FC Barcelona Mid-Season Awards: Hits and Flops
2018 was a year of contrasting fortunes for FC Barcelona domestically and continentally. While the Blaugrana won the 2017-18 LaLiga comfortably, they were dumped out of the UEFA Champions League by AS Roma in the last eight round.
After the low of the exit in Europe’s premier club competition, Barcelona gathered themselves to ensure a smooth ride to the Spanish league title.
In the 2018-19 season, they haven’t set the world ablaze domestically yet sit pretty at the perch of the table and enjoy a three-point lead over Atletico Madrid. In Europe, they emerged as toppers from a tricky group containing Tottenham and Inter Milan.
With Lyon beckoning in the round of 16, one can expect the Camp Nou outfit to be a part of the Champions League come April.
Thus, it is safe to say that Barcelona has enjoyed a decent season so far. Even though they’ve only sparked intermittently, the team has shown enough in reserve to get the job done on other occasions.
The LaLiga has entered its annual winter break and hence, we are accorded the opportunity to introspect how Barcelona’s players have performed so far in the first half of the campaign.
Without wasting further time, we are going to get down to business and take a closer look at the biggest hits and flops from the Blaugrana.
Also see : Gold Cup Standings, Copa America Standings, Womens World Cup Bracket
#3 Flop: Philippe Coutinho
The Brazilian enjoyed a bright start to the 2018-19 season yet has fizzled out rather drastically since then. Though injuries have played a part in Coutinho not reaching the heights he is capable of, his inconsistent displays have also seen him warming the bench quite frequently.
The end product so synonymous with Coutinho has been missing this season with the Brazilian making the net bulge on only four occasions in the league. The last of his goals came in the 5-1 drubbing of Real Madrid.
Barcelona splashed an enormous amount of money to bring the midfielder on board and the initial part of his career endeared him to the Camp Nou faithful.
However, he has encountered a recent dip in form and currently can’t get anywhere near the first team.
Though Coutinho is probable to be back scoring and creating goals for fun very soon, it would be extremely naive to consider that the Brazilian has enjoyed a spectacular season so far.
Thus, he makes our list and ranks as the third worst Barcelona player before the winter break.