What has happened to Barcelona? Long regarded as the standard bearer for football clubs in European football, they are now a shadow of their former selves.
An 8-2 defeat is nothing short of a full blown crisis. No team, especially one as expensive and talented as Barcelona's, should capitulate in such a manner on the game's biggest stage.
Serious questions must now be asked at the club. An overhaul is clearly needed, but such an exercise could be considered pointless unless they identify the root of their issues.
It is difficult to look beyond their transfer business. The Catalan side have spent over €800million on new players since 2015, with very of those experiencing any real success. Antoine Griezmann looks set to become the latest example, but none is more indicative of their failings than the signing of Philippe Coutinho.
With the gift of hindsight, it's fair to say Liverpool took Barcelona to the cleaners in that deal in January 2018. The Brazilian was gone from the club within 18 months, while Jurgen Klopp used that money that turn his team into English and European champions.
Of course, Coutinho would come on to score two goals in last night's demolition. Bayern's run in the competition could even compound Barcelona's misery even further.
Due to a clause inserted into the transfer deal, Barcelona will have to pay Liverpool €5million if Coutinho goes on to win the Champions League with Bayern this season.
If Coutinho wins the Champions League with Bayern Munich, Barcelona will have to pay €5m to Liverpool. You read that right.
— Rafael Hernández (@RafaelH117) August 14, 2020
It was agreed that a Champions League win would trigger an additional payment to Liverpool. The clause still stands due to the fact that the add-ons were remarkably made player-specific, as opposed to being related to team success.
As if we didn't already know that Barcelona were completely inept in the transfer market, this only drives this point home further. While it was probably fair to assume Coutinho would still be at the club at this point, the failure to plan for such eventualities speaks volumes.
Liverpool fans already revelled in Barcelona's failings last night, so this would be icing on top of the cake for them.
