3 reasons why Barcelona will have a greater chance of winning the 2018/19 Champions League ahead of Real Madrid 

Messi vs Gareth Bale
Messi vs Gareth Bale

Real Madrid and Barcelona’s consistent domination in Europe’s elite football competition in the last decade have placed the two Spanish giants as the top contenders for the UEFA Champions League.

These two Spanish clubs have won seven out of the last ten Champions League trophies, including five in a row. Barcelona has won three while Real Madrid triumphed in four seasons in the last decade. Such domination has confirmed both teams as the best football clubs in the whole of Europe.

Both teams’ dominance have largely rested on the influence of the two worlds best players in football history- Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi who have five Ballon d’Or award each to their belts. Perhaps Barcelona and Real Madrid wouldn’t have won many trophies without the commanding brilliance of both players in their respective clubs. Ronaldo, a record £80m signing from Manchester United to Real Madrid, has netted a whopping 105 goals while his Barcelona rival Lionel Messi has scored 73 goals in the same period since the 2009/2010 season.

Yes, Santiago Bernabeu side have performed excellently in the last 5 Champions League seasons. It now seems they’re done achieving their peak performance and would not be as brilliant as they were in past seasons.

2018/2019 Champions League group stage draw of Barcelona and Real Madrid

Group B: Barcelona, Tottenham Hotspur, PSV Eindhoven, Internazionale Milano

Group G: Real Madrid, Roma, CSKA Moskva, Viktoria Plzeň

Here are 5 reasons Barcelona will perform better than Real Madrid in the 2018/2019 Champions League season.

#1 Squad Depth

Lionel Messi vs. Cristiano Ronaldo
Lionel Messi vs. Sergio Ramos

The departures of star players like Ronaldo to Juventus and Kovavic to Chelsea is a big cause for concern for the Galacticos as the club president, Fiorentino Perez haven’t found a suitable replacement for Real Madrid's best player in history.

Although Real Madrid signed seven players this summer, only goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, Alvaro Odriozola, Mariano Diaz and Vinicius Junior can compete with the present players in the squad.

Apart from Barcelona's club record signing of Coutinho from Liverpool during the winter transfer, the Catalan giant have also welcomed more quality signings like Malcom’s £40 million transfer from Bordeaux and Arturo Vidal £18 million from Bayern Munich.

Summarily, Real Madrid have more players in their squad but those players are not enough in quality for an elite competition like the Champions League.

Best Six Defenders

· Real Madrid: Sergio Ramos, Dani Carvajal, Marcelo, Raphael Varane, Nacho and Odriozola

· Barcelona: Jordi Alba, Gerard Pique, Samuel Umtiti, Nelson Semedo, Clement Lenglet, and Cucurella.

Conclusion: Real Madrid Obviously have the better defenders

Best Six Midfielders

· Real Madrid: Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, Casemiro, Isco, Marco Asensio and Dani Ceballos.

· Barcelona: Ivan Rakitic, Coutinho, Sergio Busquets, Arturo Vidal, Arthur and Sergi Roberto.

Conclusion: Both teams have fantastic midfielders. The Madrid contingent have marshalled Europe for the past three seasons but Barcelona have excellent players at the heart of the midfield. There’s no obvious winner.

Best Five Forwards

· Real Madrid: Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema, Lucas Vasquez, Mariano Diaz and Vinicius Junior

Real Madrid give Ronaldo's jersey number to €30m forward from Lyon; Mariano Diaz
Real Madrid give Ronaldo's jersey number to €30m forward from Lyon; Mariano Diaz

Barcelona: Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi, Ousmane Dembele, Malcom and Munir El Haddadi

FC Barcelona v Boca Juniors - Joan Gamper Trophy
FC Barcelona's
Malcom
v Boca Juniors - Joan Gamper
TrophyM

Conclusions: Barcelona have better options than Real Madrid.

With the loss of Cristiano Ronaldo’s guaranteed 12-goals per season in Champions League and Messi’s immaculate contribution to Barca’s attacking prowess, Real Madrid will struggle to adapt without the influence or replacement of CR7.

#2 La Liga/ Champions League Priority

FC Barcelona Victory Parade
FC Barcelona Victory Parade

After three successive Champions League triumph at the Santiago Bernabeu, the Madrid hierarchy might just be looking to prioritize winning the Spanish La Liga than the Champions League.

Real Madrid have only managed to win two La Liga trophies in the last ten seasons. The Galacticos immediate rivals, Barcelona have a massive 7-title and Atletico Madrid have settled with one La Liga title in the same number of seasons (2008/2009 – 2017/2018).

Barcelona
Barcelona

Barcelona's domestic dominance should be a cause for concern in Madrid, and as such will be looking for ways to wrestle the Spanish domestic league away from the domineering La Liga champions..

Real Madrid paid a steep domestic price to retain their Champions League crown in the 2017/2018 season as they finished third on the La Liga table. The Galacticos had 76 points in 38 games, an outcome that made them finish 17 points behind eventual league winners Barcelona who had 93 points.

#3 Cristiano Ronaldo’s Influence

Cham
Champions League Trophy on Ronaldo's head

If we deduct Ronaldo’s goal contributions from Real Madrid in his nine successful seasons in Spain, the Galacticos would be absolutely nowhere and of course, wouldn’t have won all the 17 titles as they did in the last nine years.

With Real Madrid recent announcement that they won’t be signing any more players in the summer transfer window, the club will struggle as the likes of Bale and Benzema try to fill the space left by the football god. The club management have chased Chelsea star player, Eden Hazard all summer but couldn’t agree a fee with the London club who are desperate to keep the Belgian captain at Stamford Bridge.

At Real Madrid, CR7 won four Champions League trophies, two La Liga titles, two Copa del Rey trophies, three Club World Cups, three UEFA Super Cups and two Supercopa titles.

He also broke Raul Gonzales’ highest goals scorer record as he netted 451 goals in 438 games, surpassing Raul's previous record of 323 goals.

The Portuguese captained scored 105 Champions League goals in nine seasons, maintaining an average of 12 goals per season.

Neither Gareth Bale nor Karim Benzema can consistently deliver 12 goals in a Champions League season. Not just any goals, but score when it matters the most.

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Edited by Emeka Monyei