Martino boost for Barcelona

Gerardo Martino is a genius. A bold one at that.

Europe had seen plenty of managerial changes at the beginning of the season and from what can be gauged, Martino and Pep Guardiola stand out.

A true measure of the latter's impact at Bayern Munich can be known only at the end of the season as the players he has to guide are at their best packhunting instinct. Martino, however, had to instill the confidence back into a team that, though laced with gilded play ers, had been heavily bruised by the mauling the German side gave last season.

From what his boys showed on Wednesday's 6-1 thrashing of Celtic, the Argentine has been more than successful.

Of course, Barcelona will have to overcome teams that are more capable than the Scottish giants to clinch the European title back, but under Martino they look best equipped.

'Tata' has made Barca move faster, pass more effectively, and crucially more menacing in the opposition box. He has tweaked tiki-taka, gave it more teeth up front and faster legs down the flanks.

The induction of Brazilian d a n c e ro n f o o t b a l l g r o u n d Neymar has also helped the cause. But the real reason for Barca's resurgence is Martino tactical changes.

Purists certainly would have loved the intricate and complex web of passing Barca exhibited under Guardiola and then Tito Vilanova. But there certainly is no harm in increasing the speed and decreasing the rate of backward passes.

Also, Martino has given Barca more width. A common criticism Barcelona faced last year was that when thrown against well-organised defence, the fleet-footed geniuses grind to a halt. Martino has, seemingly, overcome this by 'stretching' the front three. With Alexis Sanchez regularly featuring on the right side, the No.9, or the 'false nine', can now expect the winger to either drift in with trickery or deliver an accurate pass from the flank. This alternative takes away the 'predictability factor' that has been troubling the Catalans for some time. A 'negative' aspect of the 'new Barca' is that Lionel Messi, perhaps, would score less as the hunting responsibility is now distributed equally among the front three. But for sure, Barca fans would swap Ballon d'Or for a Champions League trophy .