A change in the dressing room has helped Barça re-discover their form

Something is changing at Barcelona. Since the defeats to Juventus and Cadiz at the start of December, Ronald Koeman's side haven't lost a single league game.

They're 10 games unbeaten, winning eight and drawing two for 26 points from 30. They've moved from seventh to second in the table and only Atletico Madrid's spectacular form (they're on track for 100 points!) has stopped them getting closer to top spot. The gap is 10 points.

However, in January alone Barça have won seven points more than Real Madrid. It's true that there was one setback during this period, the Spanish Supercopa final after extra-time, but the club have also advanced to the quarterfinal of the Copa del Rey.

A change

What's this change down to? How have they improved? There are various factors and, evidently, the first is that they started the season so poorly. Improving wasn't tough.

Little by little, the pieces have fallen into place, winning through suffering many times, maybe affected by injuries and because the team was left short.

But the wins brought a certain amount of peace without yet seeing the real team. However, there are some details that have led to the big chance.

In recent weeks, on the back of a run of wins, the players have come together which, according to them themselves, has allowed them to take a step forward, the atmosphere has improved and the communication is more fluid. The members of the dressing room have spoken. It can be seen in the spirit of the team. A burden has been removed.

The players needed a stimulus for the inconsistency to disappear. And now there are important signs that denote this new tune.

Messi is motivated and you only have to see how he celebrated the goal against Athletic to see how focused he is. And the way the team celebrated with Griezmann after his winning goal on Sunday was also signifcant. The Frenchman and his teammates huddled with the substitutes, the team spirit clear to see.

The future

What happens now? No one knows but the difference there may have been in the dressing room have been left behind in favour of the collective. And that path could take the team close to titles. We will see in the future.

Barça still have weaknesses, especially in sense of missing a goal scorer like Luis Suarez. He's in such good shape physically and is having his best-ever start to a season in terms of goals.

He's scoring free-kicks, penalties, from open play and from moves that he builds himself. His numbers have allowed Atletico to be much more reliable than they have been until now. Barça miss a killer that knows how to take chances.

Despite that weakness, Barça's strengths are growing and they're improving in defence. They're starting to look like a real team.

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