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Defending champions Barcelona take on Athletic Bilbao tonight in the opening match of the 2019-20 La Liga season, as Lionel Messi & co. look to put the demons of last season to rest.
Although the Blaugrana comfortably won the 2018-19 La Liga title to register their 8th league triumph in the last 11 seasons, Spanish coach Ernesto Valverde was close to getting the axe after Barcelona were eliminated in dramatic fashion by Liverpool in the UEFA Champions League semi-finals. To add insult to injury, the Catalans were upset in the Copa del Rey final by Valencia.
Barcelona have brought in some star reinforcements over the summer, including Dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong and French forward Antoine Griezmann. With the team performing inconsistently in the pre-season matches, Valverde has many areas of concern to address as the Blaugrana look to challenge across all fronts this season.
#3 Fitting in the newcomers
With Messi still recovering from injury, and unlikely to start, Valverde is likely to rely on newcomer and ex-Atletico Madrid ace Antoine Griezmann to provide the creativity for Barcelona going forward.
The 28-year-old Frenchman was slow to get off the mark in Barcelona's pre-season, finally finding the net in the Blaugrana's 5th and final pre-season game, in a 4-0 rout of Italian giants Napoli.
Barcelona's Pre-Season Results: LWWWW
23rd June (Saitama, Japan): Barcelona 1-2 Chelsea
27th June (Kobe, Japan): Vissel Kobe 0-2 Barcelona
04th August (Camp Nou, Barcelona): Barcelona 2-1 Arsenal
08th August (Miami, USA): Barcelona 2-1 Napoli
11th August (Ann Arbor, USA): Napoli 0-4 Barcelona
Fitting Frenkie de Jong into the Blaugrana starting lineup will be more of a challenge for Valverde with Barcelona boasting some of the best central midfielders on the planet.
Sergi Busquets and Ivan Rakitic are nailed down to start and Valverde's decision has been made simpler with the injury absences of Copa America winner Arthur as well as Arturo Vidal.
La Masia products Carles Alena and Sergi Roberto will probably make way for the dynamic Dutch midfielder De Jong in Valverde's preferred 3 man midfield. Furthermore, Valverde will be more inclined to select the 22-year-old starlet owing to his superior physicality, which will come in handy against a bruising Bilbao side.
#2 Plan B needed in case Messi doesn't play/has a poor day
Manager Ernesto Valverde has used his five pre-season games to tinker with his formations and the duties that players are entrusted with, and was clearly keen on developing a plan B in the absence of their talisman Messi.
He experimented with Frenkie de Jong as the defensive midfield screen ahead of his four defenders in a pre-season encounter with Arsenal, with Riqui Puig and Ivan Rakitic occupying the other central midfield positions.
Nelson Semedo is expected to retain his place at right-back ahead of Sergi Roberto, with Senagalese youngster Moussa Wague who impressed in pre-season being ruled out due to injury.
Oriol Busquets had gotten himself overran in the same position in Barcelona's 2-1 preseason loss to Chelsea, and Valverde is, naturally, unlikely to start anybody except his most trusted defenders in Barcelona's opening league encounter.
In a major positive for Valverde, the front three of Griezmann, Luis Suarez and Ousmanne Dembele impressed in the Catalans' final pre-season game against Napoli, with all of them getting on the scoresheet as the Italians were routed 4-0.
With Messi having began training on Tuesday, Valverde has not included him in the squad for this match, giving Barcelona's attack a chance to step up without the Argentine.
It will be challenging for Valverde to ensure that his players gel with the new personnel. Rakitic and Busquets will have to adapt their play to the energetic and adventurous Frenkie De Jong, who is known for his powerful lung-busting forward runs.
#1 Correcting the mistakes of last season
Ernesto Valverde's Barcelona have become famous for cracking under pressure, having let go of comfortable first-leg leads in both the 2017-18 and the 2018-19 UEFA Champions League knockout stages. They were eliminated in the away legs against AS Roma and Liverpool respectively.
In 2017-18, Barcelona had trounced AS Roma 4-1 in the first leg at Camp Nou, only to crumble under increased pressure and a boisterous hostile home crowd in Rome, eventually getting mauled 3-0.
In 2018-19, the Blaugrana failed to learn from their earlier mistakes, losing the away leg of the UCL semi-final 4-0 at Anfield to Liverpool, after having won the first leg at home 3-0.
Valverde must take care to not let this same cycle of complacency and inability to handle high-pressing and fast counter attacking teams recur. While the arrival of new talents that add to his squad, it is the mentality of Barcelona that must change and the manager has to take the right steps to ensure that happens.
