Napoli manager, Carlo Ancelotti, expects Barcelona to contend for a first Champions League title since 2015, after their signings this summer.
The five-time European champions have fallen short in competition in recent seasons, including extraordinary losses to Liverpool and Roma in the knockout rounds over the last two seasons.
They however have remained a dominant force in Spain, having won the league in four of the last five seasons.
But Barca have only reached the final of Europe’s premier club competition once in the last seven years.
Ancelotti, whose side face Barca in a friendly in Florida on Wednesday, feels Ernesto Valverde’s men should be contenders once more this season, after seeing the likes of Antoine Griezmann and Frenkie de Jong arrive to bolster a squad that still includes Lionel Messi.
“I believe that Barcelona is always a candidate to win the Champions League.
“It has a player like [Lionel] Messi and many others, so I think they always compete to win the maximum and the maximum is the Champions League.
“I think that with the signings they have done, this year will be very competitive,” he told a news conference
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