After the disappointment of the previous seasons coupled with the Lionel Messi saga and the weird transfers, not many had thought Barcelona to cruise to an easy 4-0 win over Villareal.
Expectations are far less for every Culer this year around in what seems to be the final year of the legendary Leo Messi unless some miracle is on the cards. After the embarrassing night in LIsbon, Koeman has been keen to replace the players who carried the team in the glory years with young guns which saw the high profile exits of Suarez, Rakitic, Vidal and Semedo.
Ansu Fati alongwith Riqui Puig’s performances were the only highs of Barcelona last season with Fati impressing with Spain national team in his debut and scoring a beauty in only his second match for the country. While Puig is not on Koeman’s radar as he openly said he doesn’t count on the youngster despite such great performances last season, Fati continues to impress, chipping in with 2 goals and winning the third in the box which was coolly converted by Messi.
Another positive from last day’s match saw Barca’s reliance on Messi was not that much which is great because some day or the other he has to part and being ready for that day from an early stage will only do Barca a world of good and Koeman has got the strings right atleast for the 1st one for now. Pique was not so error prone in the match which he lately had become after poor performances at the end of last season. The versatile Sergi Roberto had to do right back duties after Semedo had been extruded to Wolves. Jordi Alba looked fresh and played a crucial part in the goals. Coutinho also looked sharp alongwith new signings Trincao and Pjanic.
What Barca lack is a good CB as they can’t rely on Pique too much, they also do not have a proper RB which is why they are pushing in hard for Ajax full back Sergino Dest and hoping to land Memphis Depay. Now only time will tell if Koeman can bring trophies to the Camp Nou but for now Koeman era has begun in Barca and in some style.
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