Doubts raised about Barcelona after cup final defeat

By Duncan Shaw Apr 22, 2011, 8:33 GMT

Madrid - There was an important question being asked across Spain on Friday: was Wednesday's cup final defeat the beginning of the end for Pep Guardiola's Barcelona?

Barca surprisingly lost 1-0 to deadly rivals Real Madrid in Valencia, allowing the whites to win their first trophy since 2008 - and to question the hegemony that Guardiola's team have exercised for the past three years.

Does Wednesday's defeat represent simply an ad hoc bad night for Barca - as the Catalan media were claiming on Friday - or the end of a glorious cycle of success, as media in Madrid were suggesting and hoping?

On Thursday Madrid sports daily gleefully proclaimed the 'end of Barca's domination.'

On Friday daily Marca said that 'the next challenge is to win the Tenth', referring to Real's desire to pick up their 10th Champions Cup. The reference reflects their confidence about the upcoming semi-finals against Barcelona.

The first leg will be played in Madrid on April 27, the second leg in Barcelona on May 2.

An online poll taken by Marca showed, on Friday, that 61.2 per cent of readers believe that Real will push past Barca into the final, a far higher percentage than before Wednesday's cup triumph.

Madrid radio station Cadena SER claimed on Friday that 'Real must be favourites in the semi-finals given what we saw on Wednesday...(Real coach) Jose Mourinho has become an expert at dealing with Barcelona.'

Cadena COPE, meanwhile, observed that Barca stars David Villa, Xavi, Lionel Messi and Pedro 'are all in poor form and physical shape.'

AS, for its part, claimed that the 'Barcelona is very small, and is being made even smaller by injuries.'

Barca's injury victims are left-backs Eric Abidal and Adriano, plus striker Bojan Krkic. However, veteran captain Carles Puyol should be fit to return by April 27.

In contrast, Real's only injury victim is midfielder Sami Khedira.

Catalan sports papers Mundo Deportivo and Sport were trying, on Friday, to generate optimism and dispel the doubts.

Sport reminded its readers that 'the cup has much less value than the league' - and that Barca are eight points ahead of Real in La Liga, on course for a third straight title.

Mundo Deportivo, for its part, claimed that 'this wonderful team has achieved too much to be questioned or doubted now.' However, the paper did accept that Guardiola's team needed to improve its sharpness and inspiration in the penalty area.

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