Lionel Messi has described the Barcelona team as weak following their shock 2-1 loss to 10-man Osasuna at the Nou Camp, in LaLiga on Thursday.
Messi’s netted a free-kick just after the hour mark canceling out Jose Arnaiz’s opening goal for Osasuna.
But Roberto Torres stunned the host in the fourth minute of added time by rounding off a swift counterattack.
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Meanwhile, Barcelona rivals Real Madrid were crowned champions after beating Villareal 2-1 to claim their 34th title.
Madrid’s win against the Yellow Submarine meant even a win for Barcelona against Osasuna wouldn’t have taken the title race to the final day, but the contrasting performances — in particular since the restart following the enforced break due to the coronavirus pandemic — mark a huge turnaround in fortunes for Spain’s two top clubs.
The Catalan team has been in turmoil both on and off the pitch for some time now even Messi cut a frustrated figure on the pitch that he threw his arm up in annoyance when scoring Barcelona’s equalizer rather than celebrating.
“We didn’t expect to finish in this way, but it sums up the year for us,” Messi told Spanish television after the match.
“We have been an erratic and weak team, who can be beaten with enough intensity and enthusiasm. We have lost a lot of points which we shouldn’t have done and been very inconsistent.
“We need to be self-critical, starting with the players but also across the entire club. We are Barcelona and we are obliged to win every game.
“The feeling on this team is that it tries, but that it cannot get the job done. In the first half they were better than we were and it seems we have to fall behind to react like we tried to do in the second half.”
Quique Setien, who was in charge at Real Betis the last time Barcelona lost at the Camp Nou, was brought in at the start of the year to bring some excitement back to the club; instead, it appears he is already fighting to retain his job.
While Madrid went on a 10-game winning run, Barcelona has struggled for results since La Liga restarted.
Barcelona was held to a 1-1 draw by Napoli in Naples and holds the small advantage of an away goal going into the second leg on August 8, but Messi knows the size of the task at hand.
“I said it some time ago, that playing like this we had no chance of winning the Champions League,” he said.
“It turns out we didn’t even have enough to win la Liga. We need to take a breather, take some air in and clean out minds of all that has happened since December.”
“Playing like this we will lose against Napol. We have to start from zero in the Champions League and blame ourselves for what went wrong.”
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