Ultimate Guide to Barcelona's 2016-17 Season
The machine rolls on. Over the past couple of decades, Barcelona have transformed from a side that enjoyed the occasional moment of glory into a team that lives, eats, sleeps and bathes in it.
That means when a new season swings around, supporter expectations start off extremely high. The minimum expectations are that they bring home one of the big two trophies. That's La Liga or the Champions League. Ending the year without one of those two would be considered a "fracaso" (fiasco), which shows just how much pressure there is on Luis Enrique and his side.
Even last season, some claimed that Barcelona's double, the league title and the Copa del Rey, was overshadowed by Real Madrid winning the Champions League, reaching the Undecima—eleventh European title.
There will be a determination among the Blaugrana camp to take the European Cup back, with Barcelona and Madrid arguably the only teams on the continent to be able to claim realistically that they are setting out to lift it. Madrid for their historic success, Barcelona because they have won it on four occasions in the last 11 years.
Here is the ultimate guide to Barcelona's 2016-17 season, focusing on the key figures and storylines which will determine how their year goes.
Information and quotes obtained firsthand unless specified.
The Goalkeeping Battle
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More column inches have been dedicated to this issue than any other: Marc-Andre ter Stegen vs. Claudio Bravo. Both goalkeepers have strong arguments to be the club's No. 1. Bravo has made less mistakes than you can count on one hand, while his rival believes, correctly, he can be the club's goalkeeper for the next decade and doesn't want to miss out on vital experience.
There has been an uneasy peace in the previous two seasons, where Luis Enrique played Bravo in La Liga while Ter Stegen was used in the cup competitions.
The German was not happy about that and has often agitated, suggesting he will have to leave if he doesn't have a more important role; Bravo has joined in with the complaining, saying that if Ter Stegen is made first choice then he wants to leave, according to Mundo Deportivo and Sport (via Football Espana).
The latest rumours link him to Manchester City, with Sport saying he has reached an agreement with the club.
The coach has a tough call to make, but Ter Stegen's knee ligament injury that kept him out of action in the Spanish Super Cup will prevent him from featuring in the first week of La Liga. Both that and Bravo’s spectacular performance in the Spanish Super Cup victory mean Luis Enrique is having second thoughts about selling him. Sport say the coach is not convinced by the potential replacements.
The smart money is on the coach thinking about the long-term and putting his faith in Ter Stegen, but Bravo has never let him down, so Luis Enrique will be tearing what’s left of his hair out. If Bravo stays then this issue will run and run throughout the season.
Luis Enrique's Future
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Displaying classic Lucho stubbornness, the coach has not responded well to questions about his future from the media. The Asturian’s contract runs out at the end of the season, and per Sport, Barcelona want to renew it as soon as possible.
He, however, isn’t interested in doing anything until the end of the season. Luis Enrique explained at a news conference:
"The future doesn't worry me in the least. I'm obsessed with the present. I will leave Barca when they sack me or when I no longer have the enthusiasm needed to do the job," he said. "Once the season ends, I will evaluate. This is my last season and if I don't continue coaching, it will be down to a lack of energy.
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We could reach a situation at the end of the season where one of the world’s best coaches cleans up his desk and walks away. It seems like a kind of passive threat to the board. Treat me well, or I will just swan off into the night—possible with a few more pots in tow come next summer.
With the Spanish Super Cup, he has now won eight of the 10 competitions he and the club have entered. Phenomenal.
Influx of Youth
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There has been a marked change in Barcelona’s transfer policy. Whereas two years ago they spent money on players already at or past the peak of their careers, like Jeremy Mathieu and Thomas Vermaelen, now the club are thinking long-term.
Each of their four summer signings were 22 years old at the time of the deal—Samuel Umtiti, Denis Suarez, Lucas Digne and Andre Gomes. They will need to impress and progress simultaneously, but the potential is there for the new players to be the eventual replacements for veteran stars like Javier Mascherano and Andres Iniesta.
All four have done well in pre-season, starting in the second leg of the Spanish Super Cup and helping Barcelona seal victory against Sevilla.
The MSN
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When Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar are on form—and they usually are—getting a ticket to watch Barcelona can feel like going to the greatest show on earth. To witness such dazzling individual talents operating so cohesively on the pitch is a genuine delight and you don’t have to be a Barcelona fan to appreciate it.
They hit a peak during the second half of the 6-1 win over Celta Vigo at Camp Nou in February, during which they raised the bar for football. In particular a 30-minute spell, which included Messi’s passed penalty and a Neymar rainbow flick, will be remembered for years to come.
The challenge for these three players is finding this sweet spot again and extending it, over 60 minutes, 90 minutes, consecutive games. If they don’t, and just continue to do what they do, it won’t be a problem for Barcelona, because they do it better than anyone else.
But in the Celta Vigo clash, they turned football into something more than just that. More than art, even. We will be watching and waiting, for the stars to align again.
Midfield Overbooking
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This is a problem for Luis Enrique in the best possible way. He has a midfield brimming with options. Assuming he has not planned a big tactical shift—and nothing we have seen in preseason indicates that is the case—he will play three midfielders behind the three-pronged forward line. One pivot and two interiors.
Sergio Busquets is the defensive midfielder, the man who sits in front of the defence and constructs the play for Barcelona, as well as breaking up opposition moves. He has back-up in the form of youngster Sergi Samper—although he could leave on loan—Javier Mascherano and Sergi Roberto.
The latter is also able to play in one of the more attacking midfield positions—as well as virtually anywhere else on the pitch—but so can many of his team-mates. Luis Enrique’s trusted two are Andres Iniesta and Ivan Rakitic, and they will be fighting to keep their places with competition from Denis Suarez, Andre Gomes, Arda Turan and Rafinha.
Something has to give, and doubtless one or two players are going to end up frustrated with their lack of game time. But with so many quality options, Luis Enrique will have a solution for any problem.
Arda Turan
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The Turk’s case is a curious one. Arriving as a world-class player from Atletico Madrid for a fee that could rise to €41 million, after sitting out six months due to Barcelona’s ban on registering players, he began to play in January. Bar the odd good moment, it was a slog, and he never came close to reaching the level he showed at Atletico.
Luis Enrique is one of his biggest backers, with coach and player resisting the options on the table for Arda to move away, and now it’s time for the midfielder to show what he has to offer. That has already started, with good pre-season showings followed by a spectacular brace in the second leg of the Spanish Super Cup final.
Morbo
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"Morbo" means a kind of morbid fascination. And there is plenty of it between Real Madrid and Barcelona.
Anything one club does is compared or contrasted to the other. Nobody enjoyed Real Madrid’s elimination from the Copa del Rey for fielding an ineligible player more than Barcelona fans. And that includes Cadiz supporters, who were the team to benefit.
The morbo has begun already this season, if indeed it ever ceases. Real Madrid were heavily linked with Andre Gomes, and it seemed it was a done deal to bring him from Valencia to the Santiago Bernabeu. After all, he lists Zinedine Zidane as his greatest idol, according to Barca TV (via Goal).
And then Barcelona swooped, plunging in, plucking Gomes away and announcing it late at night, almost by surprise, as no details had leaked until president Josep Bartomeu gave the game away at dinner with a few journalists.
The Treble
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This is the dream. Barcelona managed it in 2014-15, but they couldn’t go all the way last year, as they ran out of steam at a crucial point in the season, losing to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals.
This year, the team are rejuvenated. Some of the deadwood has been cut away. Luis Enrique believes this is the best squad he’s had at his disposal while at Barcelona.
Trebles are incredible, difficult things. And no team should ever be expected to win one, but this Barcelona side are as prepared as can be to try to go all the way.
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