Comment: Barcelona can win the Champions League, but it depends on several factors

Barcelona beat Napoli in the Champions League eighth round during the week. Friday’s draw gave the Catalans PSG and one of the Atlético Madrid, Borussia Dortmund pairing in the eventual semifinals. Xavi’s charges can dominate the entire Champions League, but there are several conditions.

Robert Lewandowski

The Polish cannonballer will play a key role in the rest of the season in helping Real Madrid finish runners-up in LaLiga, but also on their way to the Champions League final. The start of the season hasn’t seen the Polish cannonballer in great form. However, he seems to have timed his form perfectly for a tense end to the season.

During February, Lewandowski scored 5 goals in 5 games. He scored a goal in each game of the double-header with Napoli in the semi-finals. The experienced striker can lead Barcelona to the trophy with his goals. A marksman of his quality needs only a little to score from a small chance. If Lewandowski’s teammates serve him one ball after another in the penalty area, he will score several more goals.

Christensen in midfield

Barcelona are plagued by health problems, especially in the midfield. Pedri, Gavi and Frenkie de Jong are currently injured. Fans were probably expecting the deployment of Romeo, but he is not looking good on the pitch at all. Xavi has therefore solved the situation in a completely different way, deploying Andreas Christensen, the Danish stopper, at number six.

However, the Dane hasn’t lost his way in the position and looks like he’s been in the position forever. Thanks to the Danish player’s defensive qualities, the offensive aces can stay higher up in the opponent’s half and don’t have to help out as much defensively. Since deploying Christensen at the number six position, Barcelona has not lost a single game.

Barcelona have worked on defence

During the winter months, Barcelona had a problem mainly in their defensive work. The team was conceding too many goals and the defenders often looked like they were painted on the pitch. In a few days Barcelona got 4 goals from Real Madrid and Bilbao. After that, however, there was an improvement.

The last time the Catalan team scored more than 1 goal was on the 11th of February in a 3:3 draw against Granada. Since then, a maximum of 1 goal from the opponent, Naples had a hard time getting into the end zone or its attempts were blocked. If the team’s defensive performance holds up like this against Mbappé and co, Barcelona can think about at least the Champions League semi-finals.

Barcelona must take on PSG

Last but not least, of course, Barcelona have to deal with PSG. The last duel between these teams is remembered only by ter Stegen, de Jong, Pedri and Sergi Roberto, no one else experienced a double-header in 2021. Barcelona were downed by Kylian Mbappé then, all Barcelona’s hopes will be on defending him.

Source: Barcelona, LaLiga