Barcelona's one wish for 2020: The Champions League

Lionel Messi acknowledged that he'd have liked to have won more Champions Leagues when he collected his sixth Ballon d'Or in December.

The feeling expressed by the Barcelona captain is one that his teammates, the club's board and fans all share, but two calamities in the last two seasons have abruptly ended their dreams, but they're looking to do better in 2020.

Barcelona ended 2019 in a good position. They're top of LaLiga Santander - two points clear of Real Madrid - and they've progressed from their Champions League group as leaders to be drawn against Napoli in the Round of 16.

But, in general, 2019 was not a memorable year.

That Champions League collapse against Liverpool at Anfield marked their year and they also lost the Copa del Rey final against Valencia.

Now, though, 2019 is history, and the Catalans' attention turns to making 2020 a more memorable year by achieving their big dream of lifting the Champions League again.

The European crown has evaded them since 2014/15, when they beat Juventus in Berlin. What's worse is that for three of the four years since they've had to watch on as Real Madrid were crowned kings of the continent.

They've won titles in every other competition since, but not in Europe.

Age is catching up

Since Berlin, Barcelona have fallen against Atletico Madrid, Juventus, Roma and Liverpool.

Those setbacks have them now focusing all of their efforts on the Champions League campaign, which was made clear by their signing of Antoine Griezmann in the summer and the attempts to re-sign Neymar from Paris Saint-Germain.

But the dressing room is getting older. Key players are now into their 30s, making the European campaign more difficult to successfully navigate.

Barcelona are beginning a transitional stage behind the scenes and this current crop of players might not have the chance to add to their five European Cups after this season.

Ernesto Valverde

The Champions League hasn't just become an obsession for Messi and Josep Maria Bartomeu, but Ernesto Valverde too.

The coach is desperate to win his first Champions League title, and not doing so this year will likely sentence him to a dismissal.