Champions League: FC Barcelona leaves behind its ghosts after 5 years of drought

FC Barcelona is already in the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League. A goal that the Blaugrana team had not reached for six years, a period in which the team had to deal with one of the most complex transitions in its history.

Leo Messi's departure in 2021, added to the financial crisis derived from the covid-19 pandemic and the terrible management of Josep Bartomeu, gave way to a journey through the desert in Europe.

Yes, in the middle they won a League (2023), a Copa del Rey (2021) and a Spanish Super Cup (2023), but the continental balance was too discreet for a team that, between 2006 and 2019, had been among the best four teams in the Champions League on nine occasions.

Barça manages to leave behind a five-year period of disappointments in the Champions League

Well, the arrival of Hansi Flick has managed to put an end to a five-year period of disappointments in Europe's top club competition. Between 2019-20 and 2023-24, Barça reached the quarter-finals twice. In the middle there was a fall in the round of 16 and two eliminations in the group stage.

The Blaugrana disaster began in August 2020, with the historic thrashing in Lisbon against Bayern Munich (2-8). The following season, Paris Saint-Germain thrashed Barça at Camp Nou (1-4) in the first leg of the round of 16, enough to negotiate a draw in the return leg (1-1) and seal Messi's farewell in the Champions League with the Blaugrana shirt.

The arrival of Xavi Hernández to the Blaugrana bench in November 2021 was not enough to avoid two consecutive eliminations in the group stage, adding just 7 of 18 possible points. The Egarense managed to reach the quarter-finals last season, but PSG came back from the 2-3 first leg in Paris with a very tough thrashing in Montjuïc (1-4) against a Barça that played for more than an hour with ten men.

In this way, a period of five years of disappointments in the Champions League was consummated, which could well be considered a decade, since before that there were other very painful eliminations against Roma (quarter-finals in 2018) and Liverpool (semi-finals in 2019) that sealed the cycle of Ernesto Valverde. 

• Quarter-finals of 2019-20: FC Barcelona 2-8 Bayern Munich.
• Round of 16 of 2020-21: FC Barcelona 2-5 Paris Saint-Germain (global score).
• Group stage of 2021-22: Eliminated in the group stage (Barça was third with 7 points).
• Group stage of 2022-23: Eliminated in the group stage (Barça was third with 7 points).
• Quarter-finals of 2023-24: FC Barcelona 4-6 Paris Saint-Germain (global score).

Barça has overcome all its heavyweight rivals in the 2024-25 Champions League

FC Barcelona players in the match against Borussia Dortmund in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League

Barça gave its first show of authority in the current edition of the Champions League on matchday 3 of the league phase. Against their 'bogey team' in recent seasons, Bayern, the Culés completed a thrashing (4-1) that demonstrated the power of Hansi Flick's team. Three goals from Raphinha and one from Lewandowski buried a Bavarian team that gave up with the 3-1 partial score at half-time.

Before the end of the year, the Blaugrana team defeated Borussia Dortmund as visitors (2-3), in what was the Germans' only defeat at home this season in Europe. Two goals from Ferran and one from Raphinha were enough to cancel out Serhou Guirassy's brace, who in the return leg of the round of 16 once again complicated things for the Catalans with a 'hat-trick' that was ultimately insufficient for 'BVB'.

Afterwards, they had to visit Lisbon a couple of times, with two displays of character for the Blaugrana squad. First, in the league phase, the team came back from a 4-2 partial score against Benfica in the last 12 minutes to end up winning in added time with a great goal from Raphinha (4-5).  In the first leg of the round of 16, the Culés seemed to relive their defensive problems after the early expulsion of Pau Cubarsí, but the Blaugrana team withstood the Portuguese siege and took the victory with another goal from Rafa (0-1).

In Montjuïc, Benfica (3-1) and Dortmund (4-0) were also no match for the Culés, who so far have 5 wins and only 1 draw at home. Atalanta (2-2) has been the only rival capable of leaving the Catalan stronghold alive.

Hansi Flick, satisfied with Barça's qualification

Although he was self-critical of the team's performance, in addition to recognizing the good work done by Dortmund, Hansi Flick expressed his satisfaction at reaching the 'semis' of the Champions League in his first year in Barcelona. 

"It is very important for the fans, for the club. It is incredible to reach the semi-finals in the first year. It means that we are one of the four best teams in Europe and that is fantastic", commented the Blaugrana coach. 

In addition, regarding the match in Germany, he downplayed the result, although he admitted that it is an important wake-up call. "In each match we have to show our style and after today we have to analyze the points for improvement. I have complete confidence in the team and I know that we will return to give the quality we had", he pointed out.