Real Madrid once again defeated Bayern Munich, marking their second entry into the Champions League final in the past three years.
Even after the era of Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid undoubtedly retains the title of the Champions League king.
In contrast, Barcelona faces significant challenges.
Three years after Messi's departure, the team was eliminated in the Champions League group stage twice, ultimately having to embark on the Europa League journey.
Why do these two teams exhibit such vast differences in performance at crucial moments?
What went wrong?
In summary, three main aspects highlight the disparities, with the importance of the final one even surpassing the sum of the first two.
Firstly, the disparity between Messi and Ronaldo is evident.
Messi is an all-around player capable of single-handedly leading the entire team.
His leadership ability in the Argentine team is the best proof.
Losing Messi, such an influential player, undoubtedly had an unprecedented impact on Barcelona.
Although they signed players of Ballon d'Or caliber like Lewandowski, their loss remains difficult to compensate for.
After all, true footballing geniuses are not commonplace.
In contrast, while Ronaldo's presidency boasts historic goal-scoring figures, during Real Madrid's three consecutive championship wins, he primarily played the role of a goal-scoring machine.
Compared to Messi's all-around king style, several players capable of replacing Ronaldo can be found.
Benzema has always played a supporting role, but to some extent, his level even reached the peak of Ronaldo's era.
Secondly, there is a gap in luck.
Although Zidane has left, the luck he left behind seems to persist.
Just like this season's victory over Manchester City, Real Madrid miraculously turned the tide in the final moments of the match once again.
Last time it was Rodrigo scoring two goals in the 89th and 91st minutes, and this time it was José Lu, a striker worth only 500,000 euros, scoring two goals in the 88th and 91st minutes to reverse Bayern with a 2-1 score.
In contrast, Barcelona encountered some unfavorable situations.
Last season, they were in the same group as Bayern and Inter Milan, and the referee's decisions seemed problematic.
At least Laporta thought so.
He once said, "The misjudgments against Inter Milan and Bayern are embarrassing, which is also why I support the European Super League."
Although luck seems to have improved this season, Araujo made a rare mistake and was sent off early in the quarter-finals.
Of course, this gap in luck is actually part of the gap in strength.
Without the efforts of Real Madrid players persisting until the last moment, there wouldn't be so many miraculous comebacks.
In this regard, Barcelona's players, who relax when ahead and become timid in adversity, really need to learn.
Lastly, the gap lies in management.
Under Florentino's leadership, Real Madrid is far ahead of Barcelona in aspects such as transfers, salary control, and squad building.
While Barcelona faces the once-in-a-century problem of dismantling talent under Bartomeu's leadership.
They spend money to buy out their own players, and the solution to defensive issues is to spend billions on attacking players.
In terms of retaining and acquiring players, they simply offer high salaries in a brute force manner.
After a series of chaotic operations, Laporta, who has taken the helm again, has no intention of competing for the Champions League anymore, as the team's leverage is almost at its limit.
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