Barcelona are levels below Europe's elite - but Xavi's fearless youngsters will relish being Champions League underdogs

There is no doubt that Barcelona's 3-1 win over Napoli in the Champions League knockout stages felt crucial in the context of Xavi's career. Although he has already won one major trophy, he needed this show of strength in continental competition. Barca did too.

No teams have a divine right to success - even if serial winners do exist. But Barca, as a brand, team and institution, feel too big to be sitting on the sidelines while the biggest games of the season play out. But the Catalans have known little but disappointment in Europe in recent years.

Not since Lionel Messi stood before the Camp Nou prior to the 2018-19 season, promising the club would win the Champions League, have they been serious challengers. A legendary collapse at Anfield in 2019, the infamous battering at the hands of Bayern Munich in 2020, and consecutive group-stage exits in 2022 and 2023 made the Blaugrana a laughing stock in Europe.

The game with Napoli, then, was a chance to show that the Blaugrana can - if only temporarily - recover on club football's biggest stage. And there was enough about Barca here to suggest that they might just be able to do something special in this season's Champions League - even if they remain massive underdogs.

The Blaugrana were convincing at both ends of the pitch, utilising a blend of exciting youth and timely experience to piece together a composed win. And although they may not be widely back to progress past the quarter-finals, this youthful team seems set to finally give Cules something to get excited about.