A strange fatalism has taken over Barça, which walks through the season between criticism and some shocks, nothing that has sent it away from Europe, nor from the revalidation of the title. But the air is damp in the team, in the club and in the fans. Where positive aspects can be detected, it is preferred to delve into the negative things. Self-flagellation is imposed on optimism, the coach and the players are doubted. Everything pushes melancholy. Montjuïc is annoying because it is uncomfortable, unpleasant and small. Lewandowski's scoring deficit is worrying. The performance of the signings is disappointing. It saddens the overall performance of the team. Xavi is questioned, who attends press conferences like a prisoner and tries to defend himself as best he can. And, of course, it is annoying to see Girona a good inch above in the standings.
There are reasons for concern, but not for so much concern. Subjected to unbearable tensions in the last four years, Barça has internalized suffering as a way of behavior in the face of reality. Not even Joan Laporta, an unrepentant optimist, is capable of changing the mood in the club and its surroundings, where the narrative only explains the situation from discouragement or, in the best case, skepticism, not only with the team's performance. , but with the conditions of the present and even the future of the club.
A depressive and frankly contagious virus has been installed that only worsens the perception of the team and the club. Reality is assumed with a touch of masochism, of reveling in disappointments. It is a pathology that Barça can and must correct, mainly because its condition is better than it seems. Tomorrow begins a new year, which in football terms means closing the first half of the season and starting the second.
Barça faces this watershed in better circumstances than in the last three or four years. He does not lead the League like last year, but he is by no means ruled out in the fight. Much of the success of this Real Madrid, which is coming off a more than discreet year and is devastated by casualties, is due to the enormous commitment of a short staff and a large number of substitutes who have entered the team like Spartans. For the rest, it has Bellingham, and its rivals do not.
In the summer, following the success in the League, there was talk of a Barça finally refloating. He had nothing left over, nor was he lacking: a long squad, two signings in defense – Iñigo Martínez and Cancelo – and Gündogan in midfield, along with De Jong, Pedri and Gavi, a line that sounded like heavenly music. As for the forward, the arrival of João Félix unleashed general enthusiasm. There were two great finds, Lamine Yamal and Fermín, in the good news chapter.
In terms of guarantees, Barça 2023-24 is superior to that of the previous season, nothing less than that of the League title. Nothing has changed that feeling, except for Gavi's injury, who is much more than a phenomenal player at Barça. Gavi is an inexhaustible transmitter of energy. His absence has harmed the team's mental health as much or more than it has harmed the game. In recent weeks, it seemed that without Gavi, Barça had no one to defend them.
Barça has to choose: crumple in this depressive phase or delve into all the positive aspects that this season offers. He returns so long later to the round of 16 of the European Cup, against the current dislocated Naples. He has plenty of time to repair the latest breakdowns in the League. It has the same squad that aroused so much optimism before the championship began. Yes, he plays in Montjuïc, so what. Starting tomorrow, Barça will have to choose between their morbid fatalism or the splendid opportunities that the second part of the season offers them. There are plenty of resources.
