Barcelona are title contenders this season, so no one will take them lightly in a match against anyone in La Liga. Until week 9, Barcelona only lost 1 time and the rest won 8 times. Barcelona's defeat was certainly surprising considering their good performance, but there was a reason why they lost. But Barcelona came back and they won another game after that defeat. Leading the standings with a 3 point gap from Real Madrid is certainly not safe, but Barcelona is a team that really cannot be underestimated this season.
Barcelona is by far the most productive team in La Liga, scoring 28 goals in 9 matches. Lewandowski contributed 10 goals, 5 goals from Raphinha, the other 13 goals were scored by other players including Lamine Yamal, Pedri and Dani Olmo.
Actually, every season they are one of the candidates to be able to become champions in LA Liga, it's just that in the last few seasons the trust in them has decreased slightly, this is inseparable from the problems they face, one of which is that they have not been able to get out of financial problems. Even when they have this problem they can actually become champions, precisely in the 2022/2023 season. Even though in the previous season they were even in the middle of the board, but the management moved quickly to change the coach and appointed Xavi as their coach.
Real Madrid no longer have a super star striker after Cristiano Ronaldo and Benzema leaving their clubs recent seasons. Mbappe is not a striker but he was used at that position several times in PSG and France teams, that could help you to adapt to striker position and role and he will do it better in Real Madrid.
These current players might not be like Cristiano Ronaldo no doubts but they don't suck at scoring goals if they have the right creativity. Just to let you know, Cristiano Ronaldo was never a center forward, he was a midfielder and then more of a direct winger for Manchester United even for Madrid. Kylian Mbappe is the same but he should move more to the center forward position more so he can score goals. I feel like he'll do better when he is not being the point man. Did y'all watch the world cup finals against Argentina? Immediately he was removed as the point man, he was able to score all the goals he scored. Playing him as the CF doesn't work IMO!
It will not be easy for a team to have the same player again as the player who played very well, for example Real Madrid will find it very difficult to find a player who can play like Ronaldo. He is a great player and contributes greatly to Real Madrid's game, but it is not only from his hard work, but other players can work well together so that he can play very well too. Mbappe is predicted to be the right replacement, but it is also very difficult, because these two players also have different playing styles. I think now Mbappe also has to work hard with the new role he plays at Real Madrid.