For the second straight round, Barcelona must do something incredible if they wish to keep their Champions League dream alive.
Tuesday’s 3-0 defeat to Juventus in Turin has left Luis Enrique’s side on the brink of a premature exit. They managed to turn around a 4-0 first leg deficit against Paris Saint-Germain but Juventus have the experience and quality to keep Barcelona at bay.
Barcelona have the Copa del Rey final to look forward to in May but failure to win the Champions League or the La Liga title - where they trail Real Madrid by three points - would be classed as a disappointing season.
Along with Luis Enrique’s departure at the end of the campaign, Rio Ferdinand expects a squad overhaul in the summer.
"Yes [they need some new players]," Ferdinand said on BT Sport, per Goal.
"There are a lot of players here who could not have got into this Barcelona team three years ago. Too many names to mention.
"There are five or six in this team who shouldn't even be putting on the shirt because the way that they played, the intensity and the quality is not on the same planet.”
What happened after the defeat
Were Barcelona in a defiant mood after their defeat? Has their comeback against PSG left them
confident of staging another remarkable performance in the Camp Nou next week?
Apparently not.
According to Mundo Deportivo, the Blaugrana are in a ‘state of alert’ following Tuesday’s result.
The Spanish newspaper have given a fascinating insight into the reaction from Barcelona’s players and manager to the defeat. Apparently Enrique “said nothing” in the dressing room after the game, instead deciding to release his frustrations in front of the media.
President Josep Maria Bartomeu tried to lift morale by speaking in the dressing room but there was "nothing special" in his words.
Why Messi was furious
The flight back to Spain was described as being “like a funeral”, while Lionel Messi was furious with the team’s lack of consistency as he tried a second-half comeback.
Enrique demanded intensity
Enrique may have been silent in the dressing room but he certainly wasn’t during the match. He shouted expletives towards his players and struck the bench when his assistant, Juan Carlos Unzue, showed him images of particularly poor moments of the game on an iPad.
The 46-year-old demanded intensity from his players, so he will have been disappointed to learn his players ran 2km less than Juventus’ stars.
Of course, Barca’s players are feeling rotten now. But the stage is set for them to produce another remarkable comeback.