The Golden Nuggets: 2010/11 - Barca, Barca, Barca!!!

By Sports Magician

Two seasons ago Barcelona completed a historic treble, last season Inter Milan emulated that achievement, can it happen again? Winning a treble should be near impossible in European club football given the resources so many of the top sides have at their disposal. It's a feat that has rarely been achieved historically, but Barcelona have the squad to make it happen once again. Spain won the World Cup with a team that had a distinct Catalan influence, and when you then add the best player in the world - Lionel Messi - to that combination, then the possibilities are endless.

Pep Guardiola has signed on for another year and the arrival of David Villa makes the Barcelona front line virtually unplayable. How good could they be if Zlatan Ibrahimovic actually started producing consistently great performances in big matches, rather than continuing to deceive many into thinking he is genuinely world class? Ibrahimovic aside, Barcelona are faultless.

In goal Victor Valdes has come on leaps and bounds in the past couple of years. In my mind he was always a liability, but he has finally stepped up his level and has put to rest any speculation about the future of the number one position. Defensively, Barcelona can count on in my view, the best centre back in the game - Gerard Pique. Alongside him is Barcelona captain Carles Puyol, backed up by Rafael Marquez and Gabriel Milito. The full back positions are filled by the ever energetic Daniel Alves and the newly signed Adriano from Sevilla. Eric Abidal can fill in at centre-back or left back and Maxwell will battle Adriano for the left sided spot.

Midfield is where Barcelona dominance has been at its greatest, with the Spanish trio of Sergio Busquets, Xavi and Andres Iniesta manipulating possession to such a degree that you wonder if you are watching a master class tutorial of FIFA on a Playstation. It can’t be stressed enough just how good Barcelona are in possession, they make good teams look worryingly average. There isn’t a single European club super power that Barcelona haven’t forced to camp inside their own half for prolonged periods. It’s the only way to even hope to contain them, and the respect they are shown with such tactics by their opposition is testament to the qualities they bring onto the pitch.

Yaya Toure has left the club and it looks increasingly likely that Cesc Fabregas will have to wait another year before returning to Barcelona, but Guardiola’s side still possess the eternally underrated Seydou Keita, who is closing in on 100 appearances for the club. Keita is fantastic at breaking forward from midfield and is equally reliable at holding his position and allowing Barcelona to flow around him.

Villa, Ibrahimovic and Messi are expected to form the front three once the season gets under way and who would want to bet against Barcelona topping the 105 league goals they scored in 2008/09? Last season Barcelona scored 98 league goals and I’ll be surprised if they don’t top 100 this season. Pedro developed so quickly over the course of last season that he forced his way into Spain’s World Cup squad and eventually started the semi-final - where he was arguably Spain’s best performer - and final. And to think this is a player who is not certain to start at club level? Bojan also re-emerged towards the end of last season after a difficult year for the youngster. By the end of the campaign he was the preferred option to Ibrahimovic, who completely failed to live up to the hype after coming in for Samuel Eto’o last summer.

Barcelona have everything needed to contend for all titles, and what’s more, they have the added motivation of reclaiming the Champions League title they lost last season. Jose Mourinho has arrived in Madrid, and that further increases the challenges ahead for Guardiola’s men. This generation of Barcelona players are set to go down as one of the greatest club sides in the history of the game, and it’s clear that their focus is to not just be seen as amongst the best, but the best of the best. The Golden Nuggets believes that Barcelona are more than capable of winning their two main objectives - La Liga and the Champions League. And not only that, with the strength of their squad, they could even win the treble again. We will back them to do the double and the treble, should they complete the treble - both bets would be deemed as winners.

PICK: 4*BARCELONA TO WIN LA LIGA & THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE @ 8.00 (BLUESQ)

PICK: 2*BARCELONA TO WIN THE TREBLE (LA LIGA / CHAMPIONS LEAGUE / COPA DEL REY) @ 26.00 (BLUESQ)

Sports Magician