You can always find an excuse for bad results, but in my opinion, the financial crisis did not prevent Barcelona from becoming La Liga champions. What has changed this season, and who do you think should be sold? Xavi has already said that they can sell Lewandowski, I understand what he is talking about, Barcelona has problems in attack, but perhaps the reason is not only Lewandowski, maybe the strategy that Xavi chooses also matters? Because he puts a lot of emphasis on defense, and in this case it’s difficult to expect the team to score a lot.
Talking about excuses, we can't say for one that Barcelona don't have a valid excuse with their financial ability, because they have been able to achieve quite a lot that they can possibly say their excuse was very valid because it can been seen to a great extent they would have been able to achieve quiet some more if they were in a good position with the financial backing to enable them strengthen the team enough.
Xavis strategy isn't such a terrible one, lewandoski is actually trying but obviously it's clear his performance is on the decline which is such that wouldn't help the team well enough bas they are trying to get back on their feet, one of the factors around lewandoskis decline is the fact that he's now injury prone and he's aging aswell so seeling him off wouldn't be totally a bad idea so the team can be able to get a good replacement for him and aswell get some funds in their purse from the sales as finance has been one of their major challenge in awhile.
The reason xavi seem to put emphasis on defense is simple, that's because the midfield isn't solid enough making penetration into their defense easy and concentrating the ball around their eighteen yard box but if the defense is safe then he can be sure they are conceding lesser goals than they will if the defense is solid, mainly Xabi should work on the midfield and the striking but their defense is fair.