Summary: After the dust has settled on a very harsh semi-final round in the Champions League for both Real Madrid and Barcelona, much has been gathered and some important changes appear on the horizon as a result of an 11-3 aggregate failure against Bayern and Dortmund, but is this a case of over-reaction or over-simplification with respect to some important clues that were ignored. At the crux of this failure is that these two Spanish giants might just have been a victim of their own success during a remarkable run of silverware for both club and country and whose stumble is more than likely temporary over telling longer term. However, in focus for this episode are those elements which did not go addressed, several trends that finally did take a bite of the two most dominant sides in Europe since the start of the decade and whether or not the first big questions must involved the two managers for very different reasons. On the one hand there is Tito Vilanova with some serious health issues that arose this season, but even before that occurred there were clear indications that his version of Barcelona was already weakened both by age, durability and perhaps a lack of hunger. Then over to Jose Mourinho whose tenure at Real Madrid looks to have drawn to a close after a season in which the politics and posturing finally caught up to him and his team of superstars who suddenly underperformed again and lost their way at the semi-final stage. We examine the transfer market, the politics, the lost opportunities and whether the Spanish national team performances in concert with a remarkable run for Real Madrid and Barcelona in club football hold the key in what went wrong against their German opponents shorter term. We also explore the potential of Jose Mourinho exiting for Chelsea and what he will leave behind in Madrid and whether or not Carlo Ancelotti is the right man with the right approach now that The Special One looks set to renew his love affair with English Football.
