Ancelotti: Barcelona are not finished and will come back stronger than ever

Paris Saint-Germain coach Carlo Ancelotti insists Barcelona will come back stronger than ever after a 2011-12 campaign that looks set to end in disappointment for the Catalan giants.


The Blaugrana all but surrendered the Primera Division title to Real Madrid last weekend and were knocked out of the Champions League by Chelsea on Tuesday, leading to some critics to claim that their dominance under Pep Guardiola is coming to an end.

However, Ancelotti has laughed off such suggestions, stating that Barca have enough talent in their ranks to continue to challenge on all fronts for the foreseeable future.

"Until Messi, Xavi, [Andres] Iniesta and Co. depart, how can you say that their time is over," Ancelotti told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

"Barcelona are not finished. Indeed, they will only come back stronger than ever.

"They say Messi is out of form because of a penalty miss, but it is naive to criticise Messi, who is the best player in the world.

"Guardiola is great, he has won everything and entertained the world with his football philosophy.

"Why should he change? It is easy to do certain things in hindsight.

"Maybe they are a bit tired. You must consider the increased strength of their opponents. Real Madrid were more continuous and more concrete this season in La Liga, and they deserved to win at Camp Nou."

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Probably obvious to the more sensible posters though

I don't see why anybody would say Barca is finished when the only 'old' players on the team are Puyol and to a lesser extent, Xavi. It just wasn't your year.

As a Chelsea fan, I'm delighted that David Villa was not in the tie. That could have been too much for us.

Good luck though.

I love people think we are finished, mostly because I hope the players hear it and it drives them more.

Everyone is entitled to their opinon, but I think we will be back.

We cant win every year and when you add the type of injuries we had to go with everything else, it just wasnt to be.

Couple changes here and there and I dont see why we wont be fighting for all the titles again next year, playing out style of football with players, many of whom, I wouldnt trade for any others.

Ancelotti needs to tell that to a few of the Barca fans on here.
Massive over reaction.
Cant win every year.But I am sure we will be back.