Since the Dream Team coached by Cruyff—or perhaps even earlier—Barcelona had always regarded possession as life itself.
In Barcelona's own words, possession had already merged into their blood and genes, something they could never shake off.
In fact, throughout all these years, Barcelona had always followed one principle: they could lose matches, but they could never abandon their philosophy of possession. That was why they had always looked down on non-possession-based tactics.
Some said this was complacency and stagnation. Others called it stubbornness. Of course, there were also those who said it was a matter of staying true to their philosophy. They believed that Barcelona's possession football would rise again one day.
The earth was round, and so was football.
When Martino took charge of Barcelona, he hoped to bring changes to the team. He introduced more long passes and through balls, but this style earned him both praise and criticism. Especially with the results proving unsatisfactory, he ultimately ended his tenure in miserable fashion.
What could Louis Enrique, a Barcelona legend whose coaching record was far from impressive, bring to this team?
For a period after the season began, many people believed he could give Barcelona a more stable defense. Before they faced Real Madrid, they had not conceded a single goal—something Barcelona had never achieved in all these years.
But soon after facing Real Madrid, Louis Enrique's defensive system was completely torn apart.
Amid the controversy, Louis Enrique's tenure at Barcelona had been anything but smooth. The Trident had performed poorly, the team's results had been less than ideal, and all of that had placed immense pressure on him. It was not until after the winter break, when the team underwent a full revival—especially with a string of big victories—that he finally gained enough confidence.
Yet the Copa