Football Season Guide

Barcelona dominated domestic football in Spain again last season, following up the treble in Luis Enrique’s first season as manager with a double of La Liga and Copa del Rey trophies. Real Madrid’s Champions League triumph means Barca have to share the limelight with their eternal rivals in the capital but they still proved themselves more consistent and more effective over the course of the whole 2015-16 campaign than both of the Spanish Champions League finalists. As a result, they can justly claim to be the best team in Europe. Their dominance in Spain means they will play losing Copa del Rey finalists Sevilla in the two-legged Spanish Super Cup in mid-August in the week before they begin the defence of their La Liga crown at home to Real Betis. Pre-season started late for the Blaugranas, who opted to remain in Europe rather than accept a gruelling trip to Asia or the USA. Beginning with a dominant 3-1 win over Celtic in Dublin, they also face games against Leicester City, Liverpool and Sampdoria before visiting Sevilla at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan. With more first teamers joining the group as the days go by, Barcelona will get closer to their best eleven as the games go by. They will not be able to count on Neymar (or Rafinha) this month because the Brazilian duo are representing the host nation at the Rio Olympics. In the meantime, intrigue will be offered in the shape of debuts for the club’s summer signings so far. Lucas Digne and Samuel Umtiti strengthen the defensive contingent after joining from Ligue 1, Denis Suarez has returned to the club and has already impressed in pre-season, while big things will be expected of Andre Gomes – the biggest signing for the Catalans so far – who will offer support in midfield. One or two more arrivals are expected and it is no secret that Luis Enrique wants to broaden his attacking options by signing a striker. It is mainly fringe players who have left the club over the summer, with the exception of Brazilian right-back Dani Alves, who leaves for a new adventure with Juventus after eight years and nearly 250 appearances for the club. Covering his absence will be one of the challenges facing Luis Enrique this term. He will also have to contemplate the Marc Andre Ter Stegen/Claudio Bravo dispute for the number one jersey. With new options in defence and midfield, he may have to shuffle to find his best team, although initially it looks like all of the new signings will be playing supporting roles from the bench at first. What cannot be disputed is the persistence of the famous MSN formation up front. Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez will start in Lucho’s strongest eleven and after notching 122 and 130 goal tallies in their first two seasons together, they will be gunning for even more goals in 2016-17. With the strength of their squad and led by the best player of all time, Barca will be bidding for another historic treble. Real Madrid look more of a threat under Zinedine Zidane, but this blaugrana team has the psychological edge in this ancient rivalry.