Can Barcelona's young guns still be a Women's Champions League force after huge summer exits?

Barca's clash with Atletico Madrid the weekend before last is a great starting point when looking at the state of the European champions this season. Joining Bonmati on the injury list for that game were Van Asten, Spain international defender Irene Paredes and last season's break-out star Clara Serrajordi, with Laia Aleixandri also still recovering from an ACL rupture sustained back in February.

With Aicha Camara and Carla Julia also away with Spain at the Under-20 Women's World Cup, it left Barca with just one senior outfield player on the bench while forcing Patri Guijarro, perhaps the best holding midfielder in the world, to play at centre-back and Sydney Schertenleib, the creative Switzerland forward, to deputise at right-back.

And yet, taking on one of the best teams in Liga F, who finished fifth last season and reached the knockout phase of the Women's Champions League, Barca still dominated and emerged with a 4-2 win.

That’s because even with some of the key departures this summer and those absentees, this is still a team that boasts players like Guijarro, Esmee Brugts, Caroline Graham Hansen, Cata Coll, Ewa Pajor and Claudia Pina, all of whom are on the list of nominees for the 2026 Ballon d'Or.

Those not up for the award, meanwhile, include Kerolin, a key game-changer for Man City in their Women's Super League title win last season, plus three of the best young attacking talents on the planet in Schertenleib, Vicky Lopez and Kika Nazareth.

As was the case last year, even when injuries hit and even when key players leave, there is still enough talent in this Barca squad to form one of the best starting line-ups in the world.

For this team to remain a serious Champions League contender this season, the young talent now has to step up again to complement the core of that XI.

That starts with players like Schertenleib, Lopez and Kika. They have been part of the first team for a while, but now is their chance to take strides forward and become key pillars. All have the talent to do so and have slowly been accruing the experience to further aid their growth, both with Barca and their national teams.

Emerging talent from La Masia, perhaps the best academy in women's football, will then be asked to round out the first-team squad. Because of Barca's relentless dominance of Liga F, head coach Pere Romeu is able to rotate and steadily introduce some of those academy products into domestic action. The club has shown too that if those players take their chances, they will be rewarded.

Serrajordi was the headline example last year. After debuting at the end of the 2024-25 season, she was a regular member of the first team, and when she shone in her opportunities in Liga F, her stature grew to allow her to become more of a regular in the Champions League. By the time the European final came around in May, the 18-year-old had earned a starting role and she performed brilliantly in the crowning 4-0 win over Lyon.

She wasn't alone, either. Camara and Julia, both with Spain at the U20 World Cup until the end of this month, got plenty of starts in Liga F themselves, and they too will be looking to take steps forward this year.

Who are the players who could then follow Serrajordi, Camara and Julia in making the jump from La Masia? Eight more academy products have already been involved with the first team in the early stages of the campaign, including Lua Arufe, the 18-year-old who started the Liga F opener against Tenerife.

There are three additional exciting talents who are with the Spain squad at the U20 World Cup, too, including Julia Torres, the promising centre-back who Barca signed this summer from Sevilla; Noa Jimenez, another exciting young defender who agreed a contract extension just last year; and Rosalia Dominiguez, the 17-year-old forward who is drumming up real excitement in Catalunya.

There are also Liv Pennock and Giulia Galli, the two teenagers who arrived at Barca this summer from Twente and Roma, respectively. Both have shone at major youth tournaments and though they will start in Barca's B team, they are hot candidates to kick on and make their marks in the first team soon.

It's not just the young players who have been asked to step up either. Putellas' departure left a leadership void, and it is Guijarro who will now captain this team into what feels like a new era. Yet, the message from within is that while some key faces have left, in a way, nothing has changed.

"One of the things that upsets me is [the notion] that because of the changes, Barcelona is not Barcelona anymore and we’re not going to reach the final like we used to," Kika told The Straits Times this summer. “That’s sad and unfair. Those who are still here are important and have value and we are capable of doing what the others did the last few years in a different way."

Guijarro conveyed a similar message when she spoke to those in attendance at Estadi Johan Cruyff in August, addressing them for the first time as the new Barca captain. “We’re working hard to compete for every trophy this season," she declared.

It all evokes a feeling of deja vu. Last year, Barcelona were written off because of key exits, a lack of depth and the reliance on talented but inexperienced young players. But the internal belief was massive, and it was justified as they went on to conquer all before them, losing once in all competitions while bringing the Liga F, Copa de la Reina, Supercopa de Espana and Champions League titles to Catalunya once more.

Even after another difficult summer with even bigger departures, surely it would be foolish to rule out Barca’s chances of defying the doubters all over again.