BARCELONA – Leo Messi sat in the stands, well protected from the cold, to witness from there the last disaster of a 2020 to forget. The year that began with a disappointing draw (2-2) against Espanyol ended with worse feelings against Eibar.
From Valverde to Koeman, Barça are still lost in mediocrity, unable to tie a streak of victories that offers them the chance to earn the right to consider any possibility of leaving this disastrous role.
In 15 league games, Barcelona has already lost 20 points and it is not unreasonable to imagine that if the club were not in this temporary situation, led by a manager until the elections of January 24 (if it is which come to be celebrated), the figure of Ronald Koeman would be much in doubt.
It would not be surprising to imagine that the Dutchman could be fired in view of some numbers that show the worst Barça in recent decades. And that beyond the scoreboard offers almost nothing on the field of play.
Messi will remain at Barça until the end of the season and, he said in his last television interview, will decide his future based on the feelings he has in this second part of the season … But seen, it would be an exercise of generosity out of the ordinary to think that the Argentine is willing to stay in a club broken on all four sides and that football wanders aimlessly.
Koeman is being an interventionist coach. Change systems, change players, vary schemes but do not hit the key. He tries it insistently but neither the team responds nor does fortune accompany him … And the team continues to fall without remission.
If Atlético and Real Madrid win this Wednesday in Getafe and Elche, they will escape ten points above a Barça that will be caught in the fight with Real Sociedad, Sevilla and Villarreal to lead in a second big group that in their case is a real failure.
Barça does not take off. In fact, he crawls like he didn’t remember in a League he lost in December. Dreaming of the title, right now, is little less than a chimera. A complete disaster.