Football Season Guide

Barcelona comfortably won LaLiga last season, finishing the campaign 14 points ahead of second-placed Atletico Madrid and 17 points above rivals Real Madrid. It’s probably true, though, that their results were often better than their performances and Barcelona must improve in 2018/19 if they’re to win the league title again and to compete on all fronts. Over the course of this summer, they have indeed improved. They’ve invested significantly in their squad and have added talent and depth to midfield, bringing in Malcom, Arthur Melo, Arturo Vidal and welcoming back Rafinha from loan – even if he may yet go back out on loan before the end of the transfer window. On top of that, they’ll have January signing Philippe Coutinho for a full season, rather than just half a campaign. The exit of captain and club legend Andres Iniesta has been a difficult blow for the Catalan club, but, as much as he is irreplaceable, they seem to have done a good job in terms of restocking the midfield. As for the other departures, besides Iniesta it has only been backup players who have left the Camp Nou this summer. In theory, this would reduce squad depth, but the reality is that coach Ernesto Valverde likes to work with a small squad and Barcelona had too many fringe players last year. There are some concerns with the squad as whole in terms of the fact that it is an aging squad. Luis Suarez, Gerard Pique, Lionel Messi, Ivan Rakitic and Sergio Busquets are all now 30 years of age or older, but this is surely more of a long-term problem and shouldn’t have much of an impact in 2018/19. Perhaps with the exception of Suarez, the players over 30 in the Barca squad are still playing some of their best football. As such, they’ll be a contender in every tournament they take part in in 2018/19.