Guillem Balague says Barcelona lack identity for La Liga return

Barca prepare for life without Neymar, after the forward completed a world-record £200m transfer to Paris Saint-Germain

Guillem Balague says the difference in class between Barcelona and Real Madrid is "cavernous" and believes Barca are lacking in identity, as the two sides prepare to get their La Liga campaigns underway.

Barcelona kick off their season against Real Betis on Sunday and Real Madrid take on Deportivo La Coruna, with both games live on Sky Sports.
Balague is predicting a "long season" for Ernesto Valverde's men and feels Real Madrid are well placed for the 2017/18 term...

Spanish La Liga,Today, 19:15pm

Barcelona v Betis

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Barcelona vs Real Betis

August 20, 2017, 7:10pm

Without so much as a league ball being kicked yet, the message following Real Madrid's demolition of Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup is ringing loud and clear. The difference in class between the two main protagonists in La Liga is not just big - it is cavernous.

Don't take my word for it. Even Gerard Pique said after the second leg he had never felt so inferior to a Real Madrid side as he did coming off the Santiago Bernabeu pitch on Wednesday night.
In truth, this was an accident waiting to happen. An accident made worse by the fact that Barcelona's current dreadfulness runs parallel with the brilliance of a Real Madrid side that is at the moment, unquestionably, the best team in the world.

How on earth did Barcelona, the team that made the world gasp with the quality of their football, come to this?
The major reason - although by no means the only one - is that over the last two years in Revista we have been constantly warning about an over-dependence on the front three to sort out all of Barcelona's problems.

And guess what? By and large it worked, although It was only ever going to be a matter of time before this dependence and constant use of the front three as 'Get Out of Jail Free' cards was going to catch up with them, and that time is now.


The departure of Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain was always going to accentuate the problem but even if he had stayed the writing was on the wall anyway.
In Lionel Messi, Barcelona have probably the greatest player of all time, but to assume that he could perform the sort of tasks done by Xavi and Andres Iniesta in addition to his own job is plain daft.
As a consequence, what you get is an extraordinary player in a Barcelona side made to look ordinary primarily because he is surrounded by players made worse than they are by the lack of collective work.
This is now a side lacking in identity, pedestrian. Stodgy in its approach work, seemingly mentally exhausted despite the fact that the season hasn't even started yet. Their decision to play three different formations at the Bernabeu starting with three centre-backs before going to a 4-3-3 and then to a 4-4-2 is indicative of how rudderless they have become.

Lionel Messi cannot single-handedly produce the results Barcelona will demand this season, says Guillem Balague

Put simply, they do not look as if they know what they are doing, or at the very least what to do for the best.
Barca need signings to relaunch their game because the reality is that they just don't know how to win at this level anymore. They need fresh blood, new players and an identity, a style. And above all, they all need to realise once and for all that, despite the greatness of some of their players, this is fundamentally a team game.

But even here the men behind the scenes have been found sadly lacking. They should have been looking to strengthen at least a year ago. Everyone knows that, not least the players themselves. The signing of Paulinho for £36.4m (€40m) from Guangzhou smacks of a panic buy and bears all the hallmarks of someone trying to apply a sticking plaster to a huge, gaping wound.

They have left it late and now face a Mexican standoff for either Liverpool's Phillipe Coutinho or Borussia Dortmund's Ousmane Dembele, or both. Or neither! Liverpool continue to tell Barcelona the price is 'no price', 'no sale', 'no deal', while Borussia are ever conscious of that €220m plus burning a hole in their pockets.

Barcelona sporting director Robert Fernandez says the club are in talks to sign Liverpool midfielder Philippe Coutinho

What a mess, anything could happen. Rule nothing in, rule nothing out.
Graduates from the much vaunted and fawned upon myth that is La Masia Academy are conspicuous, if not totally by their absence, then certainly by their scarcity.
Sergi Samper was one of the 'jewels' of La Masia but could not get a place in the Barcelona squad which is hardly surprising really, because if he couldn't always get a starting place when on loan at Granada how on earth can he expect a place at Barcelona.
Indecision and a lack of clarity and direction are everywhere, and when players spot it off the pitch and in the training grounds and boardrooms then it is only a matter of time before it spreads like a virus onto the field of play.

Worryingly, despite the fact that everything is in place, Leo Messi has still not renewed his contract and neither has Andres Iniesta. Luis Suarez also picked up an injury in the second leg. Can we now expect him to do his job as well for the next month or so that Suarez is sidelined?
How about Real Madrid? Marco Asensio looked fantastic over both legs of the semi-final scoring two wonderful goals and looks set to become one of the top five players in the world within two years.

Marco Asensio was in fine form for Real in both legs of the Super Cup

That said he is not yet the finished article and for my mind, the player of the Supercopa second leg was Karim Benzema, who most definitively is and who just seems to get better and better.
But Asensio's pace, finishing ability, and pace means he is very likely to be at the very vanguard of the new Spanish national side alongside Isco, hopefully as soon as the next World Cup.

But for the time being my feeling is that Zidane will stick with the BBC up front with Asensio a fantastic option later on in any game. If he can show the consistency over a whole season then it will become a matter of when not if he becomes the player we all think he can be.

Deportivo vs R Madrid

August 20, 2017, 9:10pm

And here's the rub.
While Barcelona decide just how far to raise their offers for the players that they hope will go some way to getting them back on track it's worth remembering that when they were negotiating for Isco and Marco Asensio way back when, had they put just £3.6m (€4m) more euros on the table then the likelihood is that both players would be 'cules' today.
On such decisions are empires are built - and destroyed.

Real Madrid's starting line-up for the second leg contained no Ronaldo, no Bale, no Isco, no Casemiro; no problem.
Such is the strength and belief contained in Zinedine Zidane's squad that you sense that had he picked his starting XI by pulling names out of three top hats labelled defence, midfield and attack he would still have had more than enough to see off this Barcelona challenge.

Cristiano Ronaldo was handed a five-match ban for pushing a referee during his side's Super Cup first-leg victory over Barcelona

Many of us, myself included, seriously maligned him when he took the job as head coach at the Bernabeu. We accused him of being at best tactically naive, at worst incompetent. We stood back and waited for the car crash.

I was wrong, but in my defence, practically all of us were.
What he has done is created a unity and environment at the Santiago Bernabeu that I would not have thought possible. He has built a squad of top quality players and somehow achieved the impossible trick of keeping them all happy and he has done it by letting them know that if they put in the effort, show the commitment and play as a team then they will ALL get their chance.
What you have now is a side brimming with confidence, largely because they feel valued, important. The best team in the world.

And most importantly he has been true to his word. As a Frenchman he more than most will appreciate the importance of the musketeerial "All for One and One for All" ethos that he has built so successfully at Real Madrid. Chapeau Zizou!

Sergio Ramos holds up the Spanish Super Cup after Real Madrid defeated Barcelona 5-1 on aggregate

One question mark. Would Asensio and Ceballos replace the goals of James and Morata? The team seems short of a centre forward or another goalscoring midfielder.
As for Barcelona, it's going to be a long season and I fear for Ernesto Valverde, an astute coach and a thoroughly decent man. He deserved better.