Borussia Monchengladbach manager Marco Rose believes that Barcelona are no longer the force they used to be in Europe and in Spain.
The Catalan giants crashed to a 3-1 defeat to Real Madrid in the El Clasico over the weekend and although the German manager claims that he did not watch the Derby on Saturday, Barcelona’s decline is there for everyone to see.
Barcelona were probably the best football team in the world when Pep Guardiola was in charge. But they have lost several stalwarts like Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol. The ones still at the club are in their 30s and they are clearly past their peak.
Losing the likes of Neymar and Suarez have not helped either. Furthermore, Barcelona’s choice of managers has not been inspiring so far.
The Spanish outfit have failed to plan their squad accordingly and replace their ageing players. They are desperate need of a rebuild and they need to bring in talented young players with potential.
Barcelona have been reliant on Lionel Messi for a while now and it will be interesting to see if they can collectively improve the quality of their squad next summer.
Speaking to the media ahead of Gladbach’s clash with Real Madrid in the Champions League this week, Rose said: “We know that Barcelona are going through a difficult phase and that they no longer are the Barcelona that we all knew and admired. As for Real Madrid, I will have 90 minutes tomorrow to see them thinking about my team.
“We wanted great games and we were happy to have a great opponent. For a team like Gladbach, tradition always plays an important role but tomorrow it won’t help us, we have to concentrate on what’s happening here and now.
“We know that against Real Madrid we have to grab our opportunities and we are going to do it, although we know it will be difficult.”
