Even through financial troubles and turmoil, Barcelona has remained more than competitive in La Liga. However, getting close to European glory in the last decade has sometimes seemed like a distant dream, until now.
Since winning the Champions League in 2015, Barcelona haven’t been close to winning it in the following 10 seasons. In that time, the club has only appeared in two semi-finals, never going beyond that stage.
The fact one of those semi-final appearances happened last season gave some hope that luck could be changing. If you enjoy a gamble, you may be turning to Soccer Betway to put money behind your predictions. Here you’ll see why European glory for Barca may be a great bet.
A Squad Built on Youthful Spark and Experience
In the same season Barcelona last won the Champions League, the team completed a treble and the club has gone on to win five more La Liga titles since. In that time, their fierce rivals Real Madrid have only won the league four times. The bitter pill for Barca to swallow is that in those years, Madrid has won the Champions League five times.
Those lucky enough to get Barcelona tickets will be hoping it’s now their time to enjoy a run of European success. This has been helped by the building of a squad that perfectly blends youth and experience. Young players may bring more excitement, but it has long been shown that experience can help teams in huge tournaments.
For Barcelona, that experience comes in the form of players such as Lewandowski, ter Stegen, de Jong, and Raphinha. These players can no doubt act as dressing room leaders and give an example for the youngsters to follow.
This experience is beautifully contrasted with the young players Barcelona possesses. Yamal, Gavi, and Pedri are the obvious highlights but also Cubarsí, Balde, and Lopez are exciting talents too. A huge plus point for Barcelona is that even though these players are young in age, most still have an impressive amount of first-team football.
It’s that blend that can help to bring stability and resilience when the going gets tough. European nights can often have challenging moments when the personality of a squad truly gets tested. Barcelona seems more equipped than in recent years to cope with such challenges.
The State of Other European Teams
When you look at other European teams in the mix for club football’s biggest trophy, you can see why Barcelona could be a wise bet. In England, Liverpool are strong but Man City are stuttering under Pep Guardiola. Added to that, Arsenal have never lifted the trophy and Chelsea are recovering after a few difficult seasons.
Bayern, PSG, and Madrid all look strong but for the first time in a while, Barcelona can match them in terms of depth of squad talent. For everyone else in the mix, Barcelona clearly has a more talented squad.
Barcelona aren’t betting dark horses. If it wasn’t for their recent European struggles, they may even be outright favorites. However, there isn’t much in terms of betting odds to split the top eight clubs, with the other seven being the ones mentioned above.
That means, while one of the favorites, there is still good value in betting on Barcelona. Real Madrid has dominated in Europe over the last decade. It would be very sweet for their Catalan rivals to win the Champions League in a stadium that bears the name of one of their legends, at the Puskás Aréna in Hungary.
The Psychological Weight of Heritage
Some clubs seem to have an aura. This often comes from an impressive record in Europe’s most elite competition. Not having this aura can seemingly hold clubs back. It’s perhaps part of the reason Man City and PSG took so long to win the Champions League after huge investment. It can be hard to cross that finish line for the first time.
This aura was shown in the 2017 tie of Barca vs PSG. Even after going 4-0 down in the first leg, you still thought the Spanish giants had a chance. A 6-1 home win later and PSG were left reeling at letting another opportunity go.
There are clubs out there such as Manchester United, Barcelona and Juventus who can lose their aura but quickly get it back with the right moves. It feels like Barcelona are getting their swagger back and will once again be a feared team in Europe.
History has a way of weighing heavily in European nights. However, reputation alone is never enough to win a tight match. You have to have the players and the right manager to give you a chance. It now feels Barcelona has everything in place.
With domestic form as a springboard, Barcelona has once again been a club bookmakers feel has a great chance of winning the famous trophy. For punters who believe in Barcelona, they could well be cheering as much as the team after the final in late May.
All About FC Barcelona
AllAboutFCBarcelona.com is a Blog dedicated to the Most prestigous Club in the world, FC Barcelona by an ardent fan. Here I discuss about the Latest happening surrounding our Club and present my Views about the same.
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