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The 2018/2019 UEFA Champions League season is upon us, with the best 32 clubs on the European continent ready to do battle in a bid to be crowned the best club in Europe come May next year.
All 32 clubs are however on a different spectrum on the footballing ladder, and as such have varying objectives in this season's Champions League. Most are just in the competition for the thrill and would see making it out of the group as a real achievement, while only a very select few are in the tournament with real aims of winning it.
Barcelona is one of the elite teams in the competition who would seek to lift the trophy come June. Being one of the most successful clubs in football history, and possessing some of the best players in the world makes them one of the genuine contenders for the title.
However, despite their illustrious history, the Blaugrana have floundered in recent seasons, and have failed to go beyond the quarter-final stage in each of the last three Champions League campaigns, being eliminated in shocking circumstances to AS Roma last season after they had taken a 4-1 first leg lead.
What makes the situation even more untenable for Barca is that each of those competitions was won by eternal rivals Real Madrid, with the Los Blancos embarking on the most successful period in their modern history, winning the Champions League four times in the last five years, including the last three consecutively.
The last time Barcelona won the trophy was back in 2015 when they became the first club in history to win the treble on two occasions, hence they would be desperate to make up for the drought by lifting the 'Big Ears' come June.
Even though they might not be top of everyone's list of favorites owing to their recent struggles, Barcelona are still one of the best teams in Europe and would fancy their chances of lifting the trophy. Here are five things Barcelona must do to win this season's Champions League trophy.
#5 Build the play around Coutinho
After prolonged transfer speculations which lasted over a year, Philippe Coutinho finally achieved his self-proclaimed childhood desire when he joined Barcelona in January from Liverpool.
The Brazilian is the Blaugrana's most expensive player, and he was signed to be a replacement for the now departed Andres Iniesta. Even though the World Cup winner is one of the greatest players in history, and undoubtedly a tough act to follow, with Coutinho admitting that he has a long way to go before earning comparisons to the Spanish great, the bottom line is that the former Inter Milan man has his unique abilities which could be beneficial to Barcelona.
Whereas Iniesta was a more calm and calculating player, Coutinho is not afraid to take his marker on a run, combining excellent technique with that innate Brazilian flair, and he offers a complimentary yet unique style to the Barcelona midfield.
Quick, agile and possessing a blistering accurate shot, Coutinho has shown with Brazil that he is more than capable of lifting a team, as he was the star of the show in the underperformance of Neymar, and if deployed in a similar role by Ernesto Valverde, it would be hugely instrumental to Barcelona's chances, as it would take off the playmaking responsibilities from Messi and allow him to focus on delivering the goods in the final third.
#4 Give Ousmane Dembele a more starring role
The 21-year-old became Barcelona's most expensive signing ever, and joint third most expensive player in history at the moment he completed his shock transfer from Dortmund in the summer of 2017 as a direct replacement for the PSG bound Neymar.
It was to be a debut season to forget for the talented winger, however, as he ruptured his hamstring on his full La Liga debut for Barcelona in September 2017, being sidelined for three months, with another setback occurring at the turn of the year. In all, Dembele had a very limited impact last season, and there were doubts over him making the squad for France to the World Cup, although his winners' medal put those doubts to rest.
The arrivals of Malcom and Coutinho from Roma and Liverpool respectively further put Dembele's future at Barcelona in mystery, but his coach put faith in him, as his performances at Dortmund showed the world his immense capabilities, and there were plenty legitimate reasons justifying his stay at the Camp Nou.
As it turns out, Valverde's faith has not been misplaced, as Dembele has been arguably Barcelona's most effective player thus far, scoring the winner in three matches, including the Spanish Super Cup against Sevilla.
Dembele is one of the most gifted young players in the world, and his skill set offers something unique to Barcelona's style of play. Hence, it would be wise for Valverde to utilize Dembele effectively, as Barcelona's Champions League campaign could depend on it.
#3 Find an alternative goalscorer to Luis Suarez
Luis Suarez' status as one of the greatest strikers in the history of the game is long assured, as the Uruguayan record goalscorer has banged in goals for fun throughout his illustrious career, and has won the Golden Boot in three different European Leagues viz Eredivisie, La Liga, and the Premier League.
Barcelona signed him in 2014 from Liverpool amidst controversies surrounding his ban for biting Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup, and Suarez repaid the club's faith, helping it to the treble in his first season at the club.
Together with his close friends Neymar and Messi, he was part of the deadly trio nicknamed 'MSN' which wrecked havoc across Europe and scored over 250 goals between them across three seasons.
With Neymar's departure, most of the goalscoring responsibilities fell upon Messi and Suarez, and it is glaring that Suarez has struggled in recent seasons.
He endured various goal droughts last season, including a 5 game scoreless streak in La Liga, and more infamously, going over a year and eleven games without getting a goal for Barcelona from the round-of-16 second leg 6-1 victory over PSG in March 2017 till the 4-1 quarter-final first-leg win over AS Roma in April 2018.
With Lionel Messi in the side, it is easy to mask Suarez' deficiencies in front of goal on the continent as the Argentine is arguably the greatest scorer in the history of the game, but as recent seasons have shown, Leo is himself also prone to loss of form in the Champions League, and if that is to happen again this season, then Barcelona have to start finding alternate goalscoring options, because sadly Suarez might not be an efficient option.
#2 Diversify their play
Over the last decade, Barcelona earned a reputation of being masters of a possession-based style of play prioritizing usage of space and ball retention skills over other skill sets such as speed and strength. Although long in the Barca DNA, this pattern of play came to prominence when the club was under the tutelage of Pep Guardiola, and the Catalan guided them to the most successful period in the club's history, winning 16 trophies in the space of four seasons.
The club defeated all and sundry, passing them into submission, and at its peak, there was almost no antidote for tiki-taka, as all and sundry feel before the behemoth that was Barcelona.
In the last few seasons, the status quo has changed, with tactical evolutions coming about that have rendered the tiki-taka all but ineffective. The greatest exponents of the style Xavi and Iniesta have departed the club, and teams no longer feel as awed by Barcelona's passing as they did 10 years ago.
Their last three eliminations in the Champions League to Roma, Juventus, and Atletico respectively all came about in matches where Barcelona bossed possession stats but failed to fashion any real threat at the opposition goal. And if the club is to move ahead, they have to find a way to alternate their playing pattern just like their former manager Guardiola did, if not, it would be another season of heartbreak for the Blaugrana.
#1 Unleash Lionel Messi
Legend, GOAT, icon, maestro, greatest, Messiah. These are only a few of the adjectives used to describe Lionel Messi, and every one of them is totally justified, as he has raised the bar of performance in a level not seen before and probably no to be seen again.
With 5 Ballon d'Ors won, he is the joint record winner alongside Cristiano Ronaldo, and his 100 goals scored in the Champions League is the second highest in history behind only CR7.
Lionel Messi was absolutely unplayable between 2009 and 2012, tearing defenses at will and setting numerous goalscoring records including the unbelievable total of 91 in the 2012 calendar year. However, in recent seasons, like his club Barcelona he has struggled, and has seen Ronaldo overtake him for the individual prizes.
He was omitted from the top three of a FIFA award for the first time since 2007 and has not won the Ballon d'Or since 2015. He also had a disappointing Wolrd Cup campaign with Argentina, where La Albiceleste were eliminated in the second round, with Messi being roundly criticized for failing to inspire his nation to victory.
Messi right now is a wounded Lion seeking to regain his pride, and Barcelona would do well to give him the freedom to unleash his full fury because when Messi is at his best, we all know what can happen.
