For such an astoundingly talented and well-blended team to underperform in either of those competitions next year would be shocking, regardless of who is coaching. The acid disappointment of losing La Liga to Madrid and falling to Chelsea in the Champions League semifinal this year should be motivation enough for the players, without needing Vilanova to remind them they should do better next year.
Barcelona are less coach-centric than other teams, because their methods, tactics, philosophy and identity are woven into their fabric, not dependent on one personality.
At Manchester United, Real Madrid or Arsenal, the imprint of managers Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger is evident on their teams. If those strong leaders took protracted time off, there would be probing questions about how their players might cope without them.
But only a lengthy injury for Messi, their record-setting goal scorer, would spark grave doubts about Barcelona's chances of success in the months ahead. At Barca, the players are for the most part brighter stars than their coach. But at Real Madrid, Man United and Arsenal, it's mostly the other way around.
The centre of Barcelona's universe isn't a person but a training academy, La Masia, housed in a modern five-story building at Barca's training grounds on the outskirts of the city.
That is where Messi, Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez, Gerard Pique, Carles Puyol and other vertebrae in the backbone of Barcelona's first team were drenched in the club's traditions.
Vilanova is a La Masia alumni. So is the man he replaced as coach at the end of last season, Pep Guardiola. So is Vilanova's assistant coach, Jordi Roura.
Roura will warm Vilanova's seat and direct the team while he is on sick leave but won't formally replace him as coach - a nice touch that makes Barcelona look like a club with class, which sticks by its own through thick and thin.
Barcelona said that after surgery on Thursday on his parotid gland and a few days in hospital, Vilanova might be able to coach during his expected six weeks of chemo and radiation treatment.
Until he's back, Barcelona sports director Andoni Zubizarreta said, the team was in "great hands" with Roura. A former Barcelona player, Roura worked on Guardiola's staff, studying rival teams, before becoming Vilanova's assistant coach.
La Masia's production line of success and talent gives Barcelona continuity in difficult times like these. While other clubs head-hunt managers, chopping and changing in search of success, Barcelona's deep wells of experience have enabled it to recruit in-house for leadership since Guardiola replaced Dutchman Frank Rijkaard as coach in 2008.
Even though Vilanova is undefeated in the Spanish league this season and has led the team to the best league start by any team in Spain, his sudden absence mid-season shouldn't provoke a slump in results and might barely be noticed on the field. Barcelona calls itself "more than a club". It is also more than any one coach.
"Few things have changed," midfielder Xavi said talking about the handover from Guardiola to Vilanova. "Everything has stayed the same."
It was Guardiola who once described Barcelona's football so succinctly: "Take the ball, pass the ball, take the ball, pass the ball."
It is, of course, more complex than that. But Messi and his teammates have for years now been honing Barcelona's passing game into an art. They could probably find each other with their eyes shut, and definitely with Roura on the coach's bench.
Barcelona has a nine-point league lead over Atletico Madrid and a 13-point jump on Real Madrid after only 16 games - a gap so wide that Atletico coach Diego Simeone said Spain's top league has become boring.
Although this won't be how he or the players think, Roura can afford to lose a few games before he will come under sustained pressure for wins.
Barcelona's announcement this week that Messi, Xavi and Puyol all agreed to renew their contracts also gives the team long-term stability and removes an issue that could have distracted the players and Roura.
Since last month, Barcelona has again been able to field Puyol and Pique in defence together after both recovered from injuries.
David Villa also looks like the dangerous forward he used to be before eight months out with a broken leg. And Messi, well, how can more praise be heaped on a player who has scored a record 90 goals this year.
So no excuses.
Barcelona should keep winning while Vilanova gets better. He surely wouldn't settle for anything less.
- AP
