Barcelona, who have been absent from winning the Champions League since 2015, are counting on their young star, Lamine Jamal, to regain his brilliance when they visit Monaco today in the first round of the new-look continental competition.
The Catalan giants are striving to return to the European elite, armed with an ideal start in the league under their new German coach Hansi Flick, after reaching the quarter-finals last year – led by Xavi Hernandez – for the first time in four years.
After losing 6-4 on aggregate to Paris Saint-Germain, the former midfield maestro was sacked at the end of a disappointing season without silverware. This season, things have been different, with the team leading La Liga with a perfect record of five wins from five games, while Moroccan-born Jamal, who won the Euro 2024 with La Roja, has been a key player up front, scoring twice in Barcelona’s 4-1 win over Girona in the league on Sunday, avenging two heavy defeats to their Catalan neighbours last season and reflecting his progress compared to his results last year. Jamal, who has drawn comparisons to former Barcelona star Messi, is a new talent from the La Masia academy and, as he showed on his way to continental glory with Spain in Germany this summer, he can make the difference in any match.
The winger has scored three goals and provided four assists this season, and is on track to match his tally of 12 from last season. Despite the on-field success, Barça are still struggling financially, with the only club able to sign a player other than Dani Olmo, a fellow European champion from RB Leipzig, this summer. Olmo struggled for a few weeks to score in the league before suffering a hamstring injury against Girona, which will keep him out for around a month. Barça next host Bayern Munich, who crushed Dinamo Zagreb 9-2 on Saturday, before travelling to face Borussia Dortmund, last season’s runners-up, in their toughest fixture of the group stage.
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