In the space of just seven days, Barcelona’s current campaign looks to have fallen into ruin. Knocked out of the Champions League following a 1-0 second leg defeat by Atlético Madrid in the Vicente Calderón, Barca’s Primera Liga hopes took a battering when a 1-0 defeat at lowly Andalusians Granada coincided with victories for title rivals Atlético and Real Madrid, while last night’s defeat in Valencia saw another potential trophy slip from their grasp.

With five league games left to play, Barcelona sit one point behind Real Madrid and four behind leaders Atleti. A margin that is by no means insurmountable, but this is a Catalan team that is more than accustomed to being favourites in every competition they enter. Barcelona have the trickiest remaining ties of the three title hopefuls, facing three of the top six teams, Bilbao, Villareal and Atlético. Real Madrid in contrast will face three of the bottom seven teams, and no teams currently placed higher than eighth.

All that made Wednesday night’s Copa del Rey final against Real Madrid look like Barcelona’s best chance of winning a trophy this season, and defeat against their most hated rivals will be bitterly felt in Barcelona, however it will be the manner of defeat that will disturb Barca’s fans the most.

Real Madrid followed neighbours Atleti’s lead in defending deep and looking to break ferociously and take best advantage of their counter attacks. It’s a simple enough idea in concept, and a tactic that some teams have had success in employing against Barca in the past, but never as often or as assuredly until this season. Barcelona’s previous dominance stemmed from the ease at which they could break down even teams that ‘parked the bus’, through their slick passing, technical excellence and individual brilliance. This season the relentless high pressing that was so evident under Pep Guardiola has all but disappeared, and Messi dropping deep to receive the ball coupled with full-backs Alves and Alba not getting as high up the pitch has left Barcelona looking less dangerous in the final third against entrenched teams.

Barcelona’s management have, through oversight or mismanagement allowed the club to be dragged into a number of off-the-field scandals this season. From the messy tax case involving figurehead Lionel Messi and his father, the débâcle surrounding the misrepresentation of Neymar’s transfer which saw president Sandro Rosell quit the club after legal proceedings were brought by the Spanish authorities, to the investigation by FIFA and subsequent transfer ban imposed on the club for violating FIFA’s rules on international transfers of players under 18. Alongside drawn-out negotiations with socios over the redevelopment of the Camp Nou, a difficult year for the club can only have affected the psychology of the players and performances on the pitch.

Despite plenty of La Masia propects as always waiting to make the step up to the first team, some of this current generation of players look to be at, or past their peak. While 36 year old Carles Puyol is inexplicably yet to be properly replaced at the heart of Barcelona’s defence, Xavi at the age of 34 and to a lesser extent Dani Alves, Víctor Valdés, Andrés Iniesta and Javier Mascherano, all around 30 years old, will all present a difficult task to replace in the coming seasons. If the transfer ban imposed by FIFA stands up to appeal, then strengthening the squad will be all the more difficult. Of course one position that Barcelona are not precluded from bringing in a replacement is that of manager, and current coach Gerardo Martino is under increasing pressure in Spain.

Barcelona have also struggled to integrate the young talent they brought in at great cost last summer into their team. Neymar’s aforementioned transfer from Santos and the financial trickery that surrounded it are not the only way it has affected the team, with Iniesta often pushed to the left to form a front three with Neymar and Messi, rather than pulling the strings in the centre of midfield where he has done so much damage in the past. This often leaves Barcelona looking sluggish in the attack, and Messi isolated and lacking quality service. The performances of Messi in recent weeks, most notably in the matches against Atlético and Real Madrid where the Argentine was relatively anonymous, will also be cause for concern for Barcelona. The Spanish press have not missed this opportunity to feature a name that sells so many papers on the peninsula, speculating wildly that Messi is either unhappy, or saving himself for the coming World Cup.

These myriad small problems can altogether lead one to the conclusion that Barcelona are finally coming to the end of their remarkable period of success. Some signs of potential decline were already evident following last year’s 7-0 humiliation at the hands of Bayern Munich, but winning La Liga title back from Real Madrid rightly kept the Catalans from receiving too much criticism.

There is a long-standing theory in football that great teams have, at best three years of dominance before the cycle ends and the club must rebuild. The three year cycle has in general held true, until that is, this Barcelona team in some ways managed to surpass it. Some might say that the theory held, as José Mourinho’s Madrid and then Bayern Munich curtailed Barcelona’s dominance, but since Jonathan Wilson mused on Barcelona’s three year cycle in January 2012, Barcelona went on to win the Copa del Rey at the end of that season, before reclaiming La Liga last year. (+ Here’s some more Wilson on the three year cycle).

So might this be the season that truly brings an end to Barcelona’s cycle? It certainly looks like the period of all-out dominance in Spain and Europe that saw Barcelona touted as the best club side of all time is over, but even as they ride out the problems set out earlier, Barcelona remain a strong side that can challenge for honours on the national and continental level. The cycle might be over but boy, what a ride it was.