Barcelona: Five Reasons Why They Will Win the 2012 Champions League

After today's two remaining quarterfinal second-leg games, just four teams will remain in the Champions League.

Clearly, the favorites are Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Looking at the brackets, El Clasico will most likely be the final. In that case, we’re in for a great treat.

But if your first thought after reading the headline is, “No way, no team has won the Champions League in its current form two consecutive times,” I would answer, “It’s just as unlikely that Real Madrid’s manager Jose Mourinho will be the first coach in soccer to win the trophy with three different clubs.” (The Special One has won the Champions League with Portuguese FC Porto in 2004 and with Italy's Inter Milan in 2010.)

So, history aside, let’s look at the facts.

Tactics

No one is capable of keeping the ball for long stretches like Barcelona. The players focus primarily on possession of the ball and, when they have it, they are not rushing. They calmly take their time to get into formation, and then it’s like you don’t know what to expect.  

And, I’ve mentioned this before: The Catalans chase the ball back immediately after they lose it and are able to quickly win it back. They go after the ball the second they lose it because this is when the opposing player is most susceptible as he doesn’t yet have complete control.

As we saw yesterday in the second leg of the quarterfinals against AC Milan, Barca had the ball 60 percent of the time and created many scoring opportunities—eight as opposed to just one for the Rossoneri. (Let’s not get into the penalty disputes.)

United Roster

I doubt that you will ever hear a soccer specialist tell you that one of the most important ingredients to a successful team, other than talent, is not trust. For the most part, the Catalans you see this season have been playing together since 2009.

They’ve had pretty much the same team bar a few changes: Forward David Villa came to Camp Nou in 2010 to replace striker Samuel Eto’o, who left for Inter. The same year, forward Thierry Henry joined the New York Red Bulls.

They obviously know each other and play like a family. They are a very well coached “team” and feel comfortable playing together on the pitch.

No one is selfish. (I can’t say the same about Los Merengues’ star forward Cristiano Ronaldo.)

And in big competitions where a lot is at stake, you have to have each other’s back.

Lionel Messi

I’m going to keep this short: Messi is unstoppable.

Most recent statistics prove my point: He scored two goals against AC Milan yesterday. (Yes, there were two penalty kicks but do you remember his hat-trick against Granada among other records?)

Messi is now the youngest player to have scored 16 goals in the Champions League and, at 24, he’s already Barca’s all-time leading scorer.

Plus, he is in great form, which also makes him unpredictable. His numbers show that other teams’ defenses are not able to adapt.

Best Trio Combination

I’ve already mentioned that the entire team works very well together, but the trio of Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez needs a special look.

This forward-midfielder-midfielder combo have their eyes on the ball and pass it among each other like no other players on the pitch. All three were nominated in 2010 for the Ballon D’Or, won by Messi.

Xavi and Iniesta, keeping the ball and using the width of the field, have a great vision for scoring opportunities, while Messi is fast enough to realize the chances.

He can be all the way in the back getting the ball and, seconds later, be in the goal area.

Schedule

Let’s not forget that the regular seasons in the clubs’ respective countries are not over yet. But Barcelona’s schedule is not worrisome and, therefore, they will not be tired during their Champions League’s games.

Their toughest encounter is at home (and we know how great the Catalans are at Camp Nou) against Real Madrid.

Los Blancos, however, will welcome Valencia, who are currently third. They also must face their local rival Atletico Madrid—a problematic squad.

In terms of their Champions League schedule, the hardest part is behind them following their eliminating of AC Milan.

Facing Benfica or Chelsea will not be as challenging. Here, I agree that Benfica is just not on the same level and Chelsea is still recovering after their former manager Andre Villas-Boas was fired.