Barcelona's Sad Season

I suppose now is a good time to discuss Barcelona's lack of form this year. Last year the team was knocked out of the tournament by Liverpool in the first knockout round amidst lack of team cohesion as Barcelona dropped key points after the new year, eventually losing the title to Real Madrid. The key summer signings of Gabi Milito, Francois Abidal, Toure Yaya and Thierry Henry led many, myself included, to name them favorites for this year's Champions League. Unfortunately, Barcelona's form has been poor, as they have struggled to demonstrate their lost dominance. Today's result was a continuation of that trend, as they beat Schalke 1-0 on a messy goal by Toure. Barcelona attacked well, creating a number of chances, but the lack of a central attacking midfielder was felt, as both Deco and Ronaldinho were out with injury. Sunday's result of a goalless draw against Getafe was just an embarassment. Real Madrid have continued to drop points but Barcelona have haplessly let such opportunities slide. In retrospect, I would have to say that the signing of Henry was a bit of a mistake, as last year Barcelona won many of the games they have drawn or lost in Spain. The prolonged absences of Eto'o, Messi and Ronaldinho have had their effect and the defense looks a lot stronger with Abidal and Milito, but the attack has been choppy and inconsistent at best all year. I can't see them getting past Manchester United, especially with Puyol out for the first leg with two yellow cards. Hopefully Laporta and Rijkaard will let this team gel over the summer and we'll see our old faithful Barcelona next year. And most of all, please don't let Barca get rid of 'dinho, he's primed for a comeback. You heard it here first.