I might be in the minority here, but I genuinely don’t think our defence is good enough to win the UCL.
In attack and midfield we have players who are either the best in the world or at least top 5 in their position. But in defence? I honestly don’t see a single player who’s clearly in that conversation right now. Maybe Pau Cubarsí in the future, but he’s still only 19 and that’s a lot to put on him as the backbone of a Champions League defence.
The numbers kind of back it up too. Recently we’ve been conceding around 35–40 league goals in a season, which isn’t the profile of a Champions League winning defence.
Compare that to the 2014–15 treble team with Gerard Piqué, Javier Mascherano, Dani Alves, and Jordi Alba. That defence conceded just 21 league goals and had elite, proven players across the entire back line.
When you look at most Champions League winners, they almost always have at least one or two genuinely world-class defenders.
Right now I just don’t see that in our squad.
Am I being too harsh, or do we still think we can win this UCL campaign with our current backline?
by alexludwick
36 Comments
absolutely not
Team really confuses me honestly, if we played like we played against athletico lowblock I think UCL is probable but the last 2 perfomance arent convincing me that Barca is among the top contendors. IDK maybe flick is being very smart here and playing conservatively.
Absense of Kounde and balde has decresed our offensive power as yamal syncs up pretty well with kounde, Absence of de jong in the midfield is also showing but hey atleast our Top 3 perfomers are still there.
i mean last season psg almost lost to aston villa. i think we can deffo win it with some luck and a fully fit squad. we even have a fairly easy route till the semis. atleast compared to the other side.
We have a easy draw but PSG looks like the team to beat this year as well
No lmao
The highest expectation would be winning the La Liga. Winning the UCL can be considered a bonus.
Eventually.
I think you are right. There is always hope that the team can produce the level of performance we know they are capable of on their best day. At the same time, Barcelona still struggles with consistency. The defense is leaky, and last year’s semifinal run against Inter really showed that problem. Over two legs we are usually capable of scoring against most teams sooner or later, but the defense also has to buy us that time so we are not constantly fighting for remontadas.
It’s highly unlikely. To the extent we have a chance, it will come from Joan Garcia putting up otherworldly performances, which is possible.
No. Let’s be real, we lack squad depth, our main striker is Ferran, injuries always mess us up, our defense is shaky, and we have zero backup options
Nope, but on game day anything could happen. I feel like we could win every game once it starts.
Esta edición…
No 🙁
i just want us to go as deep as possible without getting clowned. we need that money
Sure there’s always a chance but realistically I struggle seeing us win against Arsenal, PSG or Bayern.
Why not
Even if we get past Newcastle and Atleti which should be the minimum expectation I don’t think we beat Arsenal. It’s gonna end up like Inter last season. Except Arsenal are way harder to break down
With everyone avalaible and on a good day — yes, absolutely.
Currently we are the Ferran Torres of Atleticos de Madrid so I genuinely don’t fucking know. Our form for our whole season has been so strange. It has been that one “we are so back 📈📈📈 -> it’s over 📉📉📉” meme all over
If we hit the high note in the coming weeks. Don’t have much time, our forwards need to lock in
Not possible. Arsenal is too strong rn and even if we somehow defeat them, it’ll either be Bayern or PSG in final, both of them favourites rn
Ironically in our last ucl game our defence was good while our attack was struggling since we are lacking proper 9
Lets see our defence options – eric araujo martin cubarsi balde cancelo and kounde out of these 7 options we need to get just 1 good combination just 1 and we will be good enough . The problem that arises is either time the centre backs are pretty lethal or the full backs put up show. You cant actually tell when they all will perform together. This problem arises due to the bad forms of araujo kounde and balde . Last match against newcastle showed us that the defence is starting to make sense but another problem which comes is lack of a striker and a deep lying playmaker after pedri is gone .
My suggestion would be that if lewa starts atleast 60-70 minutes in important matches , and the defence line starts with eric martin cubarsi and cancelo we can put up a solid show because eric can play as cb mf and rb cancelo at any of the flank and martin as lb or cb we can easily switch between their places for best output also araujo was decent as rb he can also come in as rb or striker
Highly unlikely. But a competition like UCL is exactly that, you don’t need to be the best to win it. Just look at Madrid. Like we were arguably the best last season and should’ve made at least to the finals. But inter did somehow and we all know how they’ve been since. So I won’t lose hope and just keep believing.
Last year was our moment. This season I already think the moment’s past us. We need to make sure we have world class defenders again before we start this conversation – and Lewandowski I think is finally showing his age – impressive how long he’s been absolute class.
No way
Our defence isn’t big game ready, if we ever advance into the finals or even win it, it’ll be purely out of luck and masterclass performances
Next year maybe but not this year
Lol no
Reaching Semi-finals is a realistic chance. After that, I don’t want to say it…
Yes
Not a minority opinion at all but it is the delusion the majority (including me) like to live in 🤞🏻💙❤️
You’re not in the minority. It is absurd to watch a game of Bayern, PSG or Arsenal and think “Oh I think we’re winning it this year.”
we don’t stand a chance in hell bro, its a small miracle if we make it past the quarter final
No. Our attack has gone down because Raphinia and Lewy both are not at the same level. Our defence is a joke.
I saw us last year