Here we show you the downfall of Barcelona’s iconic squad
Barcelona’s downfall has been one of the saddest moments in football history. Looking at their past title winning seasons, they have been doing a lot worse lately. However, Barca fans are hoping to win the UEFA Champions League this season.
But how did Barcelona’s downfall began and what happened to the player of that legendary ‘tiki-taka’ squad that we used to see not so many years ago. First of all let’s look at Barca’s 2016/17 starting lineup.
Barcelona’s Legendary Squad
- Neymar
- Luis Suarez
- Lionel Messi
- Ivan Rakatic
- Andres Iniesta
- Sergio Busquets
- Jordi Alba
- Gerard Pique
- Javier Mascherano
- Dani Alves
- Marc Andre Ter-Stegen (GK)
In 2017, Barcelona won their fifth Champions League title with the help of arguably the best attacking trio of all time – MSN (Messi, Suarez, Neymar).
But things were about to take a bad turn. In 2017, PSG offered Barcelona an unbelievable amount of €222 million for Neymar that the Spanish club couldn’t deny. Neymar became the most expensive signing in football history.
In 2018, Javier Mascherano said goodbye to the Camp Nou as one of the most loyal Catalans of all time. He served the club from season 2010/11 to 2017/18 throughout which he won three Champions League titles.
Also Read: Lionel Messi vs Neymar – All Stats You Need To Know
Then in 2019, Andres Iniesta left the club and joined the Japanese club Vissel Kobe. His departure was sad not only for Barca fans but for the whole football world.
Things became worse when Sevilla signed Ivan Rakatic the very next year. He was one of the most important players for the club and his departure showed the real meaning of squad chemistry in 2020/21 season.
Barcelona were struggling to sign players and have been in debt ever since the disbanding of the original title winning squad. Their president Josep Bartemeu was arrested for committing the crime of hiring I3 Ventures to improve the club’s image on social media.
Also Read: Robert Lewandowski vs Luis Suarez – All Stats You Need To Know
The same year, Luis Suarez left the club since he was signed by Atletico Madrid for whirlwind €6 million. The MSN was completely gone with only Messi being left as the only player from the trio.
The whole sports world was stunned when Lionel Messi announced that he would be leaving Barcelona soon. As of now, only four players from that 2016 squad are left – Alba, Pique, Busquets and Ter Stegen.
