What would success look like for Barcelona in 2021/22?

Photo by Philipp von Ditfurth/picture alliance via Getty Images

Koeman needs to find a winning formula again

The league season is only a couple of short weeks away, and with the final few squad members that are absent due back in the next few days, it’s worth asking the question as to what success will look like for Barcelona in the forthcoming campaign.

Taking into account the financial struggles that the current board have had to contend with right across the summer, perhaps just getting by without any more off pitch shenanigans would be considered a win.

Slowly but surely certain aspects appear to be coming together, though it’s clear that Joan Laporta and Co. are having to get very creative indeed.

The promotion of more La Masia graduates into the first-team squad would absolutely represent success of the model which the president prefers (even if they’ve not technically spent their entire time in the academy).

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Iñaki Pena and Álex Collado appear to be the next two to make the step up, and not before time it must be said.

Is it acceptable to still allow for a season of transition for want of a better phrase, in order to allow the youngsters to develop under Ronald Koeman?

To see homegrown players expressing themselves relatively free of pressure and finding their way at senior level as Barca look to play the long game.

Or can success for the first-team only really be defined by the winning of trophies?

To that end, was last season a success because the Copa del Rey was secured against all the odds, or was it a failure because the blaugranes blew the league at the death and were never a serious contender for the Champions League?

Leo Messi famously said that he would only re-sign with the club if they could promise him a ‘winning project,’ so that would suggest that he believes the team have it in them to go all the way in La Liga and in Europe.

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Maybe going deeper into the Champions League, where Barca haven’t been since they last won it in 2015, would be considered a success, if they’re not quite strong enough to win it.

An improvement over and above the last couple of seasons means things are moving in the right direction doesn’t it?

Clearly, there’ll be an awful lot of different and subjective opinions about what exactly can be looked back upon in years to come and pinpointed as ‘successful’ in 2021/22.

Personally, seeing more youth brought through from La Masia gives hope that the wheels are being oiled sufficiently well that in the future another ‘golden generation’ may represent the club.

What about you? What do you regard as success for Barcelona next season?

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