The premier European football competitions in the last few years have not been the most kind to FC Barcelona. The Catalans suffered humiliating defeats to Roma, Liverpool, and Bayern Munich some years ago, but the scars that these defeats left in the team have been haunting the club in Europe since then.
What made these defeats even more painful was the fact that Barcelona has been one of the most feared and respected names in football.
These defeats in three consecutive seasons led to decaying this status of the club to such a significant extent that the Catalans were unable to even advance from the group stage of the UEFA Champions League in its last two editions.
Changes in the squad
However, as SPORT has noted, Barcelona are getting farther from the memory of these defeats with each passing season. The club’s squad has seen significant changes in the years since then, and only a few players remain who experienced those painful nights some years ago. Moreover, other players with a proven pedigree in Europe have further strengthened the squad.
Only Ter Stegen and Sergi Roberto are the two remaining players who experienced all the three defeats, while Frenkie de Jong was present when the team lost to Bayern Munich in Lisbon. Now, these three, along with Ronald Araujo, are the four captains of the team, who now lead a squad that is mentally stronger than what Barcelona had before.
A number of veterans like Jordi Alba, Gerard Pique, and Sergio Busquets have left the club since the last season, and thus the leaders of the previous generation are all gone. Now, new players like Kounde, Gundogan, Lewandowski, and Cancelo are present in the squad with their highly celebrated pedigrees to help Barcelona regain their status at the summit of European football.
Top leadership committed to victory
The top leadership is also committed to seeing Barcelona return to winning ways. The club President, Joan Laporta, clearly mentioned that: “Before, if you lost, nothing would happen. But losing with me will have consequences“, at the beginning of his second term, while Xavi has also been clear that the team has to win titles.
Thus, with the departure of players who were mentally scarred from painful European nights, and the arrival of other high-quality and highly experienced players, Barcelona seems to be adequately prepared to leave its European humiliations behind, and compete equally with the European footballing elite once more.