Crucial Champions League stat makes Barcelona’s struggling La Liga form even more baffling

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It’s not clear if there’s a completely different pressure surrounding Champions League games for Barcelona this season or it could just be the players are more motivated to perform in Europe.

The competition may not be as fierce as it once was thanks to UEFA doing all they can to set up the same select group for success each year, but they still need to beat some good sides.

The victory over Juventus has probably been Ronald Koeman’s best result since taking over in the summer, while a victory over Dynamo Kyiv makes it four wins from four UCL games.

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You would think that’s pretty much expected from this Barca side, but it’s actually pretty baffling when you consider they’ve only managed to win three of their eight La Liga games so far.

They have played some of the better teams in La Liga so far but they also drew with Alaves and lost to Getafe, so there’s something very different about this team when they play in Europe instead.

Perhaps it is just the freedom that comes with escaping La Liga and the familiar opponents who have started to realise there’s little to fear with this Barca team anymore, but Koeman needs to find a way of taking that Champions League form into La Liga if he wants to keep his job for more than one year.