Emphatic. That is the word that can best describe the kind of form Barcelona are in at the moment, starting their season with a series of wins, looking to re-establish their dominance in the Spanish La Liga and bring back the coveted trophy to Nou Camp.
But the story was not as good as it seemed at the start of the season for the Blaugrana as they had to go through a lot of criticism from the pundits as well as fans for not able to perform well on the pre-season tour and against arch-rivals Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup, losing out on the chance to clinch their first silverware of the season.
To add insult to the injury, the Catalan giants had to let go of one of their mainstays in the attack in the form of the Brazilian maestro Neymar, who went on to join the French Ligue 1 biggies Paris Saint Germain for a world record transfer fee. This left the former La Liga champions searching for newer options to fill in for the brilliant Brazilian as they raided a series of clubs from all over Europe, including the Premier League outfit Liverpool.
The Blaugrana tried their level best to lure the Liverpool talisman, Philippe Coutinho to Nou Camp this summer to fill in the void left by his compatriot Neymar. They dished out a series of high-value bids, influencing the Merseyside club to decide against holding on to their prized possession in the new season.
To the utter disappointment of the Catalan club, the Reds were not at all interested in letting go of their talisman in the summer and put up a “not for sale” tag on him. This somewhat compelled the Spanish giants to take quick evasive action and bring in the French sensation Ousmane Dembele from the German outfit Borussia Dortmund to add to the squad.
It has been a perfect start to the season for Barca so far, with a 100% record in their first seven encounters in the La Liga. However, bad news struck once again, with Dembele scheduled to be left on the table owing to a prolonged injury scare.
This has once again led Barcelona to turn their attention towards the Liverpool attacker Coutinho, who is in outstanding form and has notched up two goals in their last two games in the Premier League already.
The good news for them is that the Reds might give up on their resolve to keep the player with them, leading the Spanish side to bring Coutinho to Nou Camp next January. They are, reportedly, plotting a huge bid of £97 million for the Brazilian, beneficial for both the clubs as well as the player to say the least. So is it time for Liverpool to let Coutinho leave?
