"You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain" - Barcelona fans feel there is no way back for veteran after shambolic display in 3-0 Bayern defeat
Barcelona supporters believe Sergio Busquets' time at the elite level is over after his disastrous display in their 3-0 defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday, 26 October.
The Blaugrana were already confirmed to be knocked out of the competition following Inter Milan's victory over Viktoria Plzen earlier in the day. But they put on a meek performance against the Bavarians and found themselves 1-0 down inside 10 minutes thanks to a Sadio Mane strike.
Xavi Hernandez's side were two down on the half-hour mark when Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting doubled their advantage before Benjamin Pavard rounded off the scoring in injury time. The result will only pile pressure on Xavi following Barcelona's poor recent run.
Full Time #BarçaBayern https://t.co/G6MSMaaEAd
The Catalonian giants spent serious money in the summer to compete against Europe's elite, but that decision appears to have badly backfired. Players like Franck Kessie, Andreas Christensen, Marcos Alonso, and Raphinha were brought in, but most of them are yet to make a mark.
Busquets was brought off in the 58th minute, having received a yellow card and put on an ineffective display.
Despite undoubtedly being a legend for the club and winning every major honor numerous times, Barcelona supporters have apparently seen enough of Busquets. The veteran midfielder was booed off the pitch as he was replaced by Ferran Torres.
Blaugrana fans expressed discontent inside the Camp Nou and many took to Twitter to vent their frustrations:
Busquets is booed and whistled as he comes off for Barcelona.
« You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain. » https://t.co/W3zAFGgGgR
Why do we keep making room to accommodate Busquets? 💔 https://t.co/51WD49c5sO
Estos partidos son los que te demuestran que Busquets, por ejemplo, no puede seguir en el equipo.
No llega, no la huele.
Bellerin, Kessie and Alonso aren't good enough for Barça. Busquets on heavy decline aswell and struggles with high tempo games. Tough to win against a top top side in Bayern with this.
Funny how Xavi think he can compete for trophies with Alonso , Busquets and co lol.. lol we need a coach who can bench those old men This is not a Spanish team but a BIG CLUB
Once again Xavi subs Busquets after an hour. How many more times is he going to start him, only to later realise… he shouldn’t have.
| Sergio Busquets was heavily whistled by the fans at the Camp Nou.❗| Sergio Busquets was heavily whistled by the fans at the Camp Nou.
Barca needs to stop starting Busquets it’s hard to watch at this point
Thierry Henry backs Barcelona manager and former teammate Xavi Hernandez
French icon Thierry Henry was on punditry duty for CBS Sports and was asked about Xavi's future and whether he should be in charge of the Blaugrana. The duo won the 2009 Champions League under Pep Guardiola and Henry has defended his former teammate.
The all-time French top scorer told the station (as per The Telegraph):
"If it was another coach right now at Barcelona, dealing with what's happening.. the volcano would've erupted. Look, they're second in the league. We all know that Lewandowski should've scored at Bayern."
Bayern Munich have now won SIX STRAIGHT matches against Barcelona with a combined score of 22-4 😳 https://t.co/EUNi3a3x9n
Barca's failure to reach the Champions League knockout stage is a financial disaster for the club, who sit three points behind Real Madrid in La Liga. Pressure has been building on the Spaniard since his recent loss in El Clasico and this heavy defeat at home to Bayern will not help his cause.