Guardiola can blame himself for deficit

After beating Real Madrid and Arsenal in their best week of the season, it looked as though Barcelona were coasting to yet another set of European and domestic trophies.

Then, neighbors Espanyol threw a wrench in the engine during a scrappy 0-0 Barcelona derby, before a shocking 3-1 defeat at the San Siro to Inter sent shock waves around the world of football.

No one in the world is foolish enough to believe that Barcelona are out of their Champions League Semifinal tie with Inter, all the contrary.

A repeat of the 2-0 score line Barcelona achieved during the group stage, and the holders will be through.

It is certain though that the Catalans have left themselves more work than they would have liked.

Pep Guardiola was lavished by praise last year, as Barcelona won all six competitions in which they entered. Now, the former Spain international must be equally criticized as his team has hit a bit of rut.

After the match, Guardiola and his team were full of disapproval of the referee and the state of the pitch. It was clear that Pep was out-thought by his Portuguese counterpart Jose Mourinho, and his team was out-hustled and unable to take advantage of their massive advantage in terms of time of possession.

The only thing more puzzling than Guardiola's shocking decision to replace striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic with leftback Eric Abidal was the choice of the giant Swede as a starter.

Ibra was clearly not match fit, and a in-form Bojan would certainly have made more sense, especially against the likes of Inter's Lucio and Walter Samuel, who are tough and powerful, but certainly not fleet of foot.

The quickness of Bojan could have been enough to get behind the Inter defense, especially with the way Mourinho's men were intent on closing down Lionel Messi each time he touched the ball.

The return to the San Siro was obviously an emotional game for Zlatan, but one would doubt that Guardiola would have given into Zlatan's pleas to play against his old club.

Regardless of the reasoning behind Ibra's selection, the ex-Ajax and Malmo man was completely ineffective in the time he spent on the pitch.

We, of course, cannot discuss Ibrahimovic and his return to Italy, without mentioning that Mourinho bolstered his squad with the likes of Sneijder, Milito, and Lucio, partially thanks to the ludicrous sum of money Barcelona shipped along with Eto'o to acquire Zlatan.

When the Swede was withdrawn shortly after the hour, it seemed likely that Guardiola would shuffle the deck again. Surprisingly, it was the final move made by Pep.

Even though Barcelona laid siege to Inter's goal, they lacked the finishing touch, something either Bojan or the out-of-favor Thierry Henry could have applied had they been given a run out, even if only for few minutes

Another decision that Guardiola may live to regret is his insistence to play Sergio Busquets of Yaya Toure.

Toure was one of the integral parts of Barcelona's treble success last season, but has been forced into a more peripheral role by Guardiola, in favor of the Catalan.

Barcelona were out-muscled by the Italian Champions, yet committed more fouls and received more cards. The more physical Toure would could have helped combat the likes of Esteban Cambiasso and Thiago Motta in the middle of the park.

Toure has also shown much more potential to get forward than Busquets, as seen by his perfect square ball for Zlatan Ibrahimovic during Barcelona's victory of Xerez.

Inter is clearly in a different league than Xerez, but Toure has always been able to drag his team forward. He is also just as effective, if not more so, at breaking play up in the middle of the park.

In the revenge match, Guardiola must ask his players to step up their physicality, and there is no better way to do that than to insert the Ivorian to play alongside Seydou Keita in front of the back four.

Guardiola and his men must also be wary of Inter's deadly counter attack (on display again with Milito's goal in their 3-1 victory over Atalanta this weekend).

They should be especially wary with the pace of Diego Milito and Samuel Eto'o to get in behind his defense that will no doubt be looking to push forward in search of a goal.

Certainly Guardiola's style of keeping possession has been brilliant over the past two seasons, but Mourinho will once again position his men in order to let Barcelona have the ball in non-threatening situations.

With all the admiration the world of football pundits have for Xavi Hernandez, the achievements of Wesley Sneijder are arguably more impressive. He only has a few chances to produce magic each match under Mourinho's pragmatic approach.

No one will ask Guardiola to change. Should the game remain scoreless, or should Inter steal an early goal, the Catalans must play a more direct approach rather than their usual passing game, which almost appears leisurely at times.

Obviously two years of brilliant football cannot be erased should Guardiola and his team crash out of Europe this week.

For once though, Barcelona need to borrow a page from Mourinho's book.

Jack Tilghman is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report, the open source sports network.