Evaluating Barcelona's Performance in All Competitions This Season
Although we are just under halfway through the Spanish season, now is the time teams will take stock of what they have accomplished so far and what they are setting out to do in the months ahead.
Barcelona are involved in three competitions as they head into 2017, with Neymar highlighting that the goal is to win them all.
“What I want in 2017 is for us to win everything and do the treble all over again,” he said, per Sport.
But how likely is it that Luis Enrique’s side can repeat their 2014-15 heroics? Even falling short on one front would still match their 2015-16 efforts.
Here we look at how they have done thus far and what could happen in the coming months…
Spanish Super Cup
Barcelona won this to get the season underway in August, beating Sevilla comfortably 5-0 on aggregate, 2-0 in Andalusia and then 3-0 at Camp Nou.
Given the sides were in their infancies this season both tactically and physically after the summer break, it was not particularly indicative of how they would develop.
That much was emphasised by Sevilla’s brave display against the Catalans in November, when they were beaten 2-1 but in a game that they dominated for large periods.
In the context of the season, this game may be more relevant as Claudio Bravo’s final match for Barcelona, with Marc-Andre ter Stegen stepping in after that, as the Chilean headed to Manchester City.
Grade: A
La Liga
Having won the top flight for two years running, making it a third would establish Barcelona’s dominance domestically, upgrading it from solid to total.
The Catalans have won six of the last eight leagues, with Real Madrid in 2011-12 and Atletico Madrid in 2013-14 being the only teams to break their vice-like grip on the trophy.
This season began in disappointing fashion with an early defeat by Basque minnows Alaves at Camp Nou on September 10, seeing many point fingers at Luis Enrique for making too many rotations.
They next dropped points against Atletico Madrid at Camp Nou on September 21, but this was viewed as an acceptable result against a fellow title challenger.
What shocked fans was the poor performance in the 4-3 defeat by Celta Vigo on October 2, where the final score did not do justice to how devastating the hosts were and how Barcelona crumpled like a paper house against attacking pressure.
Some of the worst results of the season came for Barcelona in November, with a 0-0 stalemate at home against Malaga and then a 1-1 draw at Real Sociedad angering fans and causing the media to question whether Lucho’s Barcelona had lost their identity.
These matches coincided with the injury absence of Andres Iniesta, who is the biggest exponent of Barcelona’s style, so it’s understandable they lost their way a bit without their skipper.
Despite some of these performances and results, Barcelona go into the winter break three points behind archrivals Real Madrid at the top of La Liga, although the leaders have a game in hand.
However, what in the worst-case scenario is a six-point gap is certainly surmountable. Barcelona know Real Madrid’s string of unbeaten games has to end at some point, given Los Blancos have broken their own record without ever reaching their best level.
“Real Madrid have had a lucky charm, in so many games they score at the end,” Sergi Roberto told RAC1, per Sport.
But relying on your opponents to drop points shows that things have not been going to plan for Barcelona in La Liga, and they are certainly not playing with the same vibrancy as they did last season.
Part of that is trying to acclimatise to the addition of six new players in the squad and the coach’s rotations, in order to beat the dip they suffered last season in April, a key period of the season.
If this stops Barcelona suffering the same fate again, then Lucho will consider being second but close to the leaders as an acceptable trade-off.
Grade: B+
Champions League
If Barcelona could only win one of the three trophies still on offer, it would be this one.
Gerard Pique said as much, telling Mundo Deportivo (h/t Adriana Garcia of ESPN):
"It's the top competition and the most prestigious one. We are Barca, we have the duty to try to win every title. We hope this will be a great year. For the last two years we have won the La Liga and the Copa del Rey titles and we have proved by far that we are the best team in this country by a big margin.
"
They saw Real Madrid take their crown last season after being knocked out by Atletico in the quarter-finals, which will have stung particularly because of the identity of the eventual winner.
Barcelona breezed through the group, putting in their best performance this season with the 7-0 win at home against Celtic, while racking up further victories in the other two home games against Man City and Borussia Monchengladbach.
The only minor setback they have had was losing away in Manchester against Pep Guardiola’s City, which in truth was not particularly damaging.
They have been drawn against PSG in the last 16, a team they have faced many time in recent years.
While not an easy matchup, it is certainly a pairing that Barcelona expect to emerge from triumphant.
Messi is playing particularly well in Europe, having netted 10 goals in 450 minutes, with PSG’s Edinson Cavani second on six goals in 539 minutes.
Grade: A
Copa del Rey
Barcelona have been handed a tricky draw in this competition, facing Athletic Bilbao in the last 16 after overcoming Hercules easily enough in the round of 32.
A 1-1 draw away in Alicante was a surprise result and a disappointment, but the 7-0 scoreline in the team’s final game of 2016 certainly put that to rights.
Of course, the Catalans are expected to beat the Basques and reach the next round, but the first leg in Bilbao could prove trickier than expected if the team’s star players—strikers Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez, as well as defender Gerard Pique—come back from their trans-Atlantic Christmas trips a little the worse for wear.
Grade: A-
Rik Sharma is Bleacher Report's lead Barcelona correspondent. All information and quotes obtained firsthand unless specified. Follow him on Twitter here: @riksharma_.
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