leg by four goals or more.

Barcelona will have to do it against a Bayern Munich side who have conceded fewer goals (three) in 15 away games in the Bundesliga this season than Barcelona will have to score in 90 minutes, just to take the game into extra-time. Of course, should they concede a goal, and with their defensive frailties, it’s almost inconceivable that they won’t, their failure to find the net in Germany means they will have to win by five.

What is most worrying, however, is that arguably the greatest side in the game’s history are in danger of handing over the ‘King of the Hill’ bragging rights, not with a roar but a whimper.

While the media in Madrid screamed loud and proud about the possibility of a glorious comeback against Dortmund, in Barcelona the press has been strangely muted about the club’s chances. There’s a sense of resignation. You sense the end of an era.

So what has gone wrong? In truth, if you take the second leg against AC Milan out of the equation — and some would say Barcelona got lucky there — Tito Vilanova’s side have been found wanting in the big games. Cruelly exposed by Jose Mourinho’s Madrid, saved by Lionel Messi by the skin of their teeth in the quarter-final against a panicked Paris St-Germain and leaking goals in La Liga, this is a shadow of the side that conquered the world.

Yes, they will win the domestic title for the fourth time in five years but it is in the big games where a top manager is tested. Vilanova pushed the team to the limit earlier this year, when he saw Madrid had imploded, but him and his staff have shown limitations when it mattered in knock-out competitions.

Illness and injuries, particularly in the centre of defence, have caused problems, which have been exacerbated by the way they have been handled. With Jordi Alba suspended tonight, Marc Bartra will almost certainly go into the centre of defence with Adriano featuring in the left. Vilanova had a perfect chance to see how they would fare together when Eric Abidal came off at the weekend just after half-time but wasted it by leaving Bartra on the bench and playing Adriano in the centre.

Add in a change of tactics, that has seen Barcelona if not abandon then certainly alter their high-pressure possession game while still allowing full-backs Dani Alves and Alba to continue to play as flying wingers, and a stretched defence has, at times, had a ‘rabbit in headlights’ look about it.

Xavi, meanwhile, is out of form and has lost that edge simply because he is being rested too much. As a consummate professional, he doesn’t complain but that doesn’t mean he’s happy either.

Barcelona will not rush into any snap decisions and Vilanova will get another chance to prove his worth but the word on the street is that the board are divided and unless he can start to demonstrate a bit more attention to what seem like minor details, then this drama could very soon turn into a crisis.

And what of the little wizard? Clearly unfit in the first leg, despite Barcelona’s claims to the contrary, if Messi can turn this one around it will be the greatest achievement in the tournament’s history. Now that really would be a miracle. And not even he can lead that kind of turn around. Surely. Or can he?

Guillem Balagué is the author of Another Way Of Winning, a biography of Pep Guardiola.

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