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Every new season produces new sets of difficulties to football clubs and also affords them the privilege to reassess themselves and continue pushing for glory. It presents both challenges and opportunities and every club is required to overcome their challenges and make the most of their opportunities, just like La Liga champions, FC Barcelona has been doing since the beginning of the campaign.
The Catalans started the season on a brilliant note, winning their first 5 matches across all competitions before going on an embarrassing winless run in 4 successive La Liga matches - although they bounced back in fantastic fashion - claiming 4 victories and 1 draw in their last 5 games across all competitions and they did that in the absence of their talisman - Lionel Messi.
Despite the ups and downs that have featured at the Nou Camp so far, we have witnessed a number of positive developments in the Catalan capital that have kept Barca fans excited since the campaign began this term. Below, we highlight 5 of them.
#5. Lionel Messi's incredible form in the UEFA Champions League
In his first speech as Barcelona's captain, club legend Lionel Messi promised the Camp Nou faithful that he (along with the whole squad) will do everything possible to ensure that they win the UEFA Champions League this season and the Argentine has taken to the pitch to further demonstrate his willingness to deliver the coveted trophy.
Messi entered the tournament in an explosive form, scoring a wonderful a hat-trick to guide Barca to a 4-0 victory in their opening fixture against Dutch outfit, PSV Eindhoven before producing another spectacular performance against Tottenham Hotspur in their second game of the tournament - a match in which he also bagged an incredible brace to lead the Catalans to a 4-2 victory and capped an impressive start to his European campaign.
Although he was ruled out of action in each of the past few weeks, the Argentine is still in an unbelievable form and he will be keen to return to Champions League action when Barcelona face PSV Eindhoven once again for their next fixture. With Messi in such an amazing form, it comes as a big boost to the Catalan giants who intend to conquer Europe during the term.
#4. Ousmane Dembele's improvement
Barcelona signed French winger Ousmane Dembele from Borussia Dortmund during the summer of 2017 as a replacement to Brazilian winger, Neymar Junior who departed the La Liga giants for French heavyweights, Paris Saint Germain in a world-record deal earlier.
Unfortunately, the attacker had a season to forget at the Nou Camp during his debut campaign after picking up a couple of terrible injuries that limited his impacts during the season. But the former Bundesliga ace has finally put his injury crisis behind him, entering into the new term in an explosive form and that has been one of the positive developments in the Catalan capital this season.
Dembele was one of the brightest players in the Barcelona squad during the start of the campaign, scoring a number of vital goals and proving to his doubters that he still has a great future in Catalonia. Although the winger has seen his game time reduced in previous weeks, he has managed to continue with his incredible impacts, providing quality support from the bench and helping to change the fate of games whenever he gets the opportunity.
#3. The rise of Arthur Melo
After losing significant strength in the middle of the pitch during the past few years, Barcelona decided to strengthen that area by luring Gremio youngster, Arthur Melo to the Nou Camp during the recent transfer window.
Signed as an unproven talent from an unfamiliar league, Barcelona's gamble on the midfielder has turned out to be a huge bargain - with the Brazilian shocking everyone with his incredible start to life in the Catalan capital.
Arthur has been a tremendous force in Barcelona's midfield ever since he started representing the Catalan giants this term, linking up perfectly with the likes of Sergio Busquets and Ivan Rakitic and making it easy for the Blaugrana to control games from the middle of the pitch.
His passing is quite unmatchable and his artistry on the ball has left opponents chasing the dust this season - earning him a lot of comparison with two of Barcelona's greatest midfielders - Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta.
#2. Squad depth
Having suffered from the lack of squad depth in each of the past few years, Barcelona has finally assembled one of the most fearsome squads in Europe at the moment, with many incredible superstars fighting for their places in the first team and a number of high-quality options providing support from the bench.
An attack made up of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Philippe Coutinho, supported by the likes of Ousmane Dembele, Malcom and Munir El Haddadi - combined with a midfield trio of Sergio Busquets, Ivan Rakitic and Arthur Melo - with the likes of Arturo Vidal and Denis Suarez on the bench have been very effective when it comes to controlling games and wreaking havoc on opposing teams so far this season.
Ter Stegen and Jasper Cilliesen are two of the most impressive goalkeepers in Spain at the moment while the likes of Gerard Pique, Clement Lenglet, Jordi Alba, and Sergi Roberto form a decent defensive line with players like Samuel Umtiti, Thomas Vermalean and Nelson Semedo to their support.
#1. The Messidepencia curse finally over
With Lionel Messi, Barcelona has proved almost unbeatable during the past few years and the club became so reliant on the playmaker that they often failed to impress in his absence during those seasons. However, one of the most exciting developments at the Nou Camp so far this term has to do with the club's ability to dazzle even without their talisman.
After Messi was ruled out of action for 3 weeks following an arm injury he sustained during a recent La Liga encounter against Sevilla, many people were eager to see Barcelona suffer in his absence. However, the team stepped up at the right moment to prove that there is more to Barcelona than the mercurial Argentine.
With the playmaker out, the Blaugrana recorded an unbelievable 4 victories and 1 draw in their last 5 games across all competitions, including a 5-1 humiliation of arch-rivals Real Madrid during the El-Clasico as well as an impressive 2-0 victory against Inter Milan in the UEFA Champions League.
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