Which team has a high chance of winning the Champions League in the 2024-2025 season?

Recently, Barcelona, led by Flick, demonstrated their unparalleled competitive form by defeating Red Star Belgrade 5-2 away from home. With the ups and downs of traditional powerhouses such as Real Madrid and Manchester City, Barcelona unexpectedly "glimpsed" the dawn of winning the Champions League this season.

In this match, Barcelona forward Lewandowski continued his outstanding performance, scoring two goals and steadily advancing towards the 100 goal mark in the Champions League. Currently, his Champions League goals have accumulated to 99. Lewandowski's two goals came from a back shot in the 43rd minute and a header in the 53rd minute, laying a solid foundation for the team's victory.

Since the beginning of this season, Barcelona has been unstoppable. The away victory over Red Star Belgrade was their seventh major victory, including a brilliant 4-1 victory over Bayern Munich and a 5-0 sweep over Young Boys. Under Flick's leadership, Barcelona is reminiscent of the team's golden era of Tiki Taka tactics. At that time, they often swept their opponents with a "goal storm", and the forward combination led by superstars such as Messi was the team's most dazzling business card.

Looking back to the end of the 2023/24 season, after Xavi stepped down, Barcelona was in a comprehensive crisis, especially during the 2024 summer transfer window. They did not make large-scale signings and only introduced European champion Olmo from Leipzig for 55 million euros. However, Frick's arrival injected new vitality and energy into this Catalan team.

Nowadays, Barcelona has abandoned the "legacy" of the Tiki taka tactics of the past. This season, they focus on fast and direct attacking football, with every pass aimed directly at the opponent's key goal. Barcelona is particularly adept at taking the initiative and scoring goals quickly. In the match against Red Star Belgrade, they led 2-0 at the end of the first half, with Martinez's goal in the 13th minute opening the door to victory for the team.

The biggest achievement that Flick achieved during his short few months coaching Barcelona was to shape a team that was united and had full potential in all positions. This team perfectly blends experienced veterans such as Lewandowski, Rafinha, and Kond (who scored a hat trick assist in the match against Red Star Belgrade) with talented new stars such as Bao Kubashi, Ramin Yamal, and Fermin Lopez.

Flick particularly created a "deadly" trident attacking line reminiscent of the MSN combination (Messi Suarez Neymar): Lewandowski sits as the center forward, while Lamine Yamal and Rafinha are separated on both wings. As of the end of the match against Red Star Belgrade, these three forwards of Barcelona have scored a total of 37 goals in various competitions this season, with Lewandowski topping the La Liga top scorer list with 14 goals.

According to statistics, Barcelona's call to win the Champions League this season is on par with defending champions Real Madrid, second only to Manchester City. Since Messi and Neymar contributed 10 goals to the team and helped Barcelona win the Champions League in the 2014/15 season, this has been a powerful challenge for Barcelona after many years of absence from the Champions League.

With this series of victories and outstanding performances, Barcelona not only solidified their leading position in the group stage, but also demonstrated the team's resilience and cohesion in critical moments. This Catalan team is gradually emerging as the strongest contender for the 2024/25 Champions League championship.