The win in El Clásico rather knocked Barcelona down. After a third home defeat in a row, the Catalans fall back into crisis

Barcelona is on a rollercoaster ride this spring. After great performances and results came again losses and pathetic performances. The Catalans lost in their own stadium for the third time in a row and instead of euphoria they are slowly falling back into crisis.

It is 20 March and Barcelona disgrace table leader Real Madrid with a 4-0 defeat at their hallowed Santiago Bernabéu. Culés fans and the entire football world were ecstatic. According to many, Barcelona was back, Xavi had finally got the Barcelona machine going and fans were even proclaiming an assault on the seemingly lost title.

But those who expected Real Madrid to be brought down by the defeat and Barcelona to be kick-started were wrong, because the exact opposite happened. Since El Clásico, the Catalans have won three times, drawn once and suffered three defeats. Los Blancos, on the other hand, have won all 4 league games and added a Champions League qualification over Chelsea.

And after Barcelona’s defeat to Rayo Vallecano on Sunday, Real Madrid need just one point to win the title and are basking at the top of the table with a 15-point lead.

Barcelona also lost at home for the third time in a row. After the defeat to Frankfurt, they were not able to beat Cadiz or Rayo Vallecano, the teams at the bottom of the table. For the first time in its history, it has lost three games in a row at the Camp Nou.

Piqué and the fans

On top of that, after the leaked Gerard Piqué tapes, there are rumours that one of the captains is very unpopular in the cabinet, as he cares more about money than his teammates (he arranged the transfer of the Super Cup to Saudi Arabia and earned 24 million euros).

Plus the situation in the stands. In the duel with Frankfurt, over 25,000 of the club’s socios sold their tickets to the away fans and the Camp Nou was overwhelmed by a white wave of German supporters. This angered the Barcelona cauldron, who left their sector empty in protest in the following match against Cadiz.

And in Sunday’s game, the Camp Nou was half empty. But it certainly can’t be blamed on a lack of interest in Barcelona football, as 91,000 people turned up for the women’s Champions League game against Wolfsburg on Friday, breaking a record for women’s football. This game was free to attend and the fans came, to support their club on Sunday they did not. This is a somewhat alarming situation.

Barcelona, after the apparent euphoria, is thus falling back into a crisis that may yet deepen. In fact, rumours have it that La Liga Blaugranas will still chop the salary cap, which would cause another problem in the summer transfer window.

Source: Barcelona, La Liga, Twitter