Will Barça win the Champions League again this year?

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– March 26, 2010Posted in: Uncategorized

With the season moving into its crucial stage with less than two months to go before the major titles will be decided, the question for Barça fans is whether the team has the same ruthless qualities to beat all before them that they had last season.
Barça are neck and neck with Real Madrid at the top of the table but while they are in a similar situation to last season, when the crucial match was the visit to the Bernabeu to more or less decide the title, this year there is no point denying it that they are stuttering more than firing on all cylinders. Messi apart the team seem to be struggling to find their form.
Defensively they have had injury problems which has unsettled the team while in midfield, key players are not delivering. Iniesta has been very quiet while Toure Yaya is clearly unsettled and not happy about his situation at the club. The most worrying area though is in attack where Ibrahimovic has been unable to adapt well to the Barça movement in attack, which rely on quick movement and pace. He looks out of place and it was almost embarassing to see him given the ball by Messi after the Argentine was felled for a penalty. Apart from Ibrahimovic, Henry already looks like he has one foot out of the club with his next destination expected to be the MLS in the United States.
The main positive note is Messi who is in amazing form at the moment and appears to be capable of beating teams on his own. He is back to the form he showed a couple of years ago when he ran from the half’-way line to score against Getafe. Also, as Guardiola said, the team may have dropped its level but it is by no means a crisis and they have the players and the quality to win titles especially as there is no rival who appears beyond Barça.
If you look at Madrid they have constantly failed this season in the big matches and then in the Champions League the biggest threat appears to be Manchester United but Barça showed how they can beat them playing their passing football last season. Arsenal should not be underestimated as they have a lot of talent and have a good chance of winning the Premiership but there is no doubt if Barça play anywhere near their potential they can out play them. The draw is good news for Messi as well as he in particular plays better against footballing sides rather than the more physical teams.
Inter Milan would be the likely semi-final opponents and they are a solid side, who won’t be easy opposition but they lack truly world class midfielders. The main danger is Samuel Eto’o, who is in a good run of form right now, and perhaps Barça will be regretting selling him especially having exchanged him for the disappointing Ibrahimovic.

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