Barcelona: The Closing of a Chapter but Far from Game over for Pep Guardiola

Barcelona's success over the past three years is sure to weigh heavily on Pep Guardiola, but one of the rising stars of football management is far from done at the Nou Camp.

It might have been a little disheartening to football purists who advocate Barcelona's style of play to see them have such little effect on Chelsea in their Champions League semifinal meeting.

The Chelsea team lacked any real threat—despite scoring twice at the Nou Camp—and were unable to field any recognized centre-back for the majority of the game.

And yet, all the semifinal and Clasico loss managed to highlight was the closing of a chapter for Pep Guardiola and the opening of a new one.

What we've seen from Barcelona this season is a realisation that too many of the same players can become damaging. The team have inevitably struggled to break down teams—many of whom are catching onto how to defend against Barcelona—but also have little variety to call from the bench.

Cesc Fabregas, despite a return of 15 goals this season, has not been as influential as he was during his time at Arsenal.

Maybe some, and especially the player himself, will look to that as a great weight off his shoulders, but at times it's difficult to see what his designated role at Barcelona is. He certainly played in a much more disciplined role in North London, despite recent comments.

In an unusual paradox to that thought, Barcelona at times seem to have differing styles of players, but not necessarily ones who fit in when a change is needed.

Alexis Sanchez was extremely ineffectual centrally even against Chelsea's makeshift central defensive pairing, and his style of play does little to break down opposition who look to defend with two banks of four.

Sanchez is a player who can expose spaces behind defences and whose pace is extremely beneficial against teams who play with a high line. Against Chelsea and Real Madrid, there was little opportunity to exploit his natural game.

A much stronger figure, such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic, would certainly have made things much more difficult for Chelsea—especially from set pieces.

This season has been a learning curve for Pep Guardiola. It's a learning curve that was bound to spring up sooner or later, and one which will only reinforce the quality he has as a manager if he can overcome it.

The problems this season, coupled with those mentioned already, were the introduction of youth and the bedding-in of Sanchez and Fabregas. Essentially, what the Barcelona team were having to do is wait for their summer purchases to settle in along with academy graduates Isaac Cuenca and Christian Tello, while competing on three fronts.

It was simply a case of doing too much while trying not to compromise results and playing style.

Despite their dominance over the past three seasons, that is an enormous task for any club and something that has seen them struggle for points for much of the season.

In comparison, high-profile signings such as David Villa and Zlatan Ibrahimovic have supplemented Barcelona's squad, rather than radically change the makeup of it.

Unfortunately for Guardiola, the introduction of so many new faces to the squad was a necessity due to injuries to key players.

We've seen Arsene Wenger struggle in English football following a hugely successful first six or seven seasons, and Alex Ferguson experienced equally troubling times in the early-to-mid-2000s when Carlos Queiroz left the club. At the same time, Jose Mourinho showed signs of mortality when he arrived at Real Madrid and was unable to instantly have the success of previous years in charge in Italy, England and Portugal. Even now, it's done nothing to take away from his moniker of 'The Special One.'

Lionel Messi has been unable to score against Real Madrid and Chelsea over the past week, despite his record of over 60 goals this season, and even Robin van Persie at Arsenal has gone through a small drought over the last few weeks. However, it would be incredibly foolish to assume either player's time is up at their respective clubs.

In the same way, Pep Guardiola is experiencing his own drought and struggles for points and trophies—funnily, there's still an opportunity for the Copa del Rey next month.

But what this certainly isn't is an opportunity to shake Guardiola's hand, thanking him for his hard work and wishing him well for the future. It's very much an opportunity to see how one of the world's most exciting managers will bounce back next season.