Barcelona: 2013-2014 Season Preview
Gerardo Martino
La Liga is set to begin in a few days and Barcelona will look to defend their league title to make it 4 titles in 5 years to mark a period of absolute dominance (results-wise at least), over their arch-rivals Real Madrid.
Barcelona has been through a busy summer, the biggest change being the appointment of new manager Tata Martino, after Vilanova stepped down from a cancer relapse. Martino, having relatively little experience of handling a big club and therefore having little exposure to the kind of pressure that this job exerts, will have his work cut out for him.
Barcelona, as a norm, are expected to challenge for all trophies and every trophy is assumed to be destined to Catalonia until it isn’t.
With a squad that is crowded in the attacking department, but woefully short in defence, Barcelona are still serious contenders in every competition, especially with the arrival of Neymar, who can reduce the Messi-dependence – something which has been troubling Barcelona for the last two years or so.
Moving on, let us first take a look at Barcelona’s pre-season to get a picture of how Barca will line-up this season.
Pre-season
Although the main purpose of the pre-season is for the players to get into good shape before the actual season begins, it is also a chance for the players who don’t have a reserved berth in the starting line-up to show their talents and give the manager something to think about.
Especially when that manager is a newly appointed one, you have a fresh slate on which to chalk your credentials and give a good first good impression to the manager.
Before going further, please note that the opposition in these pre-season matches is not exactly top-class, so crushing these minnows is not really a solid indicator as to what lies ahead.
Having said that, Barcelona has had a pretty good pre-season barring the 2-0 loss to Bayern Munich, which was on the back of the bad news about Vilanova’s health. After that they beat Valerenga 7-0, they drew with Lechia Gdansk 2-0, flattened Santos 8-0, dominated Thailand 7-1 and overcame Malaysia 3-1.
Some players gave a pretty good account of themselves in these matches and here are the top five players who have been the most impressive in these games and the ones to watch out for in the coming season:
1. Lionel Messi
This name is not really a surprise. However, what is surprising is how Messi’s curve never dips and how he keeps getting better and better. With 5 goals and 5 assists in the 5 pre-season games that he played, he has single-handedly dominated the opposition teams.
2. Cesc Fabregas
Fabregas has been given free reign in these pre-season matches and what an effect it has had on him. He scored a brace against Santos and followed it up with Man of the Match performances against Thailand and Malaysia.
In the absence of Xavi, his penetration has increased, and he looks like a man who has broken his shackles. I will not be surprised if Xavi slowly makes way for Cesc this season. With Neymar and Messi ahead of him, this trio can turn out to be a deadly one.
Cesc finally at his best?
3. Pedro
The man who has the most to lose from Neymar’s transfer is Pedro. But he hasn’t pushed for a move away from the club and it looks like he will simply continue to do his best. With 4 goals (including a hat-trick against Thailand), he made a good case for himself in front of the new coach and looks to have regained his confidence after a poor last season by his standards.