Why Barcelona must win the Champions League on Saturday

To many football fans, Barcelona have been the best team on the planet by far. They have out played, out scored and mastered their opponents. It is no surprise that this special Barcelona side find themselves in yet another Champions League final.

The trophies Barcelona have accumulated in the past few seasons symbolise the level of dominance this team possess. In the past three seasons, they have consecutively won the La Liga. This is an incredibly impressive feat, especially since Real Madrid spend millions each year.

Furthermore, Barcelona have some of the best players in the world at their disposal. In this season’s Ballon d’Or, three of Barcelona players made the top three. Messi won the award, with Iniesta as the runner up, and Xavi in third place. This demonstrates the world class nature within the Barcelona’s squad.

Along with this, many of the Barcelona side have already won the Champions League and have even won the World Cup. In fact, eight Barcelona’s players have won the World Cup. This proves not only have some of the team members dominated club football, they have conquered international football too.

Some argue, the 5-0 hammering of Real Madrid in November, was proof that this team is one of the greatest 11 to ever grace a football pitch. This is debatable. But at the same time, one could thoroughly agree with this statement. After all, Barcelona dispatched some of the world’s toughest opponents with ease.

But if Barcelona want to cement the notion that they are the greatest ever, they have to win even more European silverware. This will prove that not only did the team dominate domestically, they dominated internationally, and the trophies in the cabinet prove it.

To be fair, Barcelona have been relatively successful in Europe in the past few years. This cannot be denied. After all, it was only two years ago since the team last picked up the European cup. But if this Barcelona side want to be the standout side of this era, they need even more European Cups. They need to be a band apart from their current rivals.

At the moment, Barcelona have only won three European Cup’s in their history. If this great Barcelona side want to prove their significance and dominance they need to join the elite European Clubs. The likes of Liverpool, AC Milan and Real Madrid: teams who have won the European Cup 5 times or more. The winning Champions League sides of Milan, Madrid and Liverpool are remembered because their great teams left an international legacy. Barcelona must leave an international legacy too.

It’s fair to say Barcelona are going through their glory days. They have unbelievable talent at their disposal and are winning major trophies yearly. But international dominance is incredibly hard to sustain. It takes a seriously great team to maintain European dominance. It’s no surprise it’s been 22 years since a team retained their European Cup.

But this gives even more ammunition to why Barcelona must capitalise on their current glory. It is incredibly tough to continually defend and challenge for the European cup. If Barcelona can capitalise on their European success, they will easily be viewed as one of the greatest teams ever.

Barcelona is a special club. They have the players, the fan base, the manager, the lovely football strategy. But if they are to bolster the notion that they are the greatest team ever, they must reinforce their dominance onto Europe more consistently.

This current Barcelona team needs to make this club an elite member of European Football.

They need sustain their dominance and put this club on par with Madrid, Liverpool and Milan.

Saturday the 28^th of May provides a great opportunity for this great Barcelona side to further reinforce their legacy.

History will tell you, European dominance is only for the greatest teams.

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