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Due to injury, Barcelona struggled in the Champions League last season. The team's leader, Xavi, had to solve this issue. The team won the title when the players improved and returned to La Liga. But the inconsistent defensive methods, such as employing Alonso as a left back, posed major problems.
Xavi must apply his domestic league teachings to the Champions League. In La Liga, Busquets and De Jong functioned well as a center, suggesting they may do the same in the Champions League. The summer transfer window brought in new players to strengthen the club and possibly aid Barcelona in the Champions League. With all these factors in mind, it's hard to determine when Barcelona will challenge for the crown. That appears to be in doubt.
Things will not be easy even though Xavi and Barcelona will try their best in the Champions League. I agree that Xavi needs to make some adjustments to his defensive strategy in the Champions League, especially in preparing for the main line-up. Alonso, who was brought in from Chelsea, did not show his class well as an experienced player, but I actually see Balde, who incidentally is still young, very good in terms of performance.
I hope Xavi can make adjustments to this strategy in the Champions League next season, especially after Barcelona lost their two senior figures, namely Busquets and Alba. Balde deserves to be in his prime position at left-back, but now Xavi has revealed he also needs a pure right-back instead of giving lots of chances to some centre-backs like Araujo and Kounde.