Is this Barca’s Year to Win the Champions League?

It will be 10 years since FC Barcelona booked their Champions League final tickets and eventually won.

Ten years later, FC Barcelona can make it to the finals and win the whole thing.

The regular buyers from the secondary ticket marketplace are already looking for options!

A Season of Revival

The 2024/25 season has seen a new awakening within every fan as Barcelona appears to rise again as a powerhouse in Europe.

Under Xavi, Barca found success in La Liga, winning the title, but their fame on the European stage was short-lived.

But with the Hansi Flick, fans do think that this might be the year when they book Champions League final tickets.

However, Flick wants to stay complacent and see through the rest of the games without a slip.

Despite the club’s early success, leading the La Liga table, the German manager understands that more work needs to be done in the next two months to reaffirm the club’s success.

Before the UEFA Champions League game against Brest, Hansi Flick would have been worried about their winless tournament form.

But with the 3-0 convincing win against Brest, there is reassurance in the Barcelona plan to get their Champions League final tickets.

Robert Lewandowski started things in great fashion with an early penalty and brought in the closing remarks with a goal in added time. New signee Dani Olmo continues to dazzle in the Barca shirt as he slotted another under his name.

Barca went on a remarkable seven-game winning streak through October and early November before stumbling to a 1-0 loss at Real Sociedad and a 2-2 draw at Celta Vigo in LaLiga, with Lamine Yamal absent from both matches.

After losing their opening Champions League match to Monaco, Barcelona won three in a row, including a thumping 4-1 win over Bayern Munich.

Flick, who took charge in May, said his young squad needed to learn to cope with adversity and that a positive result against Brest would be a good start.

“We have a young team, the youngest in LaLiga, and it’s not always an easy ride… It is important that the players know that they are good, that they have quality and that they have to stick together.

“We want to teach them, and I always think positively. It’s a young team, and it’s normal to have times like this during the season. For me, the important thing is to learn from it.”

Lewandowski Joins Elite Club

Robert Lewandowski was delighted to join Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi as a Champions League centurion in Barcelona’s 3-0 win over Brest.

Lewandowski scored twice on either side of a Dani Olmo strike as Barca ran out 3-0 victors, leapfrogging the French side in the standings as they moved to 12 points from five games.

The Poland international is just the third player to score 100 goals in the Champions League, after Ronaldo (140) and Messi (129).

However, the Barca striker took the fewest shots (451) to reach the milestone, with Messi needing 527 and Ronaldo 793.

Lewandowski netted 17 times in the competition for Borussia Dortmund, 69 times for Bayern Munich and 15 times for the Blaugrana. Meanwhile, 22 of his Champions League goals have come under Hansi Flick.

“I’m very happy, very happy. 101 goals in the Champions League is a great number,” Lewandowski told Movistar Plus after the game.

“I didn’t think I could score so many goals in the Champions League. To join Messi and Ronaldo… I guess they are good, right?”

Lewandowski has scored 22 goals in 19 appearances in all competitions this season – nine more than any other La Liga player.

Indeed, he is only four goals shy of his final tally for last season (26 in 49 games).

Barca, meanwhile, are the fifth team to win four successive European Cup/Champions League matches by at least three goals, after Paris Saint-Germain in 2017 (five), Bayern in 2020 and 2021 (four on both occasions), Leeds United in 1969 (four) and Reims in 1958 (four).

Their victory came after a disappointing pair of results in La Liga. A 1-0 defeat to Real Sociedad and a 2-2 draw with Celta Vigo allowed Real Madrid to cut their lead at the summit.

“We haven’t been playing well in La Liga lately, but we have a lot of games to play yet. We just have to be patient, we’ll score more goals in the end,” Lewandowski added.

“We’re looking to win every game. If I can score goals to help the team, all the better. We have to win every game until the end of the season.”

Head coach Flick praised Lewandowski, also saying Barca deserved the three points after racking up 19 shots worth 2.86 expected goals (xG) while limiting Brest to two, worth 0.07 xG.

“Lewandowski is great; I’m delighted with his goals. I think Lewandowski knows he has to score, and he is in the position to do it, but the important thing is what the team generates,” Flick said.

“Obviously, he knows he has to score, and he plays for it, but what this team does is just wonderful.

“I’m very happy. We deserved it, winning by three goals, but we could have scored more. I’m happy either way because delivering a performance like this after Vigo is just great.”

City’s Misery Continues to the Champions League

City became the first team in Champions League history to throw away a three-goal lead after the 75th minute – having already suffered five defeats on the bounce before their late collapse against Feyenoord.

It was another disappointment for the fans who were at the Etihad with last minute options from the secondary ticket marketplace.

City are now eight points adrift of Liverpool in the Premier League table and 15th in the Champions League table.

In the Premier League, City’s current tally of 23 points after 12 games ranks as Pep’s second-worst start to a campaign after 2020/21, when his side had only 20 points but were still crowned champions come May – a warning to the doubters.

City are scoring fewer goals than ever under Guardiola this term, when factoring in the Premier League, Champions League and Carabao Cup – but the underlying data suggests good times could return to the Etihad soon.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola believes that their poor run of form will pass soon and that they do not need fundamental changes for things to improve.

The Cityzens are averaging exactly two goals per game across those three competitions this term, notably down from the 2.68 recorded in 2018/19.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola says he did not intend “to make light” of self-harm when he answered a question about scratches on his face.

City blew a 3-0 lead to draw 3-3 with Feyenoord in the Champions League on Tuesday. Guardiola was later seen with several scratch marks on his forehead during his post-match interview with broadcaster Amazon Prime.

Asked by reporters during his news conference about a mark on his nose, Guardiola scratched and said: “With my finger, my nail.”

The 53-year-old then said, “I want to harm myself”, before laughing and leaving the news conference.

“I was caught off guard with a question at the end of a press conference last night about a scratch which had appeared on my face and explained that a sharp fingernail had accidentally caused this,” said a statement posted on Guardiola’s behalf by his official account on X and Instagram.

“My answer was in no way intended to make light of the very serious issue of self-harm.”

The draw against Feyenoord at Etihad Stadium ended City’s five-game losing run.

Champions League final tickets go on sale soon on the secondary ticket marketplace.