Breaking Down FC Barcelona's Chances of Winning the Champions League

With one foot already in the quarter-finals, FC Barcelona are one of the hot favourites to win the Champions League. Possessing one of the best squads in Europe, it's clear they have a great chance of going all the way.

Pulling off a major heist at the Etihad Stadium in their first-leg knockout-round match against Manchester City with a 2-1 win, Luis Enrique's men sent out a real signal of intent to the rest of the field.

Controlling the entire first half, although they wilted following the restart, it's clear the La Liga outfit have more than enough talent to see the task through at the Camp Nou in March.

After that, they'll be at the mercy of the draw, but confidence is high that they'll be good enough to deal with any team that comes their way.

Because although Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Juventus are all serious contenders, it's the Blaugrana who already have the necessary mastery to become kings of the continent. And here we break down exactly why that's the case.

Tiki-taka triumvirate are a threat

Possessing one of the deadliest attacks in world football, Barcelona have firepower.

Lots of it.

With Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez all in fine form, the Catalan club have been scoring goals for fun. Well and truly on course to score more league goals than they did in the 2013/14 season, their recent attacking redevelopment has been a revelation as the team's 87 goals between league and Europe clearly attests to. 

Daniel Tejedor/Associated Press

Between them, the deadly trio have netted an astonishing 15 of their 17 Champions League goals this term, and while Messi has taken the lion's share, the other two are proven net-rattlers in their own right.

A look at the table below underlines just how much they rely on their regular attacking triumvirate to succeed.

All Competitions	Wins	Losses	Draws
Messi/Suarez/Neymar score	12	0	0
Others score	8	0	0
No goals	0	2	0

Should they stay fit, it's difficult to see any club stopping them from scoring.

In fact, Luis Enrique's team have only failed to score a mere five times in all competitions this year.

Examining their win against the Citizens earlier in February, Barca cut them up with unrivalled ease, but they've been doing that all season, as the highlights package below shows.

Often playing intricate football on the edge of their opponents' 18-yard box, they have wormed their way through with some extravagantly intricate one-touch passing time and again.

But they don't rely on that.

They also exude the confidence to knock balls in over the cover, as well as sending in some accurate crosses.

Importantly, then, it's their ability to be versatile going forward that will make them such a threat for just about anyone left in the competition.

Barca's hard-working midfield

Barcelona haven't just caught the public's eye this season for their splendid offensive style of play, as they've also shown a great deal of work ethic off the ball, too.

Historically renowned for their ability to quickly adjust from attack mode to a staunch defensive stance, they remain a side that refuse to defend too deep in their own half. As soon as they lose possession, they work very hard to earn it back. 

And they've been reaping the rewards of late.

Reflecting on their league match against Levante, a contest they won comfortably on a final scoreline of 5-0, we saw numerous examples of their work ethic to claw back the ball and use it effectively—as showcased by this video.

Pressing hard and with physicality, they were able to impose themselves on the visitors whenever they made an attempt to counter-attack and break away.

Continuing to do this all season, it's allowed them the opportunities to dictate possession, control the tempo and mesmerise their opponents into a false sense of ball-watching security.

Indeed, Ivan Rakitic, who's at the heart of their current style, believes they can go all the way to lift the trophy with the big ears, as reported by ESPN's Dermot Corrigan (h/t Radio Barcelona).

"

Even though now people might see us as favourites, we will not relax. We know it has not been easy to reach this point. A month ago people did not like our style of play. We are in a sweet moment but this is a very long road. Nobody is going to hand anything to us. We must give everything to the fight.

"

Not only this, but the likes of Sergio Busquets, Andres Iniesta and Rakitic remain pass masters with outrageous ability to distribute the ball to the right areas with a metronomic quality on a regular basis.

And very often it's their ability to do so that allows the deadly attacking trident to do the necessary damage in front of goal week in, week out.

Back four as a counter-attacking springboard

Boasting the best defence in La Liga, having conceded only 15 goals all season, Barcelona no longer have the same defensive weakness that drastically handicapped them as Atletico Madrid ran away with the league title last season.

And it should help them in Europe's elite competition, too.

Despite having conceded the same amount of goals as they had at the same stage of last season's instalment, Enrique's players have definitely improved as a unit across the board.

A great snapshot of just how instrumental their defence is to their overall efficacy in any competition can be seen in the way they smoothly transitioned from defence to attack to score a wonderfully worked Copa del Rey goal against Atletico Madrid in a matter of seconds.

Blocking the ball away and bolting up the pitch, Barca had acres of space to do some damage—and when you have players like Messi and Neymar bearing down on goal in a situation like that, there's normally only one winner.

Bringing the same approach to the fore in the Champions League, last season's quarter-finalists always do better when they're not overwhelmed by their opposition's own counter-attacks.

As pointed out in the table below, they've come away with positive results when they've matched or bettered counters against them.

Champions League	Wins	Losses	Draws
Equal or more counter-attacks	6	0	0
Less counter-attacks	0	1	0

Conclusion

Not many teams will want to meet Barcelona between now and the final.

A reinvigorated outfit, led by a resurgent Messi, their prestige and pedigree alone always make them a major threat.

But with their progress to the last eight once more a distinct possibility, one of the main favourites to steal the crown from Real Madrid are in the mix.

And with both defence and attack being linked perfectly by a tantalisingly good midfield, the structures are in place to ensure they go far.