It's not like Leo was ever going to place the blame on the manager or his teammates. It's been said so many times before. He's too nice, almost to a fault.
Even on the 2nd leg, Leo and Arturo actually did play at full intensity and in the VIP cam footage, you do see Leo urging his m8s on.
And even after being hit like this, [and so many times before with the NT], he still shouldered the blame. He never ever throws any1 under the bus It just goes against his code.
That's why I blame the Barto and Co the most! It's their job to take charge. Instead of those ridiculous contract extensions and all the lemon signings, they had years to set up a top scouting force + hire the shrewdest lawyers to draft up ruthless agreements with performance clauses, early forced exit strategies, etc... Basically contracts that would place maximum power in the hands of the club and not the players.
Turn their management of Barca into the gold standard and something to emulate. With players competing for their spots on a daily basis, Barca would've been a completely different animal. Spartan warriors other teams would've been terrified of facing lol a bit over the top but you get the idea.
A team so incredibly good that all the top players and aspiring talents would've done anything to join, in spite of gentler conditions being available elsewhere. Kinda like in the armed forces, you get the regular troupes and then you've got the elite forces such as the SEALS, SAS, SPETNAZ, D Force, JTF2 etc... soldiers go through hell to join them and there's prestige that comes with it.
Messi being Messu would've made top gun. So would've Pistolero when he first joined but as soon as he lost his edge, he'd have been cut and been transferred to an easier battalion. Cutting him early means he'd still be a top contender at any other club than Barca and he'd have brought in top value. Funds you would then use to recruit new talents. Rinse and repeat.
The board could've put in place such a system but instead, Barto and company took the easy route of simply coasting and piggy-backing off Leo's back.
Yeah I'd rather have a cool coach like Hervé Renard or Sarri, but the Valv here like Potroh noted, is merely the logical extension of this weak-ass management team who plan only for the short-term and primarily out of self-interest rather than for the well-being of the club.
Semper Fi o--}