MADRID, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- FC Barcelona’s 2-1 win over Sevilla in the Spanish Super Cup on Sunday may not have been the most decisive in their history, but it pointed to what could be - on the domestic front at least - another successful season for the reigning Liga Santander champions.
Although it is difficult to draw firm conclusions from a game played in mid-August, especially in a World Cup year, Barca appear to have improved a squad which last season proved to be unable to compete on the domestic front and in Europe simultaneously.
The 3-0 defeat to Roma which ended Barca’s Champions League adventure last season was the darkest moment in the campaign for coach Ernesto Valverde and showed that Barca lacked depth.
Their summer transfer business seems to have gone at least some way to correcting that imbalance, with squad players such as Lucas Digne, Aleix Vidal, Andre Gomes and Yerry Mina shipped out (in the case of Mina and Digne for decent transfer fees) and replaced by Brazilian duo Arthur and Malcom, along with experienced midfielder Arturo Vidal and central defender Clement Lenglet.
Arthur is a highly promising midfielder, who could give support to Sergio Busquets, while Lenglet has ample experience in La Liga after his time with Sevilla. Meanwhile, Vidal should add aggression to the Barca midfield, while Malcom has pace and a good shot from distance.
Valverde will less happy to lose midfielder Paulinho, with the Brazilian international, who scored several important goals last season, having returning to the Guangzhou Evergrande in the Chinese Super League. This will also be the first season without veteran Andres Iniesta, who opted to end his career in Japan.
Given that Valverde only used Digne, Vidal, Gomes and Mina when there were no alternatives, on paper the squad looks stronger, although Malcom, Arthur and to a lesser extent Lenglet will need time to adapt to the Barca style.
Elsewhere, the failure to sign a left back will mean the coach will be crossing his fingers that nothing happens to Jordi Alba, otherwise youngster Joan Miranda could well be thrown in at the deep end.
Philippe Coutinho will be vital for Barca this season. The Brazilian adapted quickly to La Liga after joining from Liverpool in January and will only improve this time around, hopefully taking some of the creative responsibility off Lionel Messi’s shoulders.
Meanwhile, Ousmane Dembele’s performance against Sevilla hinted at the talent which convinced Barca to pay over 100 million euros for him last summer in the wake of Neymar’s departure.
Dembele’s first season was plagued by injury and Barca will hope for a lot more from him this time around, but as always, the spotlight will fall on one man: Messi. The Argentinean returns after a disappointing World Cup, during which he looked exhausted and lacking spark - perhaps because he had played such a huge role for Barca last season.
If he has been able to recharge his batteries and if Dembele, Coutinho and Luis Suarez can help share the attacking burden, then Messi should get back to his best, and if Messi is back to his best, Barca can defend their league title.
Issues such as a lack of cover at left back and an inability to find a suitable substitute for anchorman Busquets may haunt Barca in the latter stages of the season, especially in Europe. Elsewhere, off-field tensions never seem to be far away, but Valverde will probably feel that he has a better squad than last season, as long as the new arrivals are able to find their feet.
If they don’t, or if Messi can’t return to his best form, then Valverde can expect difficult questions to be asked at a club where second best is never good enough, and where winning is not enough unless it is done with style. Enditem