Barcelona have reasons to be cheerful... again

Photo by PAU BARRENA/AFP via Getty ImagesWho’d have thought it eh?!

In a month when the sky had fallen in over the Camp Nou and Lionel Messi was on his way to pastures new, the narrative has taken an upward trajectory and culers are once again poring over the possibilities that a new season affords us.

It was wonderful to see all of Ousmane Dembele, Philippe Coutinho and Antoine Griezmann on the scoresheet against Nastic, but of more significance was the dawn of a new era of young players taking centre-stage for the club.

Pep Guardiola’s first season seems like an age ago, but I think we can all remember that euphoric feeling when he placed his trust in a number of La Masia graduates, almost…