5 Changes Barcelona Must Make to Reclaim Their Champions League Crown

It has been two long seasons since Barcelona last lifted the coveted Champions League trophy. After being utterly out-classed by Bayern Munich last season, it’s time for La Blaugrana to make the changes to once again be the most dominant force in football.

This Barcelona side is not the same team that had viewers in awe a few seasons ago. The squad may look very similar, but the success is clearly different.

Many may even believe that Barcelona’s time at the top has come to its bitter end. But there is still hope in Catalonia.

In this article we will take a look at the five changes that Barcelona must make if they are to reclaim their Champions Crown this season. Shall we begin?

Find a New Centre-Back Pairing

There is no hiding it: The glory days of the beautiful partnership between Gerard Pique and Carles Puyol are gone. Once a fabled pairing that rivaled the best in history, the duo has fallen apart.

Barcelona’s defensive issues are not only worrisome. To some, the problems at the back may borderline desperate. If Barcelona wants to reclaim their Champions League crown, the club must find a new partner for Gerard Pique.

Carles Puyol, though still the vocal leader of the club, is not the player he once way.

The Blaugrana captain continues to struggle with injuries and even underwent surgery at the beginning of the summer making it very doubtful he will start the new season. Puyol is not the man to lead Barcelona into the biggest matches anymore.

With Puyol now set to take a much smaller role at the club the torch will pass to Gerard Pique to become the new defensive leader. But every leader needs a partner.

The pairing of Pique and Javier Mascherano has not yielded much hope for fans. The duo never seems to quite be on the same page and it has cost Barcelona in the past.

Marc Bartra could provide the best pairing with Pique. The La Masia graduate has been fantastic since joining the first-team but needs to be given the chance to succeed.

However, it is clear that the only way to truly fix the defensive issues is to bring in a new world-class defender to pair up with Pique. Without a new pairing Barcelona will not avenge the ghosts of last season.

Coordinate Full-Back Runs

Keeping with the defensive theme, there is another pairing that needs work as well. Dani Alves and Jordi Alba are arguably the best players in the world at their positions, but often struggle playing together.

Both full-backs love to get forward in attack and are very good at doing so. But at what cost?

Their attacking runs often leave Barcelona with only two defenders against counter attacks which have led to many goals being conceded. The full-backs try to use their incredible speed to make up for their forward runs, but sometimes it is just too late to track back.

That is not to say that the wing-back pairing cannot succeed together. Manager Tata Martino must work to coordinate their attacks to ensure that Barcelona is never left with only two defenders.

If Alves and Alba can learn to play together without costing the defense it will be massive for Barcelona. They can absolutely succeed together, but it will take a lot of work.

When looking at Barcelona’s Champions League statistics on EUFA’s official website, it becomes clear that Barcelona has to fix the defense before anything else.

Last season La Blaugrana conceded 17 goals in Europe. The Catalan club only gave up 10 goals in the two prior seasons. It is clear that the club is struggling defensively and, without fixing the problem, will continue to do so.

Limit Xavi's Minutes

No one will argue against the fact that Xavi is still one of the best midfielders in the world. His playing ability is not the issue, rather it is how much he plays.

At 33 years old, Xavi is not getting any younger. If he still plans to pull the strings in the midfield during Barcelona’s biggest matches of the season, he must be allowed to rest much more often.

Last season Xavi started 41 matches for Barcelona—tied for the fourth highest in the entire squad. In no way can Barcelona continue to ask so much out of Xavi and expect him to deliver.

If Barcelona truly wants to bring home the Champions League trophy this season, Xavi’s exploits in the domestic league will have to undergo a drastic change.

It may even benefit the club to name Cesc Fabregas the starter in La Liga and use Xavi only sparingly to keep him rested for European matches.

Either way it is clear that the Catalan cannot play as many matches as he has been. His age and body will not allow him to. By the time he steps on the pitch in against the toughest opponents he is already spent.

There is no problem in playing Xavi in the biggest matches. In fact Barcelona would be unwise not to. But the club must use Xavi in the right way to be successful.

End the Reliance on Lionel Messi

Over the last two seasons there has become a trend among Barcelona’s opponents. Not only are clubs choosing to sit back and defend, but they are also focusing all of their attention on Lionel Messi.

Since this tactic was employed, not many have stepped up to help Messi. During long stretches of the season he was the only player capable of scoring goals and the whole squad seemed to turn to Messi at even the slightest problem.

Messi may be the best player in the world but no one should ever be expected to do everything by himself.

If Barcelona wants to return to European glory then Messi must get help.

If we look back over the last three seasons of Barcelona, one thing becomes very clear: Messi is being forced to do it all alone.

Last season Messi scored a phenomenal 60 goals but the club’s second highest scorer only netted 16 times. Similarly the season before Messi found the back of the net 73 times with his best partner only scoring 15 goals.

When Barcelona last won the Champions League trophy there was a major difference: Messi again led the squad with 50 goals but was helped tremendously by David Villa and Pedro who netted 23 and 22 times respectively.

Messi cannot do it alone and Barcelona will not be successful if he is forced to. Whether it be Neymar, Cristian Tello, Alexis Sanchez or Pedro, Messi needs help for Barcelona to return to their winning ways.

Bring Back the Pressure

There used to be a time when playing against Barcelona struck fear into opponents. The fear was not due to the overall strength of La Blaugrana, but rather because of the relentless pressure from keeping possession utterly impossible.

Since then Barcelona has become a much more relaxed side that does not hold pressing to the same standards they used to.

There is hope that under Tata Martino the pressing will return. This summer it seems as though pressing is once again being pushed as vital and it can be seen in every preseason match that has been played.

However, there is no real way of knowing whether or not the pressing of previous seasons will ever actually return or not.

When it comes down to it, Barcelona has several changes to make. But in the end, the club just needs to get back to the philosophy and mentality that made them great in years gone by.

The issues that the club currently faces have all come about by losing vision of what’s important. If Barcelona can return to being who they really are, then lifting the Champions League trophy this season is a real possibility.

Can Barcelona win the Champions League this summer? What changes must the Catalans make to do so? Leave your thoughts and comments below!

Tre’ Atkinson. Follow me on Twitter for more discussions on Barcelona and all Spanish football.

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