The 2021/22 season will be one that fans of Barcelona will want to forget and never remember, with there having been essentially no positives, and as we near February the Catalan club have just the Europa League left to play for.
January has seen the Blaugrana fall out of two competitions, with eliminations coming in both the Supercopa de Espana and the Copa del Rey, and the damage from the latter could be even worse in the long-term after Ansu Fati left the match in tears, having suffered yet another injury.
Barcelona are now left in two tournaments: LaLiga Santander and the Europa League, and based on the fact they sit 17 points adrift of current league leaders, Real Madrid, it’s fair to assume that the Blaugrana will not be winning the title this season.
Barcelona’s last hope
As such, only the Europa League is left on the table, and this tournament takes on added importance for Barcelona as it is a backdoor route back into the Champions League.
A top-four finish in LaLiga Santander is by no means a guarantee for the Catalan club this season, and winning the Europa League would give them the perfect opportunity to forget the season, write it off and still somehow end up sneaking back onto Europe’s top table in 2022/23.
February 17 will see Barcelona‘s Europa League journey begin, having never been in the competition in any guise since the 2003/04 season, when they only reached the fourth round before being eliminated by Scottish side Celtic.
This time around, it will be Napoli who await them in what promises to be an incredibly tough tie for the Catalan club, although they will likely be prioritising the tournament.
