Barcelona suffered a heavy defeat against Bayern Munich in the Champions league semifinals, which has started talk of the end of an era. The club has lifted 14 major trophies since the last four years, but majority of them were under the regime of Guardiola.
The arrival of Tito Vilanova was also herald in the same way as Guardiola, but the second half of the season has been extremely poor by the exemplary standards set by the club over the last few years. The team suffered a 4-0 defeat in the first leg against Bayern Munich, which was followed by a 3-0 defeat in the second leg.
The 7-0 aggregate defeat also marks the first time that the club has suffered two consecutive knockout defeats in the competition since 1987. The likes of Xavi and Carlos Puyol are coming to the end of their careers, which has opened the talk of a potential end of the era. The liverpool news was linking Xavi with a move to Anfield.
However, Xavi has said that this is the team that has won 14 major trophies only recently and it was too soon to talk about an end of an era. He is extremely confident that Barcelona will be back to winning ways sooner rather than later. The club will be able to lift only the league title this season.
“There’s no need to be drastic. This team still have a future. We have competed very well up until now. I am always optimistic and this team have the desire. We have not been able to get through the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey and Champions League, but we have the team to carry on. On Sunday we have another competition,” said the 33-year-old midfielder, who has been a vital cog in the Barcelona team over the last decade. He has won all the major titles with the club.