Let's rub our eyes

The German national team's calendar posted at the 2014 training camp in Brazil is on display at the German Football Museum in Dortmund. It was updated daily by Hansi Flick, then Joachim Löw's right-hand man. He used a marker to write the schedules, plans, matches, and goalscorers on the road to winning the World Cup after defeating Messi's Argentina. The countdown motto, which ends with a smiling face drawn by Flick with the word "Best of the World Cup" in the last box, is: Worldmeister [world champion], sums up the coach's philosophy: "A good start requires motivation; a good finish requires discipline." In the Barça locker room, the same schedule is being followed, with dreams intact. The level of performance on display demonstrates that the squad has that winning mentality burned into them. That's why they hardly celebrated. the ticket to the semis after losing; that's why Flick had to cheer them on.

Qualifying for the Champions League semi-finals is a resounding success that should be celebrated without reservation for a club that wants to rebuild itself from the ball. It's enough to connect two concepts to realize the paramount importance of being among the top four of the continent's elite: 2019 and Messi. Since then, Barça has not only looked inferior to the vast majority of its rivals, but also to be able to compete in the championship. top, but had instead come to wander bitterly in the limbo of the Europa League! Friends, before sticking their heads out a year ago against PSG, the team was coming off embarrassments like those at Eintracht: remember the invasion, which Barça itself allowed? Having overcome Dortmund's justified anxiety—that's what comes with having swallowed traumas like those at Anfield or Rome—now it's time to make the giant leap count.

The defeat, moreover, serves as a lesson that serves to underscore how extremely difficult it is to aspire to the treble. Not only in the locker room and at the club, but also in the surroundings, surrounded by euphoria and excitement. "This team wasn't built to go this far. To have gotten this far is already incredible," said, quite rightly, someone close to President Laporta just hours before the second leg of the quarterfinals. Hey, and it's only Flick's first year.