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Barcelona is living some of the team’s darkest days in this entire decade, and there is just no way to hide it. Whatever was built along all these years, all the magic and glory, since the times of Eto’o and Ronaldinho, going through Puyol, Iniesta and Xavi, and of course, Messi with all of them, and then Neymar and Suarez, is now gone, and just a memory for fans to cherish in the near future.

Only Messi remains in the team, and it’s against his will. The Argentinian superstar, considered by many as the best in the world, or even the best in history, was ready to pack his bags and leave the team just a few months ago, but he was legally forced to stay and finish his contract.

It’s no secret to anyone that he’s just not happy in the team anymore, everything that Frank Rijkaard, Pep Guardiola and Luis Enrique built has disappeared, and the team just started changing ever since Tata Martino, and then with Ernesto Valverde, Quique Setien and now with Ronald Koeman, who are all just clearly not a good fit for the team.

One of Barcelona’s biggest mistakes, probably, was to assume that having Messi on the team was enough for them to keep winning and keep their chemistry, but the truth is that you need a leader, you need a mastermind, to be able to coach and to inspire a superstar and an entire team that’s called to be always on top.

Who’s to blame for Barcelona’s bad streak?

Same thing has happened with Real Madrid, the easiest would be to blame the coaches themselves, or to blame Messi for not being happy in the team, and how this influences the whole thing. However, there is a lot more to this, and the real problem for Barcelona was someone that, luckily for the team, is not there anymore, team’s president Josep Maria Bartomeu.

Bartomeu was not only bad at his job, but he got the team in lots of legal problems due to bad contract negotiations, the most “famous” one being Neymar’s. Who was supposed to be Messi’s superstar couple in the team, ended up leaving ahead of time and suing the team. After that, Bartomeu made one bad decision after another, letting people go, making bad transfers, bringing the wrong coaches, and it’s hard for you, if you’re Messi or any other leader in the team, to see this and remain inspired, year after year.

What’s the good news for Barcelona?

Even if Messi ends up leaving at the end of this season, for free, the good news for Barcelona is that Bartomeu’s time is up. The now former president resigned not too long ago, and now the team is preparing for internal elections, and this means a whole new chapter, and a reason to dream and smile, for fans that have got used to fighting for every single title.

And sorry, Ronald Koeman, it might not be your fault, but you’re not a good fit for the team either. Barcelona fans are waiting for Xavi to come and save the team, or for Guardiola to finally decide to return. They’re both risky choices, or difficult ones, but at least they are both options that make sense for the team, and that respect they’re way of thinking and playing. For now, we just wait and see.