Is Barcelona trending in the right direction?

Barcelona had yet again a disastrous defeat in the Champions League, having been eliminated by Paris Saint-German by a global score of 5-2, which means they’ll be more than six years without contesting in a final of this tournament. Also, Atletico de Madrid won their pending game against Athletic Cub, which means they went ahead six points from Barcelona in the race for La Liga championship.

No one can dispute that the Culés have been a laugh stock for the past couple of years. They haven’t won or even been to a UCL final since 2015 and not only that, but they have suffer some of the worst defeats in recent memory. In la Liga they have still been competitive, wining four tittles in the last six years and as always they have dominated the Copa del Rey. But somehow it seems they they are just not a top club right now.

However,  the visible young talent they’ve accumulated in the last couple of years might be the most important reason why there’s light at the end of the tunnel. There’s no doubt Barcelona’s defense has been by far their weakest link, Piqué is just not elite anymore, and somehow they just can’t get right the right wing since Dani Alves left. But, Clement Lenglet is only 25 and seems he can be a great leader, also Ronald Araujo (22) and Óscar Mingueza (21) have both shown they can be the right complement to the french defender. I’m not sold yet in the american Sergiño Dest but he’s only 20, and there’s a lot of room for improvement.

Barcelona might be trending in the right direction, to return as one of if not, the best team in Europe football

The blaugranas midfield puts a smile on my face. I love Sergio Busquets style but he’s on his way out. The good news is that Frankie de Jong (23) is the perfect replacement for the Spanish. Pedri (18), and Riqui Puig (21) have both shown flashes of greatness, and I know its not fair to compare them but they really can be the next Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernández respectively. Ilaix Moriba (18) is also a new discovery that can complement this good midfield.

The front forward aren’t as brilliant but there are a couple of players that have shown they can be good. Obviously, everything moves around Messi, and lets just hope he can stay for a couple more years. But Ousmane Dembélé is one of the fastest players in the world and if he can get a little better at scoring he can be really dangerous. Trincão (21) has also been a revelation this season coming out of the bench. And finally Ansu Fati (18), [who suffered a season ending injury] has been a great addition to this offense.

Another good reason to be motivated for the future of this team, is the fact that on march 7, Joan Laporta was elected to replace  Josep Maria Bartomeu as club president. This will be his second presidency with Barcelona, after his mandate from 2003 to 2010, where the team won 12 titles including their first Champions League since 1992 and  had arguably one of the best teams in football history from 2008 to 2010, during same time they became  ‘Hexachampions’. Now that Laporta is once again at the top, all Barcelona fans can dream in a bright future.

For last, but not least, Ronald Koeman, seems to be the right choice to be the head coach of this team. Its hard to say that the dutch trainer is the right man to manage Barcelona just after a hard elimination in the UCL, but the team seems its starting to turn things around.

Not to long ago, the Culés comeback from a 2-0 in the semifinals of Copa del Rey against a good Sevilla team, and now has all the upside to win the tournament although they have to go through Athletic Club.  In their game against PSG, they were far superior than their rival and they show great football, but a couple of mistakes and a amazing performance from Kaylor Navas kept the scoreboard 1-1.

Since Pep Guardiola left, only one manager has really show up with this team, Luis Enrique was a bright spot for Barcelona from 2014 to 2017, where they won 9 titles including a ‘Tiplete’ in 2015. However, Ernesto Valverde and Quiqué Setien, simply couldn’t fill the shoes from eithier Luis Enrique or Guardiola.

Right now, it seems Koeman will only win one out of four posible tournaments this season, the Copa del Rey. They already lost against Athletic Club in the spanish Supercup, and have been eliminated from the UCL. They’re still alive in La Liga, six points behind Atlético de Madrid, and its possible they can comeback and win it, but they will need to be perfect from now on. Lets not forget at one point they where 10+ points behind los Colchoneros and now they are second place.

To be fair, most of Barcelona future success will depend on whether Messi remain or not with the Club. After all, he still one if not the best player in the world, and the Culés still haven’t got a replacement for the Argentinian, and obviously there’s no player that will come close to his importance but, if he leaves Spain, they better bring someone that can put the team in his back, as he does. Yet, if he stays, and with everything mention above, they could return to the top of the world.

What do you make of Barcelona’s current position?