Barcelona’s record 8-2 European defeat by Bayern Munich has exposed serious cracks in the Catalan giants.

Here, the PA news agency examines what has gone wrong.

Expensive and ineffective recruitment

Barcelona spent more than £350million on three players, two of whom started from the bench on Friday – with the other scoring twice for Bayern. That £105million record signing Philippe Coutinho could be out on loan at all speaks volumes for Barcelona’s rudderless recruitment. That the Brazil playmaker could climb off the Bayern bench and score twice against his parent club underscores major issues behind the Barca scenes. Antoine Griezmann came off the bench at half-time for Barcelona, but the France forward has been unable to find his niche with the Catalans. Ousmane Dembele was back on the bench after nine months of injuries, but remained unused.

Mishandling Lionel Messi

Managerial mis-steps