5 steps Barcelona must take to win the Champions League next season
It is no longer news that Barcelona saw their dream of a historic third treble shattered when the club somehow conspired to throw away a 3-0 first-leg lead and capitulate, with Liverpool running out 4-0 winners at Anfield.
The Catalans would be hardly consoled by the fact that their domestic supremacy has been extended with LaLiga already wrapped up and a Copa final against Valencia to look ahead to.
The Champions League is very much the Holy Grail and the club's failure to win it this season means they have now gone four seasons without Europe's premier club competition and this is sure to leave a bitter taste in their mouths.
Plans have begun in earnest for the club to launch an assault on 'Big Ears' next season and in this piece, we shall be highlighting five steps Barcelona must take to ensure they fulfil their mission of winning the Champions League next season.
#5 Get a proven goalscorer
Luis Suarez has long proven himself as not just arguably the greatest goalscorer of his generation but to a large extent one of the greatest in the very history of the game.
The 32-year-old has banged in goals for fun throughout his career and it goes without saying that all his teams have been better off with his goals, winning numerous trophies off his scoring boots.
Since joining Camp Nou in 2014, the Uruguayan has gone on to score almost 200 goals, helping the Blaugrana to a treble in his debut season as well as countless other trophies since then.
However, like every other player, Suarez is not immune from a drop in performance which comes with age and the former Liverpool man has started showing painful signs of decline.
Despite scoring over 25 goals in all competitions, the Barcelona number 9 has struggled to match previous heights and shows signs of laborious play.
Nowhere has this been more evident than in the Champions League where improved opposition means Suarez is much more easily found out.
In nine UCL matches this season, he scored just one goal, while he is without an away goal in the competition for over three years.
These are rather poor numbers for a man charged with leading the line at a club like Barcelona and if the club is to genuinely have a shot at European glory next season, then they must address this glaring weakness.