Are Barcelona ready to win the Champions League?
Barcelona may have won the 2022-23 La Liga title, but it's still quite evident that the team is not yet ready to compete in the UEFA Champions League.
After four years without winning the league title, Barcelona fans were jubilant to once again see the Blaugrana lift the domestic title, a trophy they took for granted during the Lionel Messi era.
In a post-match celebration some years ago, Messi told fans at the Camp Nou that over time, they will realise the importance of successive league titles won during the late 2010s. Fans can see how prophetic his words are right now.
However, some fans want to see the club win the Champions League, so domestic silverware pales in comparison.
Winning the Champions League looks easier on the surface, as there are three knockout rounds before the final, following the group stage. However, the quality of opposition is much stronger, and the tournament is more prestigious than domestic leagues.
Moreover, winning the Champions League requires a stronger mentality, as even a minor silp-up can cost the tie.
Barcelona’s recent Champions League woes
Barcelona have not won the Champions League since 2015. They reached the semi-final in 2019, where they squandered a 3-0 lead against Liverpool, losing 4-0 in the return leg at Anfield.
Since that fateful evening, Barcelona's relationship with the Champions League has deteriorated drastically. The 8-2 loss against Bayern Munich during the post-COVID-19 pandemic phase, played in an empty stadium, was perhaps the worst moment for the club since its inception.
The arrival of Joan Laporta at the helm seemed to usher in a new era of promise with all his economic "levers" to save the club from sinking.
Laporta attempted to undo most of the damage caused by his predecessor Josep Maria Bartomeu by selling part of the club's future to secure its present. Laporta has sold 49% of the shares to Barca Studios and Socios.com for $102.5 million.
Despite the acquisition of players like Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and Frank Kessie, Laporta’s new era began with two back-to-back Champions League exits in the group stage, meaning the Blaugrana had to ply their trade in the Europa league.
The saga of rebuilding the squad continues
Losses to Manchester United this season, a club which is going through a rebuilding process itself, and Eintracht Frankfurt last season, have done little to galvanise Barcelona’s European ambitions. If the team cannot get over the line in the Europa League, it takes little imagination to wonder how it would fare in the Champions League.
Xavi has implemented a system in which he likes to have four of his best midfielders playing together, forming a ‘box midfield’. The idea was to have Pedri, Gavi, Frenkie de Jong and Sergio Busquets playing together and trying to control the tempo of games as much as possible.
However, with the departure of Busquets, Xavi must find a way to solve the role of the No. 6, a position that was almost taken over by Busquets since the departure of Xavi as a player in 2015.
This reliance on the ‘box midfield’ also meant that Frank Kessie, who was brought in for a free transfer after a successful season at AC Milan, has been largely underutilised.
The Blaugrana are now looking to profit off the player, with reports emerging that he could be sold for €25 million to Tottenham Hotspur.
Selling Kessie and Fati could be counterproductive
Selling Kessie may make a lot of sense from a financial standpoint, but the Ivorian international has shown what he can do when given an opportunity, as he scored the winner at home to Real Madrid.
The potential departure of Kessie and Busquets means Barcelona will once again have to rebuild the team, a process that seems to have been going on for three years.
The list of departures next season definitely includes Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, due to retirement, but now even Ansu Fati, Raphinha and Frank Kessie could be sold to prospective buyers. All that means there have to be new arrivals at the club, who will then need to adapt to Xavi’s strategy.
Ansu Fati has also shown in the Blaugrana’s last game against Mallorca that given the right kind of service, he can still prove to be an effective squad player. At just 20, he's bound to improve. The club must give him one more season to improve and regain his lost confidence.
What's next for Barcelona?
Barcelona may have won La Liga, but their squad is not yet deep enough to go deep in the Champions League next season. Unless they acquire a world-class talent at a reasonable price, their squad looks a bit mediocre at present.
Another group stage exit cannot be ruled out just yet. We are at a time when Barcelona fans are not thinking of ‘winning’ the Champions League, but of simply competing in the tournament against other teams without losing dignity.
It's also a known fact that the club are actively looking to pursue Lionel Messi this summer, as they feel the greatest player who played for the club deserves a fitting farewell.
Yet, if Messi does indeed return to the club, his farewell might just be another painful, premature exit from the Champions League in Blaugrana colours.