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With an important 2-1 victory over league leaders Real Sociedad, Barcelona moved to fifth place in La Liga. With 12 games played, the Catalans have played fewer games than three of the first four, although one more than Atlético de Madrid, which tied for first place with La Real.
This means that the top four are definitely an achievable goal, but is that enough to qualify for a good season?
Many young people participated in that victory: Pedri, Sergiño Dest, Ronald Araújo, Óscar Mingueza, Francisco Trincão and Carles Aleñá played, making it a good season for developing players. Better still if Riqui Puig was playing or if Ansu Fati was not injured.
Of course, winning trophies is the most important thing, but if you can’t win trophies, then a transitional season trying to replace some iconic veterans, while maintaining UEFA Champions League status, is the best you can hope for.
The problem is that Barcelona forced Lionel Messi to stay. Messi wants to win trophies before retiring, and Barcelona pays him a monstrous salary that suggests they want to win now, not slowly rebuild. It is a contradiction.
Of course, it could be argued that, without Messi, Barcelona would suffer too much and would not even qualify for the Champions League. Considering that they are fifth, it is plausible. But it’s harder to think that the top four and developing players would qualify as a successful season for Barcelona with Messi. Certainly, Messi would not accept it.
