I have said before that for all their brilliance, Barca are still overly reliant on Messi. Of course, any team would lean on such godly abilities, but I feel they shouldn't need to given their attacking talents. It is not a surprise that their difficult week of elimination from league and european title races has coincided with a 5 hour goal drought from the normally free-scoring Argentine.
I think two factors have contributed to this dependency. They have been robbed off cutting edge by David Villa's injury. He'd add a bit more bite to the attack. But they have also further compromised their attack by fielding Fabregas in place of Pedro. It's easy to say Fabregas is an otherworldly talent, but he replicates a lot of what Messi, Xavi, Iniesta and Biscuits do.
We are talking about gloss here though. Barca are in no way finished. They just fell short at the final hurdle in two big competitions
