The Messi/Neymar attacking combo is proving to be deadly; I really don't think these two in tandem are stoppable. However, Victor Valdez has been performing miracles in the goalkeeper role- blocked penalty kicks in consecutive matches are the tip of the iceburg, but he cannot maintain sensational save after sensational save forever. I don't know what solution there is unless Carles Puyol is able to return to action, other than holding Mascherano and (not or) Pique further back on the pitch.
Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta have proven themselves to be consistently reliable as the greatest players in the world at their respective positions, but I believe Cesc Fabregas will prove to be the key factor in Barcelona's success or failure this year. He is their most unpredictable attacking midfielder, and defenses haven't really figured him out, but I'm not sure whether his teammates other than Messi and Fabregas himself have figured him out either. He has a ton of talent and works as hard as anyone, but sometimes he starts over-thinking and becomes hesitant and confused. Adriano Correia continues to improve and I won't be surprised if he becomes another game-changer this season.
A lot of top-tier teams, including FC Barcelona, have changed managers this year. It will be interesting to see which of these will implode as a result. I am optimistic that "Tata" Martino can uncover a balance of staying true to Barcelona's tiki-taka style while encouraging them to take more risks and also inject fresh ideas to eliminate the predictability that cursed them last season. The addition of Neymar in itself has already proven to be a confusion to smaller-budget teams, at least, and the left attacking side has been more active than it was the past two seasons combined. Last season, Jordi Alba, Iniesta and Fabregas were the only players that ever seemed to be over there, and two of the three seemed to be desperately improvising most of the time. How Barcelona will match-up against the elite remains to be seen....
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