Everyone said it would be impossible for Barcelona to repeat their treble win from last year, and Barcelona has proven them right (damn them!). Today, even after defeating Sevilla 1-0 in the second round of their Copa del Rey meeting, the Catalan giants still only tied 2-2 on aggregate. Sevilla won in tiebreakers, having scored two away goals on Barcelona during their last meeting.
The former Copa del Rey champions were summarily eliminated from a competition for the first time since April 2008, when Manchester United knocked them out of the semi-finals of the Champions League. Saving the game for Sevilla was goalie Andre Palop, who denied all but one shot from Barcelona, and even that did not help the Catalans reach the quarterfinals.
Coach Pep Guardiola spoke frankly during a press conference following the game, expressing his anguish over the elimination and that fact that his team could only strive for success in La Liga and the Champions League from now on.
"We are out and it hurts to be eliminated from this competition. It is not good news, even if people will say we can now concentrate on La Liga and the Champions League. In sport we are not taught how to lose and this has affected us," Guardiola said.
Barcelona has been performing fairly well lately- they still rule La Liga and are still in the Champions League, but hopefully this elimination will be a wake up call to them that all of the talent in the world (and they do have all of the talent in the world) can not guarantee them a win every single time.
Right now the team seems to be in a rut, and Pep and the players have to somehow reinvigorate the passion that led them to win six titles in a year. There is no limit to what this team is capable of, but they desperately need to recreate the drive that led them to the point of invincibility they achieved coming into the 2009-2010 season.
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