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Barcelona have started the season on song, with only four points dropped in all competitions. But most of the victories have seemed pyrrhic to the fans, many of them have not been impressed by the play under Ernesto Valverde.
Although the concerns of the fans hold some truth, Barcelona are still a force to reckon with, especially at the European stage. Here are 5 reasons why Barcelona will win the Champions League this season:
#5 Desire to win the tournament after disappointing campaigns
With players who have won the Champions League four times in their career, the fact that FC Barcelona has qualified to the semis only once in the last four campaigns is a huge disappointment to the players.
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This definitely has ignited a spark within the players, especially the likes of Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets who know the importance of winning the cup, to make that extra effort to go all the way in this year's tournament.
Their last Champions League winning campaign in 2015 was phenomenal, with the team being clinical on all three major fronts consequently clinching a treble. The next two seasons proved to be disappointments in the Champions League though, especially last season, when they were pummeled 4-0 by PSG and 3-0 by Juventus, because of which fans began questioning the end of an era for Barcelona.
But with things looking up again this season, the team looks to be on the right path to do well in the Champions League. The team has been grinding out victories, albeit dull, but the results are what matter at the end of the day.
This desire to win has long been missing since Luis Enrique's tenure as manager began, and this desire to win is what could propel them to bring back the Champions League to the Camp Nou. At this point last season, Barca had played 11 out of which they won 8 and lost 2 including one to newcomers Alaves at home, scoring 32 goals and conceding 13.
This season, they have dropped just 2 points in 11 games, scoring 30 goals and conceding a meagre 4. This clearly shows that they are not going for victories filled with flair, rather, they are playing for results and making sure that they do not slip up.
They have scored lesser goals than last season at this point but are still in a much better position and that is an indicator of the result-oriented approach. All in all, Barcelona look like they are in for the long haul this season.
#4 The right flank looks alive again
Although Neymar's transfer was criticized heavily, frankly, there have been changes to this Barcelona side post-Neymar that have highly improved the squad's play and the right flank's resurrection is one of those changes.
With Neymar in the team, most of the attacks used to begin with Neymar on the left and Messi drifting to the centre to receive the ball, leaving the right wing absolutely empty, due to which Ivan Rakitic needed to get out of position to take part in the attack.
Not anymore! With Sergi Roberto, Nelson Semedo and Gerard Deulofeu's additions to the squad, the right flank is again buzzing with energy. Semedo has been an impressive and an important signing for the team, who provides the Dani Alves-esque ability to attack as well as defend with equal composure.
Pacy, strong and lively, he has been welcome addition albeit he has not been able to pin down his place in the starting eleven due to Sergi Roberto's impressive form. Roberto is an underrated player at Barca to say the least. He is extremely versatile, slotting into any position but generally has been used as a right back by Valverde, similar to Enrique.
He has had some useful contributions this season - his crosses in the closing minutes giving Barca the much-needed equaliser in tough away games at Getafe and Atletico.
Gerard Deulofeu has been a squad player so far, and a good one at that. When on the pitch, most of the attacks start on his side due to the energy and pressing by the youngster. Ivan Rakitic has reprised his role at the right side of midfield and slowly beginning to look more comfortable like before, and those are good signs.
The prowess of the right flank could make the difference for Barcelona this season.
#3 Valverde's tactics: High pressing
High pressing has been missing in the big games for Barcelona in the past two seasons. But it seems to have made a return this season, which was very evident in the match against Juventus. Juventus have themselves been known for their defensive prowess, but according to WhoScored.com, Barca made 12 tackles in a game where Juventus made just 9 tackles even though Barca had the ball for 64% of the time.
Compare this to last season's quarterfinal against Juventus, they lost the ball a lot more, as well as having lesser number of tackles than Juve. The pressing has been clear when watching Barcelona's matches which give a better picture than the stats.
The high pressing has been effective at cutting passing and shot lanes, which is something the Barcelona team was criticized heavily for in their losses to PSG and Juventus in the Champions League last season.
Historically, the greatest Barcelona teams - the treble winning teams under Guardiola and Enrique had very good pressing, and to see its return is what fans have been waiting for. If Barcelona continue in this vein of form, pressing in all areas of the pitch, they will be a very difficult team to deal with.
#2 A mean defence
The most surprising part of Barcelona's start to this season has been how good the defence has been. The stats are incredible - 4 goals conceded in 11 games in La Liga, 1 goal in 4 games in the Champions League.
Firstly, a lot of the credit goes to Marc Andre Ter Stegen. The keeper has been in astounding form, his saves, especially in the game against Athletic Bilbao, gave insight to as to why he must be considered among the best keepers in the world.
The defence has always been the weak link to this side, because of how high the defence plays up in the field. But this season, the mistakes have not been there and the centre-backs have been incredibly calm and composed in tight situations.
Samuel Umtiti has been a revelation, proving his worth to the team with incredible interceptions and tackles. An example is shown below:
Gerard Pique has not yet hit the heights of last season, but he has barely made any mistakes. Jordi Alba looks like his old self once again with freedom down the left flank, along with doing his defensive duties well.
Sergi Roberto and Nelson Semedo have been very good at right back, with both of them almost always involved in attack and defence. Mascherano has stepped up promptly whenever required as well.
With this defence, Barcelona have the firepower to beat all their major competitors by keeping them at bay, and backing reason #1 to do the job.
#1 Lionel Messi
Finally, Barcelona's all about Leo, isn't it? Fact is, it's true. Barcelona are heavily dependant on Lionel Messi, and he always seems to produce the goods! His contribution to the team is immense, scoring 40% of the goals for Barca in La Liga, and also grabbing 3 assists.
He also has 4 in 4 in the Champions League. The others definitely need to step up in attack, but, until Messi is there in Barcelona, he is always gonna be the factor that would win them the Champions League. Messi's form this season has been insane this season.
After Neymar's departure, his involvement in Barcelona's play has increased drastically - number of successful dribbles per game has bolted from 3.7 last season to 6.2 this season, his average number of passes has increased to 52 from 47, and he has been dispossessed 4 times every 90 mins this season to 2.6 times every 90 mins last season.
The number of times he has been dispossessed gives an indicator of how much of the ball Messi has seen, which shows an increase in the involvement of the game.
The form of this genius footballer could be enough to determine the chances of Barcelona in the Champions League. And from the glimpses of football that he has provided us so far this season, Messi has reassured that the chances for FC Barcelona are pretty good with him on the team.
