The football world is still buzzing after one of the greatest Champions League matches of all-time between PSG and Bayern Munich in their semi-final first leg in Paris this week. The natural question for fans of other teams around Europe is simple: can we even compete at a level that high?
That question was asked of Barcelona manager Hansi Flick on Friday, and the coach had a very short, direct and strong message about his belief in his team’s ability to go toe-to-toe with the two best teams in the continent.
“One hundred percent yes, we can compete with these teams.”
Barça have undoubtedly a ton of work to do with their transfers, their ability to prevent injuries to key players in crucial moments and both Flick and the team’s ability to better manage high-leverage situations in big games, but there is no doubt that Barça have enough talent and a good enough coach to put themselves in a position to face the best in Europe.
It’s easy to look at what happened between PSG and Bayern and think no one else can get to that level, but that game was a once in a lifetime perfect marriage of circumstances (first legs are usually more open and there were defensive and refereeing mistakes that inflated the final score) that might not come together again to create an out of body experience such as the one we had this week.
There is no doubt that PSG and Bayern are in their own class, but Barça absolutely have what it takes to join that class if they make the right signings, stay healthy when it matters and learn from their mistakes. They have the coach, they have uniquely talented superstars capable of deciding big games, and one of these days, surely, they’ll have some luck in the Champions League.
