It’s safe to say that Barcelona have been far below their normal lofty standards.
Losing Lionel Messi from their ranks has exposed a team that are far far below the standards expected at one of world football’s super clubs.
Bayern Munich were the latest team to embarrass the Blaugrana with a 3-0 dismantling to condemn Barcelona to the Europa League playoffs, knocking them out of the Champions League group stage for the first time in 20 years.
In many ways it was a men versus boys scenario, but it was this in more terms than just the performance on the pitch.
One amazing image has surfaced from the game starring one player from each side, with the image arguably being representative of firstly the typical type of player each club has employed in their recent history, and secondly of how far the difference in quality is between the two clubs.
The image in question stars La Masia graduate Riqui Puig and Bayern defender Niklas Sule, with the pair almost a foot apart in height, standing at 5ft 6″ and 6ft 5″ respectively.
You can see the image below.
5ft 6 Riqui Puig vs 6ft 5 Niklas Süle
— TEAMtalk (@TEAMtalk) December 9, 2021