Barcelona and the crisis of the 30s

It was a game that seemed won until VAR, fatalism and the ghosts of Roma and Liverpool arrived. Barcelona fell in the cursed Spanish Supercopa in Saudi Arabia after a good performance in which VAR proved their undoing. And that after they had told us about the benefits of the system on television in the days leading up to the game. Even the president of the Referees' Committee, Carlos Velasco Carballo, boasted of technology which is "absolutely transparent so that everyone understands what's being done" due to updates on the scoreboards in Jeddah. But is it VAR's fault or is there something else? Is there something more than simply just Ernesto Valverde? 

There are those that look a little further and put the accent on the age of the squad. That's what Josep Maria Minguella did on ‘El Club de la Mitjanit’ on Catalunya Ràdio. He warned that "Barça train very little" and that "they're playing with six or seven players over the age of 30." He added: "You can have the best player in the world, but if you don't have the fitness and coach, you may come up short." Miguel Rico took a similar direction on ‘El Món a RAC1’ when he spoke about Antoine Griezmann's comments that "Atletico had more legs than us." The journalist also complained that "in the last two games Barça have played with seven players over 30, they're the most used players and they're never changed." The crisis of the 30s is catching Barça.