3 Key factors that could restore Barcelona’s European supremacy this season

#1 Ernesto Valverde

Ernesto Valverde is the biggest factor that could restore Barca's glory

If there's one person at Barcelona who would be desperate to redeem himself, it's Ernesto Valverde. The Barcelona manager since joining in 2017 has seen his team crash out of the Champions League knockouts in utterly disgraceful fashion, for which a majority of the blame has been put on him by fans and pundits.

His lack of tactical awareness to change the game when his team is suffering and to utilize his squad in the best way possible to decrease the dependence on Messi has been his greatest weaknesses. But, with repeated failures at the European stage in consecutive years, Valverde surely has had the chance to learn from his mistakes and finally answer all his critics.

This year, his team is better than what he's had in previous years in terms of attacking prowess and it's all on him to get the very best out of it. Last time, he never managed to get a consistent level of performance from Ousmane Dembele, due to his season being ravaged by injuries. He also didn't have a genuine backup for Luis Suarez, who was having a poor season by his standards as well.

Busquets, Rakitic, Jordi Alba, Suarez, and Gerard Pique were some of the players who started almost every game last season, despite having dreadful performances in many games. This time, Valverde has the chance to stir up the midfield with de Jong, Alena, and Arthur, who have now well settled in the team. The attacking woes can also be addressed if Valverde could manage to give all of his attackers in Messi, Dembele, Griezmann and Suarez proper game time and rest, to keep them firing on all cylinders at the business end of the season.

To regain the crown of European Champions, the most important role to be played is of the manager, and Valverde certainly has to step up. Experienced players like Busquets, Rakitic and Pique, whose contributions have been questionable in recent seasons, also have to play up to their calibre and help their captain lift the beautiful Champions League trophy again.