As former England manager Terry Venables once famously said, “If history is going to repeat itself, I should think we can expect the same thing again.”
Indeed you get that sense of inevitability when it comes to next year’s Champions’ League campaign, with Barcelona seemingly on a different planet with their footballing prowess. The question people will be asking is, can anyone get close to the Catalan giants next season?
Judging by last season’s Wembley final showdown with Manchester United, the signs look ominous for any potential challengers in the coming seasons, as they put on a master-class to see off the English Premier League champions.
In Lionel Messi, they have not only the best player in the world right now, but many would agree he’s already the greatest player of all time, such are the talents he possesses. Add to that two of the world’s best midfielders in Xavi and Iniesta, along with arguably the world’s best central defender in Gerard Pique, and challenging teams are in big trouble.
A debate hotly discussed is, how many of the players from Barcelona’s main challengers, would make it into the champions team? If you take their opponents in last year’s final, Man United, only two players stand out that would have a chance in the Barcelona eleven, namely Nemanja Vidic and Wayne Rooney. Vidic for the ageing Carlos Puyol, and Wayne Rooney would surely be accommodated to play in attack. Apart from that, no-one else would really have a look in. The same goes for the rest of Europeans’ biggest clubs; not many players would push any current Barcelona first-teamer onto the sub’s bench.
The Spanish champions are looking to add Cesc Fabregas to make their squad even stronger than last season, but the midfielder is far from assured of a regular starting berth with them. To think that Arsenal, Fabregas’ current club, play the best football in the English game, with Fabregas a captain and certain starter for them, but yet at Barcelona, he may genuinely not get a look in for the first few months of his potential time there. That is just how incredibly good this Barcelona team really is. They are almost unplayable when they’re at their best, with their slick passing and ability to find the net. No matter how many you score against them, you always get the feeling they will outscore you with the attacking options at their disposal.
That’s not to say they are unbeatable though. When teams get stuck into them, they’re not particularly fond of a physical match up, they prefer to work the ball around, and make the opposition chase. Arsenal showed in the last 16 first leg against the Catalans last season, that hard work and a bit of physicality can reap reward, as they beat the Spanish side 2-1 on the night with two late goals after battling hard. It’s worth noting that Barcelona turned that result on its head in the return leg at the Nou Camp, but for one game at least, the Gunners showed exactly how you should get stuck into Barcelona.
That said, It remains to be seen if the mighty Barca can continue to play to their outrageously brilliant best next season in Europe, but if they get anywhere near close, It doesn’t appear that any team can get close enough to the Barcelona players to get physical, and it would seem that performance at the Emirates was a minor blip by an otherwise infallible footballing side.
The reality is, Barcelona will have to play very below par if any other team are going to have a sniff of glory this season.
Barca, we salute you.
Sean Monaghan
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