After three and a half short weeks, and six matches, Barcelona's pre-season campaign is over -- and the early signs are good. With four wins from six, Barca obviously have room to improve, but are still in good shape for the season opener against Levante; while marquee signing Neymar appears to have slotted into the team rather seamlessly with two goals in his four appearances. Cesc Fabregas may be a doubt for Sunday's clash with Levante, but has arguably been Barca's best player over the six games and the inconsistent Alexis Sanchez has played the most minutes, contributing to a number of goals.
Admittedly a few problems remain, but these are minor and with this amount of talent in the starting line-up, Barcelona will be hard-pressed not to challenge for La Liga and Continental glory.
Take yesterday's game as an example -- Barcelona were far from their best, but still emerged victorious thanks to goals from Cesc Fabregas, Neymar and Gerard Pique -- and aside from a few moments of worry, Barca were barely threatened at the other end, even if the Malaysians did grab a spectacular equaliser through Amri Yahyah. On another night, that shot would have gone anywhere but the back of net. Certainly, it's nothing to get worked up about anyway.
Instead we should focus on those positives -- the four wins, the improved form of Cesc Fabregas and Alexis Sanchez, the glimpses of brilliance from Neymar -- and prepare ourselves for another long, and hopefully successful season with new coach Gerardo Martino at the helm.
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- Report: FC Barcelona Bid €27 Million For Jan Vertonghen
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