Barça returns to Champions League tonight in the Camp Nou (9:00 p.m. Movistar Champions League) with a test before him Bayern Munich that he is going to put all his complexes to the test in a competition that in recent seasons has become a trauma for Barcelona fans.
The German team, a little over a year ago, discovered in ninety minutes, shameful for Barcelona, all the shortcomings of a team in demolition. If you have to mark a moment in which the collapse of Barça could no longer be hidden, that is the day of 2-8 in Lisbon. From there, a series of events have been unleashed in Barça that tries to meet again in a process that has led to painful losses and to overcome increasingly complicated tests at a social, institutional, economic and sports level.
Bayern's visit to inaugurate the new path in the highest continental competition is a sporting test, but also a spirited one. The wound from 2-8 hurts again like that poorly healed fracture when bad weather approaches and also, reminds Koeman's team that they are not favorites for either this competition or this match. The toughest test comes at the beginning and it remains to be seen how Barça manages this challenge.
As if that were not enough, Barcelona does not have all its weapons to face this duel. The forward roster is entirely in the infirmary except for Memphis and newcomer Luuk de Jong., so a change of drawing and the idea of playing with three centrals appears as the most likely alternative, no matter how much this tactic causes hives to the president, whose relationship with Koeman is under the microscope.
Nothing is decided tonight, it is the first game of a league, but what is at stake is to see Barça's ability to face an ogre when it is at home.