F.C. Barcelona’s European Adventures

A lot of paper space has been devoted to Barcelona's abysmal start to the season.

The summer acquisition of Thierry Henry and the first team debut of youngsters Bojan Krkic and Giovanni Dos Santos were supposed to herald a new period of European domination.

Instead, it seemed as though this had only led to too many striking options making things difficult for Frank Rijkaard, with a winning combination yet to be struck.

Nothing seemed to be going right for a long time, but half a season later, they look like they have found some rhythm.

They stand second in the La Liga five points adrift of leaders Real Madrid, but it is their European season that has been the highlight so far.

After topping the group stages with 14 points, winning four and drawing two of the six games, they finished with four more points than second-place Lyon. And after a come-from-behind 3-2 win against Celtic away from home, BarVa look all set to enter the quarterfinal stages with a relatively easy home leg against the Scottish team impending, a fortnight from now.  

They started their European campaign with a 3-0 drubbing of serial French league champions Lyon in September. Lionel Messi scored one and an attempt to set up Ronaldinho resulted in a French defender, trying to check the Brazilian’s surge, guiding the ball into his own net. Thierry Henry capped the win with his first professional goal for the Catalunians. The Spanish team defended well too, with Marquez and Milito, the two center backs combing well to keep the French outfit from scoring.

October and November both had a win and a draw. A 2-0 win away over Stuttgart with Captain Carlos Puyol and Messi finding the back of the net. It was a convincing win followed by a goalless away draw against Rangers. Barcelona held the upper hand in the game, attacking regularly but their supremacy went unrewarded. They had more possession but failed to convert. Rijkaard later accused the Scottish team of playing dirty with a very physical approach.

In November again, they started with a 2-0 win over Rangers in the return leg, with Henry and Messi setting up the win with two first half strikes. The away game against Lyon ended in a 2-2 draw, perhaps their greatest challenge in the European season so far, save for their recently concluded game against Celtic. An Iniesta strike and a spot kick from Messi resulted in only one point due to a Juninho brace, the second goal coming from a spectacular 35 yard free kick that caught Keeper Victor Valdes wrong footed.

December had only a game against Stuttgart at the Camp Nou. The home team went a goal down before coming back into the game. Dos Santos, Samuel Eto'o and Ronaldinho scored one each to finish the group stages on the top of the table.

The last 16 draw resulted in another visit to Scotland after Barca were drawn against Celtic. After a particularly violent game against the other Scottish giants Rangers in the group stages, this tie was also expected to be rough and physical. But it turned out to be a rather entertaining contest, with the home side taking and surrendering the lead twice, before ultimately losing 3-2.

Rijkaard, for only the second time this season had all the fantastic four at his disposal. He benched Eto'o who had picked up a minor knock in the African Nations Cup finals. Messi was instrumental scoring two goals and tormenting defenders with runs on the flank. He connected well with the midfield. Ronaldinho, for the first time this season, was his old, vibrant self taking using his guile and trickery in making deft passes and taking on defenders. Henry scored a stunning goal and should've got a couple more if he had played a shade better.

Iniesta and Deco combined well in the midfield and should've both scored but for reaction saves from the Celtic custodian. Yaya Toure as usual was excellent in his anchor role. Abidal and Puyol were good as fullbacks surging forward to attack. Marquez and Milito were at fault in the two Celtic goals with the strikers able to shrug off their marking. Valdes had a particularly uneventful day. He was not to blame in the first goal but his positioning during the second goal was questionable. Eto'o came on as a substitute and was influential in the third goal.

This was Barcelona's 100th European Cup win and they had 23 shots on target as opposed to four by the Scots. Messi's season has been hampered by injuries but he has had a pretty good European campaign netting six times. Henry too has scored three. Youngsters Bojan and Dos Santos haven't featured much in the club's European fixtures but they've had glimpses of brilliance with the latter even scoring one goal.

Xavi, Deco and Iniesta have been reasonably good in the midfield but have been limited in their creativity and they haven't had the presence and impact they've had in the past few seasons. Toure has been a revelation in the anchor role. In the absence of Edmilson, he had been pushed into a more defensive role. In the games that he did play as an anchor, he was quite effective like the 3-0 win over Lyon.

The El Classico is a perfect example of how important he is in that holding position. Baptista was given too much space in his absence and that cost Barcelona.

For all their shortcomings in the La Liga, Barcelona have been just a shade shy of perfect in Europe. They've been playing well as a team and they look like they could go all the way.

They're the only Spanish team still in contention for a treble this year. If they continue their rich vein of form like in the game against Celtic, they will no doubt lift the Champions League trophy at the end of the season