Things could not get any better for Real
Madrid right now. Their victory over San Lorenzo in the Club World Cup
final 10 days ago was their fourth trophy in 2014, adding to the Copa
del Rey, Uefa Super Cup and, of course, the fabled 10th Champions League
crown. They are top of La Liga with a game in hand, setting all kinds
of records at home and abroad, and Cristiano Ronaldo is almost certain
to retain the Ballon d’Or.
And to complete an almost perfect year
– bitter rivals Barcelona will now definitively be unable to sign any
more players until January 2016.
On Tuesday, the Court of
Arbitration for Sport (CAS) rejected Barca’s appeal against a two-window
transfer ban, after the Catalans had been found guilty by Fifa of
signing underage overseas players.
"CAS has dismissed the appeal
filed by FC Barcelona against Fifa regarding the decision issued by the
Fifa Appeals Committee on August 19, 2014," said a CAS statement.
"The
panel found in particular that FC Barcelona had breached the rules
regarding the protection of minors and the registration of minors
attending football academies ... Accordingly, the Fifa decision is
confirmed in full and the sanction remains in force."
Tuesday’s
news is a hammer blow to Barcelona and will allow Madrid to further
increase the widening gap between the two Clasico clubs.
The
Blaugrana’s squad already has a number of gaping holes in it. Despite
conceding just seven goals in 16 La Liga games this term, the defence
showed in the 3-1 defeat to Real Madrid and 3-2 loss at Paris
Saint-Germain that it is not strong enough in the elite matches that now
define modern football and decide trophies.
All three right-back
options are insufficient. Douglas was barely an above-average full back
at Sao Paolo before moving to Spain, while both Martin Montoya and Dani
Alves had been expected to leave – with the latter’s contract expiring
in the summer. However, Barca will now be forced to retain at least one
of those two players – probably the ex-Sevilla man, who is clearly past
his best.
At centre-back, Gerard Pique may be only 27 but he
seems unlikely to ever return to the levels he reached as Carles Puyol’s
partner for club and country. Marc Bartra is not developing as once
hoped, while the €40m spent on Jeremy Mathieu and Thomas Vermaelen has
unsurprisingly proven to be a complete waste of money.
Indeed,
the injury-prone Belgian has yet to make his debut for the club and will
be lucky to play this season. Far better and cheaper defensive options,
such as Benfica’s Ezequiel Garay, were ignored by much-maligned
director of football Andoni Zubizarreta.
Barcelona will now have
to rely on inadequate defenders for the next 12 months – meaning natural
midfielders like Javier Mascherano and even Sergio Busquets will
continue to deputise in the back four.
The midfield is declining,
too. Xavi turns 35 next month and is on his last legs, while Andres
Iniesta is naturally not as dynamic as he once was. Ivan Rakitic is a
good player, but he is no Xavi or Iniesta and is certainly no match for
the world-class midfielders at Madrid, Bayern Munich or Chelsea.
Barcelona will be unable to improve this area in 2015, and may even have
to bring back another flop, Alex Song, from his loan spell at West Ham
for cover.
Barcelona
must regret the decision to offload Cesc Fabregas. The Spaniard has
been a revelation at Chelsea alongside Nemanja Matic – assisting more
goals than any Premier League player this season – and his sale
perfectly exemplifies how badly Barcelona dealt in the summer.
Zubizarreta,
although he didn't have full control of every transfer, knew that he
had to prepare for the possibility of a two-window ban but the €157m
budget was poorly used. Only Barcelona’s attack – boasting Lionel Messi,
Luis Suarez, Neymar, Pedro and Munir - has the quality and quantity to
weather the storm until the transfer ban ends.
Barcelona will be
able to buy players again in the winter window of 2016, but it is almost
always impossible to make any significant signings in January. Thus,
the Catalans can not only virtually write off this season, but also next
term too. Realistically, it will not be until 2017 that they can aim to
again challenge for La Liga or the Champions League.
By then,
Madrid will have had two extra transfer windows to further improve an
already frightening team, while Barcelona will be adapting to a squad
forced into wholesale changes in the summer of 2016. It is going to be
one hell of a New Year's Eve party in Madrid on Wednesday night.
