After exit,tiki-taka inquisition

Barcas famous short pass approach under scanner

The question on many lips after Barcelonas elimination from the Champions League is how a team with 72 percent of possession over 180 minutes of football could fail to get past Chelsea. For all their dominance,Pep Guardiolas side managed only six shots on target in the 1-0 defeat in the first leg and three to Chelseas five in Tuesdays 2-2 stalemate in the return game at the Nou Camp.

Yes,Barca,whose performance was described as their most tragic monologue by El Pais,were unlucky to be denied by the goal frame twice. However,there is also a sense that if the soon-to-be-dethroned European champions were less obsessed with holding on to the ball and willing to hazard more risky passes into the danger areas or shoot from distance they would now be preparing for the trip to Munich for next months final.

Guardiola,who like most of his squad learned Barcas tiki-taka brand of football based on rapid,intricate passing moves at the clubs youth school,said again after Tuesdays bitter setback that he would remain true to that philosophy.

Lessons to be learnt

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Yet doubts also seemed to be gnawing at the former midfielder. We are not a team that can play in different ways, the 41-year-old. We have a peculiar way of playing and the opposition adjusts to that and thats it, he added. Maybe this is a lesson I should learn,that we should hold back and not be so offensive. One man Barca have always been able to rely on during their recent golden period is World Player of the Year Messi but the Argentine failed to produce when it counted for the third straight game,suggesting the team may rely too much on his goals and assists.

Whether Guardiola,who has yet to extend his contract beyond the end of this season,decides that changes are needed remains to be seen.

Cesc Fabregas unwittingly put his finger on the crux of the problem: We were the same Barca as always.