I'm fascinated to see how Barca looks without Messi. It could be an absolute disaster -- the team was built around him doing literally everything in attack -- but they also do still have a lot of good players, both late prime guys that never got going in the Messi-centric system and a bunch of really promising youngsters who are already good enough to start for a top team. I don't see them dropping out of the top four, mainly because I don't trust the Sevillas/Villarrealls/Sociedads of the world.
Is losing Messi enough to possibly drop Barca from top 4 or is the gulf too wide even without him?
And does this open up a spot for Coutinho to play for Barca again?
I'm fascinated to see how Barca looks without Messi. It could be an absolute disaster -- the team was built around him doing literally everything in attack -- but they also do still have a lot of good players, both late prime guys that never got going in the Messi-centric system and a bunch of really promising youngsters who are already good enough to start for a top team. I don't see them dropping out of the top four, mainly because I don't trust the Sevillas/Villarrealls/Sociedads of the world.