Barcelona inquest will be 'scathing and remorseless' after Champions League loss to Liverpool

Final whistle at Anfield: Liverpool 4 - 0 Barcelona. Reds scale through into CL final - Twitter/FCBarcelona

Roma.

That word has haunted Barcelona all season.

Their capitulation against the Italian side in last season's Champions League quarter-final second leg, after winning the opener by three goals at the Nou Camp, cast a dark shadow which has never been dispelled.


This time around, with another three-goal margin tucked under their belts, surely Barca would head to Anfield with the right lessons learned, ready to ensure they avoided another self-destruction ... wouldn't they?

No, they would not. And the consequences of their horror show at Anfield - no matter how well Liverpool obviously played in a 4-0 win that put the English side into the final 4-3 on aggregate - will be deep and far-reaching.

The immediate reaction from the never-knowingly-understated Spanish press has been predictably (and fairly) ferocious, with Mundo Deportivo labelling it a "debacle", AS describing it as a "tragedy" and Marca going for "historic failure".

The inquest will be scathing and remorseless, and one man in particular will be pinpointed...

Valverde out?

Despite leading his team to a domestic double in his first season in charge and easily winning another La Liga title this year, Barca manager Ernesto Valverde has struggled to command the affection of the team's supporters.

That is largely because of the collapse against Roma, but also because many fans believe he does not adhere to the possession game which is deeply imbued within the club's 'DNA', to use the analogy generally employed in Spanish football analysis.

Valverde has, in the eyes of many, strayed far from the team's high-minded principles by overseeing a well-organised but unimaginative team, competent enough but totally relying on one man - Lionel Messi - for attacking inspiration.

Heaven forbid, he has even veered away from the sacred 4-3-3 formation and regularly employed an industrial-style 4-4-2.BBCSport

Who is to blame for Barcelona's latest defeat?