Futbol Club Barcelona is going through difficult times, since it is no secret to anyone who is light years away from being that demolishing and attractive team that they were a few years ago, and, despite the hiring of very talented players , the team continues to depend too much on Lionel Messi.

At the beginning of the season, Barça looked like the main favorite to win the Champions League since France's star Antoine Griezmann had joined the team in the company of the Dutch sensation Frenkie de Jong, however the team's performances were mediocre, when not Messi was there, the game was little less than a disaster and when the Argentine was on the field, Barcelona won with difficulty. The culé team still did not achieve positive results and neither was an effective game, as was demonstrated in the hard defeat against Atlético Madrid in the Super Cup that led the board to fire Ernesto Valverde once and for all to then hire Quique Setién. , who was supposed to straighten the team's course.

Well, with Setien it was the same or even worse, the little that Barcelona generates is thanks to Messi, but the day he is unplugged then the lights go out for the Catalans. The former Real Betis coach has not found a way to solve the team's problems, and it must be said that the injuries of Luis Suárez and Ousmané Dembélé only worsen the critical situation for Barcelona. However, the aforementioned seems a vile lie if we take into account that the Blaugrana are leaders in La Liga and are in the knockout stages of the Champions League with good chances of moving forward.

A clear evidence of the bad season of Barcelona is that he could not score a goal for Real Madrid in either of the two league games, a real rarity in recent years in which the culé supremacy had been more than clear in direct confrontations.

Now, the questions are: Can Barcelona return to being that team that was synonymous with football? Does this break favor or disadvantage Barça? Will Messi continue to save the team?

Collective statistics:

38 games (24-7-7) 82 goals scored and 38 conceded.

12.8 shots per game.

61.1% possession per game.

88.1% successful passes per game.

Individual statistics:

Top scorer: Lionel Messi (24)

Maximum assist: Lionel Messi (16)

More key passes: Lionel Messi (68)

More men outnumbered: Lionel Messi (165)

More ball kicks: Sergio Busquets (76)

More aerial duels won per match: Gerard Piqué (3.3)

Most valuable player according to metrics: M. Ter Stegen