Wednesday, 7th March 2007 at 8:46 am

Barcelona - end of an era?

It’s a while since Liverpool celebrated a loss quite so enthusiastically, Tuesday night’s 1-0 defeat to barcelona enough to get them through to the Champions League quarterfinals on away goals. The celebration at Anfield from the home crowd was understandable; the dejection in the travelling contingent of Barca fans was more so, as one of Europe’s great teams took another step towards unravelling.

A year ago, Barca were untouchable. Ronaldinho, a man who can make a football talk like no one since Maradona, led a team of genuine superstars - Eto’o, Deco, Giuly, Puyol, Thuram, Xavi, the electric Lionel Messi - to dominance of both Spain and Europe, defying the danger of blending so many big names (how Madrid envied them that) to stand tall as Europe’s most breathtaking football team.

But this season, a magnificent unit has become a fractured shadow, power struggles in the Barcelona boardroom spilling over into the dressing room, and splitting a famously united squad. Eto’o’s touch has become unsure, Messi’s star has flickered rather than shone, and even Ronaldinho has, dare one suggest it, looked almost human at times. And despite having every chance of snatching a win over Liverpool, Barcelona didn’t, and are now ignominiously out of continental competition.

More worrying, though, for simple lovers of the game, is that a Barcelona team that looked set for a definitive reign at the top of the game now teeters alarmingly, Frank Rikjaard simply unable to check forces at play beyond the field. Melodramatic? One would hope so, but the unhurried majesty of the team has gone, and recapturing it looks an unlikely task. Liverpool fans are triumphant, and rightly so; football fans elsewhere feel a touch of sadness.