Single-leg knockout Champions League: Could this finally be Barcelona’s year ?

With the rumors going around of the present Champions League to implement a single-legged knockout stage, FC Barcelona could be one of the teams to be benefitted considering their recent records.

It’s unknown how the Champions League will fully return considering the uncertainty over domestic leagues across Europe. Although, there have been several reports recently stating that the Champions League will make it’s return on August 7 and will be played out with single-leg knockout rounds. This arises the question: Can it finally be the year of the blaugranas ?

Let’s travel a year back. 2019, the year which could have been Barca’s yet another treble winning season, just ended up in the glory of the domestic-league title, unfortunately. How can we forget the unforgettable night at Anfield ? A horrifying game that etched forever into the heart and mind of every culé. In the second leg of the semi-final, some disastrous mistakes by the blaugranas turned the tables around, that led to the victory of Liverpool, following a miraculous 3-0 victory against Liverpool back at the Camp nou. What if the second leg had never happened? What if Barcelona had qualified for the final of Champions League based solely on the first leg triumph over Liverpool?

In the year prior to that, Barca had lost to AS Roma in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final, following a sensational 4-1 victory against AS Roma back at the Camp Nou in the first leg. Two humiliating losses in the second leg in which the opposing teams nullified a 3-goal lead. Both losses against Roma and Liverpool can be imputed to the team’s piteous mentality. The blaugranas’ campaign in Europe in the last two years has been nothing short of embarrassment and inauspiciousness.

This two recurring eliminations sum up to the fact that Barca stumbles playing in away stadium. Concerning this inconsistency in away games, one troublesome question lurks in the mind of every culé.

Can it happen again?

You might say that the players have undeniably learned something from the disaster at Anfield and at Stadio Olimpico and will not let a team comeback against them this campaign.

But, if it happened twice, so it could happen thrice. It would not be uncertain to see the Catalans be humiliated in a dramatic fashion again. However, this time, there might be a saving grace.

The global impact of the COVID-19 virus was something nobody could have envisaged back in December. All sports events were temporarily hold in abeyance, including the Champions League. Now that the impact of COVID-19 virus has been slowly taking the edge off, and most of the footballing events is slowly coming back, the coveted European competition is said to return in the month of August.

However, the matches will be played with a drastic rule change, no more double-legged knockout matches may take place this term. A single 90-minute game is what it will take for the teams to qualify onto the next stage of the tournament. Though, the matches will be played behind closed doors with no spectators to watch their team play in the stadium whatsoever.

Could this be everything Barcelona needed? As discussed before, the most prominent reason for the recurring losses in the past few years is the squad’s pitiful mentality when facing adversity and a team away from home. But this time, they won’t be outnumbered by local fans because there will be no fans at all. Certainly it will be played behind doors.

Due to this two-month break from football, everyone in the squad including Lionel Messi, who had been playing with an injury the entire season, will come back fresher than ever. Luis Suárez, who went out of action due to an injury at the start of the year, is also set to return to Setién’s men.

If the players are in good physical form and Quique Setién’s tactics are spot on, there is a good chance for the starving Catalan club going all the away this time around.

There has been no official confirmation as to whether the Champions League will in fact follow single-round knockouts, and there is a possibility that competition carries forward with the traditional format.

However, if this change is in fact implemented, could we see Barca lifting up the Champions League trophy again after 5 years of struggle?