FC Barcelona Must Learn These Lessons To Compete Again

FC Barcelona looked like they had an outside chance of pulling off a continental and domestic double until the wheels came off their season.

Knocked out of the Europa League at home by Eintracht Frankfurt, they then lost two more fixtures in La Liga to lowly Cadiz and Rayo Vallecano in Camp Nou to effectively hand the Spanish title to bitter rivals Real Madrid.

With Champions League qualification pretty much guaranteed, the Catalans’ fans and local media can be forgiven for already looking towards next season.

To that end, the latter camp has outlined a number of lessons Xavi Hernandez and his men must learn to challenge for major honors in the upcoming 2022/2023 term.

SPORT say that Barca must create stronger heritage, with their current outfit a “Frankenstein team” that has lost theirs thanks to the mismanagement of previous president Josep Bartomeu.

With the high salaries and lengthy contracts he gave a number of players now surplus to requirements but unwilling to go elsewhere, Barca can only “regenerate the dressing room” when the outcasts’ deals have wound down and they can finally move on.

This is something that cannot be repeated again when buying new players, at the same time that most of Barca’s best young players are secure until well past the mid-2020s yet have both time and health on their side.

Barca also need to find the “magic formula” to win games as before. Though the likes of Pedri and Ousmane Dembele are undoubtedly talented, “their football is not enough to win games by themselves” as in the days of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez who could turn matches on a sixpence.

As seen from Real Madrid and their endless comebacks in the Champions League and Spanish top flight this term, mentality is everything and it is felt that Barca’s squad is full of players that cannot “withstand the pressure” of having to earn their place in the starting lineup and the obligation to win every match.

A winner’s attitude was demonstrated in the 4-0 mauling of Los Blancos in El Clasico, but Barca then returned from the international break meek and susceptible to falling behind to supposedly lesser teams while unable to respond.

Put simply, Barca need to perform at 100% in everything, the paper says, as 90% isn’t enough to “continually touch glory” as seen in the golden eras of yesteryear.