The worst hangover in the world
Brain about to explode, aching body, dizziness, and a desperate desire for it to be over. This is what it feels like to have a hangover after a night of excess. Barça's situation isn't quite like Bradley Cooper and his friends meeting Mike Tyson and losing a tooth or two, but it's clear they're now paying the price for the footballing spectacle that was last season. Aside from the disappointment caused by Acerbi in Milan, the 2024-25 season was like an erotic dream: Hansi Flick's team performed beyond expectations and shattered the mold with their daring and passionate style. Physically and mentally, they pushed themselves beyond their limits, and now all the problems are surfacing. The decompression is evident, and The physical decline is filling the infirmary. In an alarming way, while officially, at the club, they say they're not worried. Let them fiddle while the water keeps coming in.
As in one thriller It's terrifying, everyone's falling like flies, and the icing on the cake of this absurdity is having Piedra was injured until early December. Untouchable for Flick, everything will be even more difficult without him on the pitch. It's the worst possible loss for Barça. It's like losing their compass when they're at their most lost. There's no one in the squad who can even come close to his quality, vision, composure, and intelligence in guiding the team with the ball. Now, they'll have to reinvent themselves to overcome the limitations of having to survive like this. This isn't just about having to do without Raphinha's intensity in pressing and attacking runs; it's much more than that: it's losing their identity when Real Madrid are five points ahead, their rivals see them as weak, and they're already bowing out of the Champions League at Stamford Bridge.
The pressure is immense for a coach whose decision-making power is severely limited when it comes to influencing the team beyond the pitch. The physical conditioning department, so revered and heavily promoted under Julio Tous, is now under intense scrutiny, despite the club's attempts to downplay the situation by blaming external factors in a World Cup year. Players' muscles are tearing up without the dressing room finding answers in a department that should be the NASA of injury prevention. We finished last season flirting with Champions League qualification and have started this one reeling on a cold, uninspiring pitch. Bradley Cooper's Vegas hangover was infinitely more entertaining.