Lionel Messi, not even 28 years old yet, had an incredible season, as we have all come to expect (he is pictured below with his adorable son, Thiago, and the Champions League trophy). Gerard Pique, somehow not getting distracted by his gorgeous wife and kids, led the Barça defense to its best season in a decade. Last but not least, Luis Suarez had an immaculate first season at the Camp Nou, and teamed up brilliantly with Neymar and Messi to form an attack that could even scare Chuck Norris.

But here's my question: Supreme talent level aside, did Barcelona truly deserve the title?

I would have to say no. In the same way that FIFA has tarnished the sport, Barça's antics have tarnished the sport. Growing up in a country where even a young boy crying for too long is frowned upon, maybe I don't truly understand why these grown men insist on constantly whining and complaining, but for me, it reflects badly on the entire game of soccer. Any time this season I had the displeasure of watching a Barcelona game in which they were in the lead, the last 15 minutes were always an absolute struggle to watch. With every little contact, the Barça players would fall down screaming and rolling around. With every opportunity, they would all circle around the referee like sharks who smelled blood, sometimes even bumping him or putting their hands on him (if you want to nit-pick, the team captain is technically the only one that's allowed to speak to the referee, but I digress). In general, it is just embarrassing to watch as a die-hard supporter of the sport.

Don't get me wrong, I completely understand the importance of diving to the ground and how it can be used as a legitimate strategy to draw fouls, but the rolling, arm flailing, begging, and verbal abuse is an absolute disgrace. 

And the Champions League final showcased more of these Catalonian catastrophes. Imagine you are a huge baseball fan. You've never watched a game of soccer in your life, and you think it's such a stupid, girly sport. Now imagine you tune into Barcelona/Juventus at about the 70-minute mark. What do you see? Aside from Neymar's late goal, there is no beautiful soccer being played while you're watching. All you see is Dani Alves, Luis Suarez and co. rolling around on the ground, and you're thinking to yourself "No wonder this sport sucks, all these idiots do is waste time."

Again, I truly understand why the players are doing what they doing. They have the lead, and they want to make sure the game slows down and that Juventus doesn't have a chance to equalize. But just because I understand why, doesn't mean I have to support it. What kind of self-respecting player would voluntarily morph into a fish out of water when he knows that literally one billion people are watching him?

Barcelona is the most talented team the footballing world has seen in years, but I am absolutely sick of their players embarrassing themselves and the sport as a whole. Even if you are a Barcelona supporter, you must recognize that the behavior of your players is a large source of this embarrassment, and stop encouraging it.