Arturo Vidal confirms Champions League is Barcelona’s priority
The Chilean international talked about a variety of topics in an interview with RAC1 including the ambitions of the club this season.
Arturo Vidal has fitted well into the Barcelona’s playing style after joining the club in the summer from Bayern Munich. There were concerns that he wasn’t a traditional Barcelona midfielder, in terms of his playing style, such as Andres Iniesta and Xavi who were all about technical ability and tactical intelligence rather than physicality, however, he has shown that he is so much more than an enforcer.
He has essentially replaced Paulinho in the team, although he is a much more well-rounded midfielder than the Brazilian. His attacking runs take attention away from Lionel Messi when he drops deep, so the Argentine has more time and space to unlock the opposition defence. In 780 minutes of action, he has scored twice and assisted three as well as pressing effectively, breaking up opposition attacks and taking part in build-up play.
Even though Barcelona are a vastly experienced side, his time playing at the top level with Juventus and Bayern Munich is pivotal to the team because he can help out the younger players as well as providing Ernesto Valverde with another veteran to use for the big occasions.
In an interview with RAC1, Vidal revealed how much winning the Champions League means to the squad.
"“The greatest obsession that you can have is to win the Champions League. It’s an obsession, I think that this year we have proposed going to all.”"
He also clarified an incident earlier in the season where it appeared as if he wasn’t happy with his role in the team due to the limited amount of playing time he was receiving.
"“I got bothered, one always wants to play and be important. One sees here being a contribution, not a problem. The emoticon on Instagram was because I warmed up, but it has already happened and now we only think of working, playing, doing things right and winning titles, which is the most important.”"
Lionel Messi’s speech for the Joan Gamper trophy was a bold proclamation of Barcelona’s intention to bring the Champions League back to Camp Nou and it appears as if the rest of the squad backs this fully based on Vidal’s comments. The Chilean has never won Europe’s premier competition and this season is likely to be one of his best chances to end that. Some of Barcelona’s best performances this season have come in the competition as they finished the group stage unbeaten.
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The incident earlier in the season was worrying, but it appears that he has moved on from that and the club need him to be a role model due to his status in the team as one of the most experienced players. Barca are competing on three fronts so the depth of the squad will be tested and they need everyone to be prepared to do their part or else they risk the key players getting fatigued.