Catalonia Falling: Why Barcelona Will Not Repeat in the Champions League

The point is indisputable: the boys from Barcelona make up the most talented team in world football.

From Spanish midfielders Xavi and Iniesta, whose genius in creating are unparalleled, to defenders Puyol and Dani Alves, whose physical play and fire inspire the team, to forward David Villa, whose nose for goal provides a scoring threat from most any position, Barca's players provide a sparkling, stylistic, effective game that leaves other teams behind.  And that was without even mentioning Messi.

After dominating La Liga and the Champions League last season, Barca found a way to add to their firepower this summer by acquiring Chilean forward Alexis Sanchez, a player who will fit right in at Camp Nou and be a wondrous partner for Villa.

Despite this pick up, however, I would still say that this summer will have a negative impact on the approaching season.  Why?  One name:  Cesc Fabregas.

The midfielder, a native of Barcelona, has been a star and captain for Arsenal for the past few years.  Shortly after the 2010 World Cup, where he was a member of the champion Spanish midfield that featured the likes of Xavi and Iniesta, reports began spreading that Fabregas' heart lay in Barcelona and that he had requested a transfer to them. 

When the summer passed and no such transfer came, reports said the transfer would definitely happen in the January window; after that passed, it became this summer.

The rampant speculation this summer about Fabregas leaving was fueled on and on by Barca players, who commented on their desire to play with the midfielder and, incredibly,  the front office's dealings with Arsenal to get him.

Arsene Wenger has denied that any transfer will occur, but that has not been enough to put the issue to bed, mostly because of Victor Valdes' and Xavi's comments to the contrary.

Many have noted, and correctly, that the issue has completely hijacked Arsenal's summer, but further examination of the situation makes something else clear: it's hijacked Barcelona's summer as well.

The bottom line is that Barcelona is a more-than-capable team without Fabregas; in fact, one that won the Champions League title last season.  And yet, Barcelona has put all of their eggs in one basket: if they do not get Fabregas (which is still possible since, after all, Arsenal has to agree to the transfer), then the morale of the team goes down as there is a lingering under-current that the team is lacking something that Fabregas would have offered.

On the other hand, let's assume the transfer finally goes through and Fabregas dons the Barcelona colors this season.  The terrible effects of not achieving the transfer would not be present, but the effects the saga have become clear even now: the distractions have caused the team's summer preseason to become a disaster of uninspired football (underscored by a loss to Manchester United and a thrashing by Chivas Guadalajara) and poor play from Xavi and Iniesta (underscored by the 2-1 win by Italy over Spain in their friendly). 

Meanwhile, teams like Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid and Alex Ferguson's Manchester United have been tallying wins, getting in good training, and building confidence.

In addition, Fabregas' play at the end of last year was poor, when he basically checked out, and he has yet to train or even play a friendly this summer.  I don't care how good player he is: I'm pretty sure Barcelona has better options than his rusty form.

Barcelona has a great team that is talented enough to beat anyone.  On talent, they should win the Champions League this season.  However, the negative effects of the Fabregas saga make me think that the likes of the Red Devils of Manchester, and even their El Clasico rivals, may be passing them.  Sunday's battle with Real Madrid in the Supercopa may be very telling.

(And why does Barca think they need Fabregas on the payroll?  This assist he provided to Messi in the Champions League Round of 16 last season suggests he was already playing for them.)