By Yara Hassan | Staff Writer
This season we witnessed Barcelona’s fall from grace, the team looks set to finish the season without a trophy after losing to Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League. Back before the start of the season, it was evident that Barcelona would have a challenging season ahead of them.
In August 2021, Messi left Barcelona for free over financial problems at Barca. The Blaugrana had lost Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann, and their financial resources to reinforce the team were severely constrained. Also, the relationship between Joan Laporta and Ronald Koeman was at its lowest, after the Barcelona president had failed to replace him in the summer.
Going into the season unprepared, Barcelona were eliminated from the Champions League at the group stage, with humbling defeats against Benfica and Bayern Munich, and were struggling to reach the top four in La Liga. With Xavi’s arrival, the season took a turn for the better, and he was given permission to bring in four new players to reinforce the group. However, in the cup competitions, he was unsuccessful, as Barcelona lost to Real Madrid in the Supercopa de Espana semi-final before losing to Athletic Club in the Copa del Rey.
The club began to improve substantially after that, with improved performances and a 4-0 victory in El Clasico at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu. There was enormous optimism at the club, as they targeted the Europa League. However, everything fell apart after losing to Eintracht Frankfurt. Following a 1-1 draw in the first leg in Germany, many anticipated Xavi’s side to continue their great recent form and storm past the German squad, securing a semi-final spot against West Ham United. However, this would not prove to be the case, as Barcelona were embarrassed by the team placed ninth in the Bundesliga. After a 3-2 loss and an aggregate of 4-3, Barcelona were out of the Europa League, their last hope for the season.
Frankfurt will now face West Ham United in the semi-final, and Xavi will need to finish in the top four in La Liga to qualify for the Champions League in 2022/23.