Barcelona have started the new season in ominous form, with the Catalan club still unbeaten in all competitions and dazzling the football community with their exhilarating style of play.
New boss Gerardo Martino has big shoes to fill after the considerable achievements of Pep Guardiola and Tito Vilanova, but it appears to be business as usual at Camp Nou.
It has been a great week for the Blaugrana, with victory in the first Clàsico of the campaign backed up by a 3-0 away win over Celta Vigo last night, maintaining their place at La Liga’s summit.
Despite Neymar winning much of the plaudits in the win over Real Madrid and Cesc Fàbregas netting twice on Tuesday night, Alexis Sánchez must be given credit for excellent form of late.
Following the Brazilian’s big-money addition over the summer, many predicted a campaign of limited opportunities for Sánchez, with even transfer rumblings of a move away from Camp Nou were being touted in speculation-hungry media sources.
However, the Chilean attacker has had a sparkling start to the new campaign, despite not always being granted a starting berth in the side. His strike against Celta was his seventh in nine games; only Lionel Messi has scored more for the Catalans this term.
Sánchez shot himself into the European limelight at Udinese, forming a mouth-watering attacking partnership with veteran Antonio Di Natale over five years and leading Francesco Guidolin’s side unexpectedly into the Champions League qualification berths.
Twenty goals in 95 Serie A appearances showed the former Cobreloa man’s eye for goal, while his pace and trickery made him one of the most exciting players in the Italian top flight.
A wrangle for the South American’s signature occurred throughout 2010 and in early 2011, with England, Spain and the top clubs in Serie A potential destinations.
In the end a move to Barcelona gave Sánchez the chance to prove himself on the biggest stage, and he has not looked out of place in the star-studded squad.29 La Liga appearances in 2012-13 was a solid return to his debut campaign in Catalunya, with Sánchez showing glimpses of his incredible pedigree in patches. A lack of real consistency could be attributed to a struggle to command a run of games in the Barca starting XI, simply due to the sheer amount of attacking talent in the Blaugrana ranks.
This season has seen Sánchez seemingly mature, and he looks much more comfortable in the Barcelona ranks. The confidence that he displayed in scoring the decisive second goal against Madrid on Saturday was great to see, and he is certainly starting to live up to his superstar billing.
With 62 caps and 20 goals for Chile despite only being 24, Sánchez is proving himself to be an important man for club and country. With a World Cup on the horizon in 2014, Chile’s main man has a glorious chance to further his already substantial reputation.
Although the Chilean maestro has Messi, Neymar, Pedro and Cristian Tello to compete with for a starting berth in the Barcelona side, Sánchez is set to play a key role in the Catalan outfit’s quest for domestic and European honours this season. Seeing him in form and enjoying his football, the 24-year-old looks set to be just as much of a superstar as many of his illustrious team-mates.
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