Barca in 2018

The journey of Barca in 2018 year was a massive one, full of touching moments. Therefore, some of those touching moments were very good, and others were sad. We said goodbye to two club legends, won domestic titles, and finished the year with the 5-1 win in ‘El Clasico’. Therefore, here is a recap of the biggest moments for Barca in 2018:

Mascherano leaves

The year started with legendary goodbye for a legendary soldier. The defensive midfielder who became a center back, and mastered that position. A warrior from the first day he arrived, until the last moment he played for our club. However, After losing his starting place to Umtiti, ‘El jefesito’ decided that it’s time to say goodbye, and moved to the Chinese league.

Coutinho arrives

After months of rumors, Coutinho, the Brazilian genius, arrived from Liverpool. However, Coutinho suffered a lot of criticism from Liverpool fans for the privilege of wearing the Barca shirt. In addition, the Brazilian had to stay in Anfield until January, with his own fans angry at him for wanting to leave.

Although Coutinho arrived in January, the Brazilian couldn’t play with Barca at the Champions League, because he already played for Liverpool last season. However, he did really well in the La liga and in the Cup. With 15 goals and 11 assists to his name, Coutinho sure has a lot more to give to the team.

KO against Roma

The knockout stage of the 2017/18 UCL season started well, with a big win against Chelsea. Barca advanced to the quarter finals with very high hopes, and won the first game 4-1 at home against Roma. But then came the away game, and with it – disaster. In one of the poorest performances ever, Barca lost 3-0 to Roma, and knocked out of the competition. It was a ‘Classic Barca’ defeat, when the team played slow and tired against a well-organized team. It happened so many times in the past, and unfortunately again against Roma.

Winning domestic Double

After the heartbreak at the UCL, there was no more place for errors. The cup final arrived, and Barca destroyed Sevilla, in order to collect another Cup. However, the main focus of this cup final was Andres Iniesta, who just recently said he’d leave in the end of the season. In addition, the image of ‘Rey’ Iniesta receiving the “Cup of the king” was just symbolic.

The season ended with Barca collecting its 7^th La Liga trophy in the last decade. The season that started with very bad feelings after the loss against Madrid in the Super-Copa, ended with a domestic double, and with optimism.

Iniesta leaves

Barca in 2018 had a lot of big moments, but probably the most memorable one happened in 20/05/2018. That date was the end of Andres Iniesta’s playing journey for Barca. The last standing ovation, the last ‘Thank you’ to the crowd, and the official passing of the ‘Capitan’ title to Leo Messi.

Reshaping the squad

The summer transfer window was a good chance to make the squad stronger. On one hand, many players left the squad, like Digne, Yerry Mina, Alcacer, Paulinho, Andre Gomes, Delofeu and Aleix Vidal. On the other hand, those players were replaced with 4 main transfers – Arthur, Lenglet, Malcom and Arturo Vidal. In addition, Rafinha and Munir came back from loan spells, and Carles Alena officially promoted from Barca B.

It’s fair to say that, until now, those players are a massive boost to the squad. It’s been years since the squad had so many options in the bench, and we can only wish it would stay like that.

Great UCL first round

Although Barca in 2018 year was a massive one, full of touching moments. Therefore, some of those touching moments were very good, and others were sad. had a pretty tough group, the team was able to surpass Inter, Tottenham and PSV, and finish first at its group. The most membered win was the big 4-2 win in London against Tottenham. Therefore, Barca finished the group stage with a lot of optimism, and we sure hope for a better knockout stage this season. In addition, as Messi said in the beginning of the season – the main object of Barca is to win the Champions League.

Can the team handle a ‘Clasico’ without Messi?

The month of October was a tough one to begin with. But, after the injury of Messi, it became even tougher. The main event of his absence was ‘El Clasico’ – the match against Real Madrid. Therefore, the first time in over a decade, the biggest match on earth was not focused on Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Many fans were worried with what would have happened once Barca had to play without Messi.

The Absence of Messi was the opportunity for the whole squad to give their best. And, boy, they did it. With a massive 5-1 win, Barca humiliated their arch rival, and made Madrid’s coach, Lopetegui, lose his job.

In conclusion

Right now we are in the middle of the season. However, there is a lot of work to do this season, and a lot of steps to make in order to keep Barca great. As we entered year 31 after the birth of Messi, it’s clear that Barca are working to maintain a young, hungry squad. Therefore, the year of 2019 will be a big one. As always, we have a squad that can win every trophy possible. However, the main objective of our board and technical staff will be to keep the squad fresh. Legendary players like Pique, Suarez, Rakitic, Busquets and Messi are on their 30’s. The players who will arrive as their replacements will decide if Barca will keep their level.

Marco