I disagree, we are significantly improved!
We have never been so powerful in the past decade to say the least!
Up untill now we had some striking weaknesses that wouldnt allow us to be competitive, the lack of depth in our CB trio was one, because if we were to play a game without any of those 3 missing out from injury or suspension, we were not solid enough in the back.
And our biggest weakness was our inability to convert our scoring chances due to the lack of a prolific finisher who could do that with consistency.
Our midfield was our strength because they had no choice but to overperform and fill the gaps, now they will only have to do their jobs and this is an easy task for someone like Pjanic, may not have the potential to reach world vlass level like Pogba, but here and now there isnt much difference among them considering the end result.
What we lost with Pogba is only future potential.
Our coach thrives on rotation and he will take a maximum advantage of Benatia, Pjanic and Higuain, one man in every line is far more important than the current difference among Pogba and Pjanic.
Cuadrado has been our mvp imho even with Pogba here and i am worried more about Alvez being a downgrade, comparing to him, if we get him back, we will be unstoppable!
And as for the Pirlo-Vidal-Tevez era of 2 years ago, yes those 3 had more material than anything we got now, like Pjanic-Khedira and Higuain, but they were not playing alone, they had to rely on weaker players around them, Benatia, Sandro, Dani and Dybala will be a considerable help to our current starters, we are better than before, but is this enough to secure the CL?
Of course not! Yet this is the first time that we actually have a realistic chance for it! The CL is a cup more often than not, the cup is not won by the best, but by someone just good enough and here we are now!
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This is football, one man cannot always make the difference, remember how Portugal has won the final even without CR7?
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