Despite having the highest of expectations attached to them, the giants of Catalonia were unable to achieve all they had hoped for in the recently passed season.
The 2011/2012 campaign saw the Nou Camp outfit crash out of the last four of the UEFA Champions League, in addition to losing out the Spanish La Liga title to Real Madrid in the final four weeks of the season.
Understandably, La Blaugrana were expected to win both of these tournaments, however, they could not and bettor.com analyzes the reasons behind it.
Barcelona, a team which has become a household name all over the globe, has slowly emerged as one of the most prominent football clubs in the modern game. The last three seasons have been completely and undisputedly dominated by them, at least domestically.
They were expected to excel particularly in the Spanish Primera Division, a title which they held on to for three consecutive seasons. However, they could not manage to win the league title even though they were believed to be the strongest side in the Iberian
Peninsula.
The recently passed season was all about Jose Mourinho and the new Madrid squad he assembled. Not only were the Blancos remarkable throughout the league campaign, they continued to grow stronger as the season progressed.
Hence, the Azulgrana surrendered their La Liga title to their fiercest rivals and saw their hegemony over Spanish football come to an end.
Apart from heartbreak at home, La Blaugrana were also eliminated from Europe at the hands of English Premier League outfit, Chelsea - who were also considered to be the weakest side out of the four left in the competition.
Once again, the Catalan giants were expected to win against the Blues, but things turned out to be different. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chelsea-c38786 were vivid underdogs in the fixture and a semi-final between the two clubs was considered to be a mismatch on paper.
Yet, the English side was able to put up quite a show as they knocked the defending champions of Europe out of the prestigious tournament.
At the end of the season, all Barca were left with was a consolation trophy in the shape of the Copa del Rey. Even though the cup carries a lot of prestige inside http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Spain-c3011, many observed that achieving success in it hardly did justice to what the Catalans are
capable of.
Apart from the Copa del Rey, the side also triumphed in the Supercopa de Espana and the FIFA Club World Cup in http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Japan-c2928.
Primarily, in addition to these trophies, the only bright aspect of the last season for the Nou Camp outfit was the performance of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Lionel-Messi-c22296.
The Argentine broke a number of records and became the highest goal-scorer in the history of his club, along with becoming the highest scorer in Europe in a single season.
The reasons for http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Barcelona-c38604’s failure in Europe and the Spanish Primera are debatable, however, experts argue whether it has anything to do with the strength of their squad.
The 2011-2012 campaign saw http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/David-Villa-c10629 and Eric Abidal sidelined for an extended period of time.
Their primary forward, Villa, broke his tibia during the FIFA Club World Cup in December. The injury kept the Spanish international out for almost 8 months and the striker even had to miss out on his national side’s Euro 2012 campaign.
The Barca number 7’s absence meant that the club had to depend on other options. These options included new-comers Cesc Fabregas and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Alexis-Sánchez-c4979.
To be continued...
Disclaimer: Views and opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s own and do not reflect bettor.com’s editorial policy.
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