Barcelona were once the dominant team in the Champions League, winning the competition three times in the space of seven seasons. With Lionel Messi operating at the peak of his powers and Pep Guardiola in the dugout, Barca twice defeated Manchester United in the final in 2009 and 2011.
Luis Enrique maintained their strong run in the competition when he took the reins and with Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez in the final third, the Catalan club were soon kings of Europe once more brushing aside Juventus in 2015.
Since then, Barca have endured a steady decline, which began even with Messi in the ranks. The club failed to reach the final in six years before the Argentine left Camp Nou for Paris Saint-Germain. Ronald Koeman paid the price for a poor start to the season, which included back-to-back defeats to start the Champions League campaign.
Xavi’s arrival could not prevent their slide into the Europa League, failing to reach the knockout stage of Europe’s elite competition for the first time since 2004. Although Xavi has helped restore Barcelona’s form in LaLiga to an acceptable standard, the club face a long way back to the top to be considered one of the main contenders to win the Champions League in next season’s Champions League betting odds.
🔥 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has now scored in five straight matches against Real Madrid, netting seven goals in the process.
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) March 20, 2022
🤷♂️ First #ElClasico, no problem pic.twitter.com/Qsmoy0ug5H
Barca have overhauled their squad in a bid to return to their former greatness, but success will not come overnight even though Xavi has aided a turnaround to finish in the top four of LaLiga which was in doubt at one stage of the campaign. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s arrival has certainly helped matters in the final third, where they had struggled. Aubameyang has notched important goals for the Catalan club, including a brace to down Real Madrid at the Bernabeu in a 4-0 victory in El Clasico. At the age of 32, the Gabonese is not going to get better in the final third, with the club in dire need of further new blood to become their new star man.
Memphis Depay has shown pedigree following his move from Lyon, but he has not been able to replicate his match-winning performances from Ligue 1 in LaLiga. The standard of Spain’s top division has raised issues regarding the 28-year-old’s consistency against top teams. The Dutchman has had his moments, but he has not been able to dominate. Xavi will be thinking long and hard about whether to retain the services of Depay in the long run or whether they can cash in on the forward to pursue other targets in the summer.
Barca also have issues at the other end of the pitch. Gerard Pique has locked down the centre-back position for nearly 15 years, but he is showing signs of age. The brilliance of Pique has covered for flaws elsewhere in the ranks, and it appears that Clement Lenglet’s days at Camp Nou are numbered after falling down the pecking order alongside Samuel Umtiti. Both players signed for expensive fees, but have not lived up to expectations. There is pressure on Xavi and the club’s hierarchy to fill yet another potential gap in the same way they had to find players to replace Messi’s production in the final third.
Sergio Busquets is also getting long in the tooth in the middle of the park. He can still work the ball around the field, but he has lost the ability to cover space as he did in his prime. Xavi will need at least another midfielder to cover defensively to ease the pressure on his skipper as he knows all too well the importance of the position.
For all the strides that the Catalan club have made under Xavi, they face bigger challenges ahead to move back to the top of European football with a number of players reaching the twilight of their respective careers.
