Barcelona’s team plane landed at around 4am on Wednesday after a rollercoaster two days in Milan. They had been knocked out of the Champions League at the semi-final stage by Inter, thanks to a cruel twist of fate from their point of view.
With less than three of the second leg’s 90 minutes to go, Barcelona were ahead for the first time in the tie thanks to a goal from Raphinha which looked like it had completed a remarkable comeback 2-0 down on the night (and 5-3 overall) for Hansi Flick’s side. But instead, Francesco Acerbi scored to force extra time, where another goal from Davide Fratessi sent the Serie A side through to face Paris Saint-Germain in the final in Munich on May 31.
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One of the final sequences of those initial 90 minutes was still on the minds of many Barcelona players — a long-range shot from the edge of the box by Lamine Yamal that hit the post after a counter-attack led by the 17-year-old.
Yamal, instead of running down the clock in Inter territory with Barca 6-5 up on aggregate, as someone with more experience may have done, decided to go for goal instead.
“This is what made Lamine the best player in the tie, but if that situation had involved an Inter player, they would have gone to the corner flag and killed the game,” a dressing-room source, speaking anonymously to protect relationships, told The Athletic.
In the away dressing room at San Siro afterwards, Flick told his players that they had given everything they had and that he had nothing to reproach them for. The only person who spoke to the squad was Flick; neither president Joan Laporta nor any other members of the club’s board came down from their VIP seats.
One player was particularly affected: Ronald Araujo.
(Piero Cruciatti/AFP via Getty Images)
Defender Araujo, introduced as a substitute on 76 minutes, was one of those singled out for criticism over both Acerbi’s equaliser and Frattesi’s winner.
This has not been the Uruguayan’s best season. He has lost a starting place that was previously assured and his role within the squad has changed. Araujo is suffering from a mental block, according to sources in the dressing room who prefer to remain anonymous to protect relationships.
He was the first player to appear before the media in the mixed zone after Barca’s elimination — to the surprise of the gathered reporters and the 26-year-old himself.
“Do you think you lacked conviction in Inter’s third and fourth goals?,” a journalist from Spanish radio station Cadena SER asked.
“You think so?,” Araujo replied, visibly annoyed. “It’s lucky for the striker that he got it in. On the other goal, it’s clear that I’m very strong. I have to be better there. It’s football.”
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In the time since that defeat, Araujo has been harassed by Barcelona fans on social media. Many blame him for the elimination. This comes as no surprise. The club’s environment is known to be very demanding, but also extreme. When a player does well, he is a hero. When he makes a mistake, he is a villain.
Something similar happened with both Jules Kounde and Raphinha last season — 12 months on, they are two of the most beloved players in the squad.
On Saturday, Araujo published a ‘mea culpa’ via social media, acknowledging his mistakes and saying that he was not going to hide. Members of the player’s entourage have made a motivational video for him ahead of Sunday’s huge La Liga home match against arch-rivals Real Madrid, effectively a La Liga title decider, in an attempt to lift his spirits.
Araujo subsequently turned off comments to avoid receiving more social media abuse.
The situation has even affected his family.
Rewinding to the mixed zone at San Siro, the other Barcelona players filed past, most of them with red eyes from the emotion of defeat. Some, including Yamal, covered themselves with their hoodies and strategically wore headphones over their ears.
Sadness had invaded the dressing room, but so did anger at what they considered to be unfair refereeing.
“Everyone saw that the referee’s decisions always went the same way,” defender Inigo Martinez said in the mixed zone.
“It’s not the first time this has happened to us with this referee and I think UEFA should identify him,” midfielder Pedri said. “There are things I don’t understand.”
The feeling was one of indignation at the officiating and at UEFA, European football’s governing body. They believed that in all the game’s 50-50 decisions, referee Szymon Marciniak favoured Inter. According to sources in the dressing room, the Barcelona players have rarely been so angry about a refereeing performance.
This sense of annoyance was still present the following day.
(Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
“We all have to work together to get back into the mindset to win the league. Yesterday it wasn’t possible (to go through), we fought to reach the final in Munich, but it wasn’t possible because of refereeing decisions that hurt us,” Laporta said in a statement to the club’s Barca One app.
“It’s so tough to deal with, and even more so knowing how close we were, but they didn’t want us to be in the final because with the season we’re having, they s**t their pants,” midfielder Gavi said in a post on social media. “It doesn’t matter how many years we’ve been without winning the Champions League, although I know this is tough and I’d like to win it every season, but I’m sure we’ll eventually win it if we stick together as we have been now.”
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Post-match reactions began to appear on social media when the players boarded the plane back to Catalonia and had time to digest their emotions. Most of them posted black-and-white photos, reflecting the gloomy mood. The most notable comment came from Yamal.
“We gave it our all, it wasn’t to be this year but we’ll be back, have no doubt about that, we won’t stop until we put this club where it deserves to be, at the top,” his message began. “I will keep my promise and bring it to Barcelona, we won’t stop until we get it. But Sunday is another final and we all have to stick together.”
Despite his age, the 17-year-old has already taken on a leadership role at Barcelona and feels responsible for bringing the Champions League title back to a club who last won the competition a decade ago. He was one of those in charge of encouraging his team-mates, reminding them that in some cases they had almost their whole careers ahead of them and that he was confident this team would reach the final in future seasons.
The dressing room is frustrated, but the sadness in the air is different from other seasons where the club have fallen short in Europe. On other occasions, it was due to the feeling that Barcelona were not at a competitive level in the Champions League, or they had been humiliated, as they were against Roma and Liverpool in losing knockout ties in 2018 and 2019 after recording big wins in the first legs. This time, though, it is frustration at having come so close.
The day after the Inter defeat, most of the players rested with their families, though Yamal decided to go shopping with friends to unwind.
On Thursday, they went back to training. Flick held a group chat with all the players, where he repeated his post-game message and wanted to make sure this team did not let themselves go and let the title slip away too. There were no individual chats. Backroom staff have been very happy with the three training sessions completed ahead of Madrid’s visit today.
One thing Flick pushed for was sparing the Barcelona players a media day ahead of the Clasico.
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This is, on paper, a form of tradition at the club. Ahead of their match-ups with Madrid, they hold court at the training ground with La Liga’s worldwide broadcast partners and the players go through a round of interviews.
Flick’s staff’s preference was for his squad not to go through such extensive media duties, where the events at San Siro would be brought up, exposing them again to the frustration they had lived just a few days earlier.
Having this sort of media day is not compulsory — Madrid almost never do it when in the same sort of situation — but Barca arrange them as a gesture ahead of one of their biggest two league matches of a season, but also for financial reasons.
Such gatherings for journalists are included among the potential bonuses the club can get from the broadcasting rights deal La Liga has signed. The bonuses are also influenced by other variables including in-game interviews with players and the TV ratings their games generate.
According to club sources, cancelling this latest media day will not have major implications, as Barcelona have already accrued the maximum amount of money they can raise in that department, although exact figures have not been disclosed.
To further lift morale, staff organised a barbecue at the training ground, which went down well with the players. Even Laporta attended.
Hansi Flick (Piero Cruciatti/AFP via Getty Images)
According to dressing room sources, Flick is the sort of coach who motivates players with a simple, positive and approachable message. The German is not someone who gives grandiose speeches, but he is emotional through the closeness he has shown since he arrived at the club last summer.
“I’m proud of you,” Flick told them after Tuesday’s match. He always tries to take the pressure off the players by reminding them that it’s just sport and is there to be enjoyed. He did this after he was appointed and found a young squad feeling under enormous pressure because of what they were doing, and has done so again this week.
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His calmness — and that of players such as hugely experienced goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny — helps the team to keep their heads in the game on occasions. The message from the staff post-Inter is that something great can still be achieved this season, and that this means winning this Clasico, which would put them seven points clear of Madrid with three games to play. They understand that this is a motivation that speaks for itself.
Another important player behind the scenes is Martinez. The 33-year-old is a prominent figure for Flick in press conferences, but also for his team-mates in private. When he was replaced with Araujo at San Siro, he spent his time on the bench with fingers crossed. Since Thursday, he has been one of the most vocal figures, in the dressing room and during training.
The club did not bring in psychologists in an attempt to lift spirits, though sources in the dressing room assure The Athletic that each player has access to his own psychologist or personal coach if required.
The players are tired going into the final stretch of a long season — today will be their 57th match across all competitions — and to help them recover physically, the club is focusing on the needs of each individual. Those who have played the most minutes need to be allowed to rest, and those who have had less game time are being given more stimulating work.
This afternoon, they have a huge match in the title race.
Flick’s team are four points clear of Carlo Ancelotti’s second-placed defending champions. Win, and the title will almost be theirs. Lose though, and Madrid are right back in it.
The team have not had much time to lick their wounds since Milan, because they know how important this game is — there will be time for regrets later.
There were plenty of those on both Tuesday and Wednesday. It has to be different today.
(Top photo: Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)
