4 Barcelona players who need to step up this season
With ease Spanish champions Barcelona strolled to the La Liga title last season. They also claimed the Copa Del Rey trophy, with the likes of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Jordi Alba and Ivan Rakitic running riot in another successful campaign for La Blaugrana.
Having offloaded the likes of Andres Iniesta, Paulinho, and Lucas Digne to make way for the likes of Malcolm, Arturo Vidal, Arthur Melo and Clement Lenglet - It is clear that the Catalans are eyeing another successful campaign this season. While some of these new faces showed promising signs in the International Champions Cup recently, only time will tell how influential they will become in the Catalan capital.
We are all confident of seeing another set of brilliant displays from players like Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Samuel Umtiti, Sergio Busquets and Philippe Coutinho, but there is another category who must work hard and elevate their game when the campaign begins this term.
Therefore, lets quickly take a look at 4 Barca players that need to step up and improve their performances this season.
#4 Rafinha Alcantara
Rafinha is the brother of former Barcelona superstar, Thiago Alcantara. The 25 year old was one of the youngsters who impressed in the Barcelona youth system and was called into the senior team in 2009. However, he has failed to cement his place in the starting lineup ever since he made his debut appearance for the club.
After spending last season on loan at Inter Milan, the midfielder departed Serie A in order to link up with his teammates at Barcelona. He was one of the standout performers for the Catalan giants during the International Champions Cup this summer.
Rafinha is a highly talented and decent midfielder with a lot of potential. He only needs to work hard in order to convince Ernesto Valverde of his ability.
With the manager willing to give more opportunities to Barcelona's products this season, the 25 year old must step up and improve his performances to earn a more active role in the squad.