Athletic Bilbao vs. Barcelona: Barca Must Win to Salvage Disappointing Season

All Barcelona has left in what has been a disappointing season is the fact that they can still win the Copa del Rey.

If they fail to do that, 2012 can officially be considered a full-blown failure for the Catalan club.

Sure, there were triumphs earlier in the season, as the team won the Spanish Supercup, UEFA Supercup and FIFA Club World Cup. It sure seemed as though they were on the road to continuing an epic 2011 run.

But they failed to win La Liga, made all the worse since the team's bitter rivals, Real Madrid, took home the league title. And that disappointment was compounded by the fact that the team failed to advance past the semifinals of the Champions League, falling shockingly to Chelsea 3-2 in aggregate.

Did they burn out? Did a crazy amount of games over the past several years, a byproduct of all the tournament success the team has had, finally take its toll?

Or did they just choke?

Whatever the case may be, it surely has left a bitter taste for the club and its fans, one only compounded when the news broke that Pep Guardiola would be leaving the club after the season, completing a four-year run of great success for the team.

So not only is Barcelona now fighting to salvage the season, it's also trying to send its manager out in style. Guardiola deserves as much.

And certainly, it is a match they should win. They have no excuses in the Copa del Rey final against Athletic Bilbao, a club they are clearly superior to and have a 1-0-1 record against this season.

They have the superior talent—and the best player in the world, Lionel Messi—they have a lot of motivation to win this match and hell, they still have a reputation to uphold. This squad, under this manager, collects cups like Pac-Man collects dots.

Failure is not an option. 2012 must end on a sweet note for Barca.

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