📖 Long read: How Barcelona created their own Catalan crisis ⚠️ | OneFootball

“The greatest humiliation in history,” said Sport. “Barcelona relive the nightmare of Rome,” ran the cover of La Vanguardia. “The blackest page in their history,” offered Marca.

Barcelona had been “torn to shreds”, “left in tatters”, “exposed”, “destroyed,” “ridiculed”, “embarrassed”.

And so began the end of Ernesto Valverde’s time in charge of Barcelona.

The Blaugrana’s historic defeat to Liverpool in the Champions League semi-final second leg was a large nail in Valverde’s Camp Nou coffin.

It took, however, another nine months for the coach to be pushed out of the door and set the wheels in motion for an implosion the likes of which have not been seen in the Catalan capital for a few decades.

The silliest of summers

The writing was on the wall over the summer when Barça – arguably the world’s biggest sporting brand and comfortably football’s richest side – went public with their intention to re-sign Neymar from Paris Saint-Germain.

And then failed spectacularly.

Two official bids were lodged, neither of which were anywhere near PSG’s valuation and, in desperation, they tried to include some of their own squad members as part of a swap deal.

Ousmane Dembélé, Ivan Rakitic and Samuel Umtiti were just three of the players who were essentially disowned by their own club as they tried to bring back the Brazilian – and were then left asking ‘why me?’ when the deal collapsed.

Barcelona’s public courting of the Brazilian wasn’t becoming of such a proud institution and showed an astonishing lack of planning, foresight and funds.

Just where has the money gone and who exactly is in charge?

These are questions, right now, that only the board can answer and and the whole affair suggests that there’s a power vacuum upstairs.

That’s why Neymar slipped through their fingers and why they so spectacularly botched the sacking of Valverde and the appointment of Quique Setién.

A coaching catastrophe

January 13 was when Valverde finally got the boot after two and a bit years.

Barcelona had drawn against Real Madrid in El Clásico before Christmas and then went to Saudi Arabia to take part in the new version of the Supercopa de España.

The club’s, technical director, Eric Abidal later admitted that even if Barça had won the Supercopa, Valverde was getting the boot.

“We watched the games and not the results, but how we played, the tactics, the work of the players who don’t play a lot. I’m focused on those details,” he told Sport.

So why on earth was he still in charge at this point then?

After Anfield, the ideal time to get rid of the coach was last summer but they bumbled along, attempting to lure Neymar and didn’t have the time nor the inclination to start afresh with a new coach.

That then bled into the new campaign and created the worst of all worlds situation, the situation we have now.

None of that however, compares to just how badly Barcelona went about trying to replace Valverde.

Botch job

Abidal and another unnamed board member decided on January 9 to go and pay a personal visit to Xavi Hernández in Qatar and offered the club legend the ultimate job, the position for which he is destined and has been eyeing up since leaving in 2015.

He said no.

They reportedly then went after Ronald Koeman – a man thought to be obsessed with becoming Barça manager.

He said no.

The Belgium boss, Roberto Martinez, was considered, as was Mauricio Pochettino.

All of them declined, leaving the club with Johan Cruyff disciple Quique Setien as fifth choice and a quite obvious back-up option.

By the sound of his opening press conference, even Setien couldn’t believe that Barcelona had been on the phone, admitting that “yesterday I had been in my village walking with the cows and today I’m training the best players in the world”.

Compare that with the way Tottenham appointed José Mourinho just two months previously.

Put aside for one minute whether or not you think it was the right thing to do but Daniel Levy knew he didn’t want Pochettino any more; quietly went after Mourinho; sacked the Argentinian and hired Mourinho via a public statement just 12 hours later.

No press briefings, no obvious public overtures. Just a club knowing what they want and going after it.

Barcelona, on the other hand, oversaw a botch job of the highest order.

Fighting amongst themselves

With Setién in place then, it was time for the club to come together and work as one for their ultimate goal – banishing the memories of Anfield, and Rome the year before that, and finally winning a Champions League.

But it hasn’t quite worked out that way.

Both Marca and Mundo Deportivo have reported in recent weeks that there is tension inside the dressing room with two separate factions threatening to split the club into the camp two.

There are the pro-Valverde squad members who feel loyal to him and are angry about the way he was treated. Those, according to the previously noted Spanish papers, include Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi.

And then there are the others who believe that Valverde was the reason behind their Champions League embarrassments and wanted him out after last season’s humbling at Liverpool.

Gerard Piqué is believed to be leading that charge and things apparently came to a head at training this week.

Marca revealed late on Monday night that two of the club’s “heavyweights” had to be forced apart in a session after an argument turned physical.

Not unusual in a tense, competitive environment but what is interesting is how the team have not done their usual pre-match huddle in their last two fixtures.

That has been a ritual that has lasted since the Pep Guardiola days but has been conspicuous by its absence in the matches against Levante and Leganés.

Maybe this is putting two and two together and getting five but it really does seem like there’s a chasm of mistrust amongst the players which will surely harm their performances going forward.

Going nuclear

And then the bombshell.

Tuesday evening saw Eric Abidal admit that “many players weren’t satisfied or working a lot and there was also an internal communication problem.”

In short, he was accusing the players of not working under the previous coach and getting him fired.

An astonishing thing to say to the press, even if it is correct, and a comment that caused Messi to take to Instagram to vent his anger.

“Honestly, I don’t like doing these things but I think that everyone has to be responsible for his acts and take responsibility for their own decisions,” Messi wrote.

“The players [are responsible for] what happens on the pitch, and we have been the first to recognise when we were not good. The people in the sporting directorate should also assume their responsibility and above all take ownership of the decisions they make.

“Finally, I think that when players are talked about, names should be given because, if not, we are all being dirtied and it feeds comments that are made and are not true.”

When your star player, a player that has Paul Scholes-levels of interest in speaking publicly, feels like he has to take to social media to address an issue, you know you’re in trouble.

And when said player also has a clause in his contract which allows him to leave at the end of the season, you really have taken residence in Shit Creek.

Crystal ball

But what now for Barcelona?

Sack Abidal because he stated that the players have the power, and by sacking him prove that the players – Messi especially – have power?

Or keep the Frenchman and upset their greatest ever?

It’s a proper Catch-22 but one entirely of their own making and is going to make the next few months at Camp Nou essential viewing.