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- Barca have not won since 2015, but since then have never embarked on a new campaign amid so much disarray
MADRID: Despite managing to hang onto Lionel Messi, Barcelona begin its Champions League campaign with reduced expectations after one of their worst seasons in years.
The Catalan club appears to lack its confidence from previous seasons following an embarrassing elimination to Bayern Munich and a troubled off-season in which it nearly lost its talisman.
鈥淜nowing what happened recently, we are not the top favorite,鈥� coach Ronald Koeman said on Monday ahead of the team's debut in this season's competition against Hungarian club Ferencvaros. 鈥淏ut we are a team that can go far.鈥�
Koeman arrived to put Barcelona back on track shortly after the 8-2 collapse against Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals of the Champions League, which capped their first season without a title since 2007-08.
鈥淏arcelona always plays to win titles, in the league and in Europe, but there are other strong teams,鈥� Koeman said.
Barcelona have not won the Champions League since 2015, but since then they had never embarked on a new campaign in the competition amid so much disarray.
The club avoided losing Messi after he said he wanted to leave, but it continued to endure political turmoil and even financial difficulties. President Josep Bartomeu is facing a censure motion that could force him to leave his post before the end of the year.
Koeman was given the task of revamping the first team, and he quickly got rid of veterans such as Luis Suarez and Ivan Rakitic, but the club failed to bring in any of the players he wanted in the transfer window.
Koeman said Messi is fine despite scoring just once so far this season.
鈥淢aybe his performance could be better, but I see him happy,鈥� Koeman said. 鈥淚 see him training well and focused. I have nothing to complain about him in that sense.鈥�
He said 鈥渁 bit of bad luck鈥� has played a role in keeping the Argentina star from scoring more goals so far. Koeman also downplayed criticism of Antoine Griezmann for his recent poor performances, though he admitted that 鈥渆veryone in the attack鈥� can improve.
Barcelona opened the Spanish league with two convincing wins under Koeman, but then it drew 1-1 with Sevilla at home and lost 1-0 at Getafe on Saturday.
Hungarian champions Ferencvaros return to the Champions League for the first time since 1995. They needed to get through four qualifying rounds to reach the group stage.
The other Group G teams are Juventus and Dynamo Kyiv.
鈥淲e want to start with the right foot,鈥� Koeman said. 鈥淲e want to win the match and gain tranquility.鈥�