Who would have thought they would have been still unbeaten in the league in march after getting hammeerd by Real in the Spanish Super Cup? 
Barcelona 2017/18
- Thread starter Peyroteo
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Sevilla Should be like 5-0 up.
This Barcelona team without Messi are awful and like Argentina. Their defensive structure is terrible.
City would put 7 past these jokers
This Barcelona team without Messi are awful and like Argentina. Their defensive structure is terrible.
City would put 7 past these jokers
Another goal scoring chance wasted by Sevilla. They should be 6-0 up.
Still undefeated, probably Barca's worst game of the season, everyone looked tired but what an incredible comeback.
So lucky Valverde has Messi.
He's a very average manager.
He's a very average manager.
I am seriously wondering if Barca fans have to choose either Invincible season or CL title plus league title ( but not invincible season), what would they choose?
An invincible season is just too rare...CL comes every year. Maybe they should prioritize league now.
An invincible season is just too rare...CL comes every year. Maybe they should prioritize league now.
They'd be mad to choose invincible season over European Double.
I would be surprised if anyone Barca fan would want the latter over the former.
It's trophies that count for me, so winning the CL and the League would be my choice. An undefeated league campaign would be amazing, but if we lose the Copa final and go out of Europe, it becomes a footnote in a good season, and not a great season by winning a double or more.
What about either an INvincible season or a CL ?
Surely, a CL is much more important than an invincible season, but invincible season would still be so special. Arsenal fans literally survived on one invincible season for like 10 years
.What about either an INvincible season or a CL ?
Surely, a CL is much more important than an invincible season, but invincible season would still be so special. Arsenal fans literally survived on one invincible season for like 10 years
Agree, I'd much rather lose a dead rubber league game than the CL final. More trophies is much better than a 0 in the loss column.
Yes I agree once Messi came as in today or has been involved, Barcelona attack changed and they were more on the offensive wanting to score. However on the counter even with Messi today, Sevilla should have easily scored more and won. That Barcelona midfield is up for the taking and without Busquets, it was just easy!
Valverde has done an incredible job in making the defence strong and leaving the rest to Messi to help guide Barcelona. This Barcelona team is a much better than the one of 2016-2017 largely because of Messi and the defensive performance.
Valverde has done an incredible job in making the defence strong and leaving the rest to Messi to help guide Barcelona. This Barcelona team is a much better than the one of 2016-2017 largely because of Messi and the defensive performance.
I’d absolutely take a CL title over going undefeated
No way going unbeaten is better than winning Champions League. Invincible league season for a team like Barca would just be another statistics for pundits and commentators to mention when they have nothing else to say about the game, it’s really not that important.
Only the Arsenal fans gave a shit about it and even that was because they had no choice.What about either an INvincible season or a CL ?
Surely, a CL is much more important than an invincible season, but invincible season would still be so special. Arsenal fans literally survived on one invincible season for like 10 years
In this context, assuming Barca also wins CDR, I'd rather take CL win and make it a treble over Invincibles season. 3 trebles would be a nice achievement.
What about either an INvincible season or a CL ?
Surely, a CL is much more important than an invincible season, but invincible season would still be so special. Arsenal fans literally survived on one invincible season for like 10 years
They're Arsenal fans.
What the feck is this shit? Cruyff as per, getting waaaaaay to much credit for trophies he had feck all to do with.
2004 was the turning point for Barca, a long time after Cruyff left. The amount of trophies they have won since then is incredible.
Can you break it down after Ronaldinho and before?
His vision was crucial though. Rijkaard, Guardiola, Enrique all followed core principles of his philosophy. And their academy too, i.e. the academy that developed Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, etc.
Bartomeu and company are doing a wonderful job of erasing Cruyff's legacy though. I always thought it was symptomatic that they went for Valverde this season.
I think there is a little bit more to it. Valverde definitely improved Barcelona's counter pressing again which is a highly underestimated aspect of Guardiola's system. This idea that you have to regain possession within six seconds or foul the opposition player to prevent a counter attack. I think Barca hasn't been this good at it since Guardiola left.
It is correct that they look dull in the offensive compared to their predecessors. But it is also down to the players. Valverde simply hasn't the players a possession oriented style requires. There is a reason why Guardiola always spends so much money and demands high quality midfielders. These systems only work if your key players are comfortable enough with the ball at their feet. Valverde had the problem that Iniesta is getting old, Rakitic wasn't in good form and the rest were physical midfielders. Additionally, Dembele was out injured, Coutinho at Liverpool and Deulofeu/Suarez/Gomes did not convince at all. That is probably the main reason why he chose the 4-4-2 over the Barca-typical 4-3-3. However, I think he will go back to it eventually since the team constellation favors it when everyone is fit.
Yet, I have to agree that Cruyff would probably not be very fond of Bartomeu's transfer politics. Although they have a midfield problem that could have been anticipated since multiple years they missed out on many players which would have been perfect fits for them. Kroos, Modric, Gündogan, Thiago (should've been convinced to stay), Verratti, Kovacic, Isco, Seri, Rabiot. Instead they emphasize on "galactico transfers" like Dembele and physical players like Paulinho who don't really match Cruyff's philosophy.
We will see what the next transfer window will look like. But as of now it seems like they are going for Griezmann. Then, they will have Messi, Dembele, Suarez and Grierzmann for four positions but still no proper midfield to back them up.
Man, let me put it this way: if barcelona had arsenal's invincible season, what people would remember of it was going out to chelsea in CL
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Yep, anyone can obviously see that the emergence of the best player in the history of the game is a large part of their success. They haven't even played the Cruyff way since Guardiola left, and before that Rijkaard played nothing like Cruyff.
Van Gaal also seems to have a similar cult following to Cruyff; just because he talks all high and mighty. He also gets credit for things that happen long after he's left.
CL, every day of the week.
Real has won the last 2 CL trophies, and we didn’t make it past the quarters on both occasions. There’s huge pressure on the club to deliver another CL title, if not this season then definitely next season (when Coutinho and Dembele are fully integrated).
Quite frankly I have to say they look a strange team to watch, followed the game to see Semedo (who by the way made a penalty), if you just look at the score without watching the match you would think they were much better than Roma, but the problem is... they simply weren't.
As I am fed up with the endless threads comparing Messi with Cristiano, the only thing I can say about Messi is that even at 75% he was responsible for the difference between them and Roma, quite frankly without him I don't think they would be a better team than Real Madrid or Atletico.
Maybe unfair to say this based in only watching a match, I felt the same when I watched us vs them on the group stages, maybe in the future players like Coutinho or Dembele can raise their level, for now they simply look a well defensively organized team who wins more because they have better players than 90 or 95% of the teams they face, at least imo.
As I am fed up with the endless threads comparing Messi with Cristiano, the only thing I can say about Messi is that even at 75% he was responsible for the difference between them and Roma, quite frankly without him I don't think they would be a better team than Real Madrid or Atletico.
Maybe unfair to say this based in only watching a match, I felt the same when I watched us vs them on the group stages, maybe in the future players like Coutinho or Dembele can raise their level, for now they simply look a well defensively organized team who wins more because they have better players than 90 or 95% of the teams they face, at least imo.
2 own goals, 2 goals gifted, 2 penalties against not given
Team of destiny. Astonishing luck
Team of destiny. Astonishing luck
Word for word
When it keeps happening, it's not luck. Only watched parts of it but they've been doing this all season, their defending is incredible and there's a reason they're undefeated and look better than last season even without Neymar.
They are us from last season. It's getting fecking terrifying now
@Peyroteo the only thing I disagree with you is regarding the excelent defending, I just think they have more individual quality than the majority of the teams they face, but even today they sometimes were exposed by Roma, the difference is that even playing badly they always have Messi or in last case there is always Suarez or a half gas Iniesta.
They probably wouldn't be even better than about half a dozen European clubs without him. This is why I actually think Messi's best has been these past couple of years. He is literally elevating them from just another top team to treble contenders.
I was watching both games at once but I don't think they played badly at all. They won 4-1 and they had about 4 times the chances Roma had without Messi even having a good game, it wasn't an unfair result at all. Alisson still had a few great saves. They just control the game differently than they used to and they don't mind not having the ball because they can actually defend without it.
Against Bayern I think it would be 50-50 but against Madrid or Liverpool/City they'd be favourites imo
Quite frankly they will need a Super Messi, a improved Iniesta and Suarez, also more from Dembele, even Semedo or Paulinho to win the Champions League imo.
Internally in Spain ok, but playing like this in 2 games vs Liverpool or even Bayern I have my doubts, maybe with Real Madrid they have that sort of psichological advantage over them, but as a team they don't impress.
I've watched them about 25-30 times this season. I do t think they've been very impressive in more than 5 of those.
They get by in most games through sheer individual quality.
The number of times the opposition is on top of them is more than at any point in the last decade, they just find a way to keep the ball out of the net.
They get by in most games through sheer individual quality.
The number of times the opposition is on top of them is more than at any point in the last decade, they just find a way to keep the ball out of the net.
I have a feeling Liverpool could embarrass them if they meet.
I actually think their defending is a lot like United's, in the sense that while they have good defensive structure the individual quality of their defenders isn't great. However, what tends to happen for them is they are able to absorb enough pressure to provide a platform to their attacking players to get them ahead relatively quickly. Without Messi this may not be possible but because Barca has Messi its always a risk.
The Madrid game at the Bernabeau over Xmas was the ultimate example of this. Until the first goal Madrid actually looked better than Barca. Barca hadn't got their passing going and were in a bit of a bind. However, they held out long enough to use a quick transition to score. After that they could pick Madrid off. The current Barca is more a refinement of the Lucho Enrique style than the Pep style.
Its not lucky though, you're right. Almost any manager with those players would do more or less the same thing.
Basically this is the impression I have watching them, maybe I am being a bit harsh, but I don't agree with @Peyroteo when he says they played well, I just think they had some luck with them today, not to mention a clear penalty done by Semedo when it was 0:0.
I agree. They do have the beating of Real but against an organised experienced unit like Bayern who are not too shabby offensively, it's difficult to see how Messi alone can drag them.