Why things are looking up at Barcelona?

So much has happened for Barcelona since they last won La Liga that it seemed Espanyol wouldn’t grudge them the celebrations following Sunday’s 4-2 win that sealed a 27th league title. Only for a fan invasion to put an abrupt end to the merry-making. You can only expect that much empathy from crosstown rivals, Xavi Hernandez conceded. “At one point, I felt that it was more respectful if we went back into the locker room,” the Barcelona manager said after their first league title since 2019.

PREMIUM

Then, Xavi was playing for Al Sadd in Qatar and Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez were teammates at Barcelona. Covid-19, payments worth $8m between 2001 to 2018 to a company owned by a member of the Spanish federation’s refereeing committee and everything in between – the 2-8 defeat to Bayern, Messi’s tearful departure which highlighted the financial mess the club was in and finishing 2021-22 without a trophy – were not even specks on the horizon.

Desperate situations calls for desperate measures. With a debt of $1.4 billion, Barcelona president Joan Laporta gambled the future to secure the present. The club sold 25% of television rights for the next 25 years to American company Sixth Street. It fetched $725m and allowed Barcelona to sign Robert Lewandowski, Jules Kounde and Raphinha.

Kounde as right-back, Raphinha providing seven goals and as many assists and Lewandowski’s 21 goals (13 in his first 12 games, a league record) putting him in pole position for the golden boot is proof of returns on those investments. Since 2014-15, a Barcelona player had won the golden boot every season barring 2021-22. Would Lewandowski winning it signal a return to the era between 2005-19 when Barcelona won 10 La Liga championships and four Champions League titles?

Xavi didn’t go that far but said winning the league had given the club’s project some stability. “The league title shows that things have been done the right way and that we have to stay on this path.”

There were early jitters, a 1-3 loss to Real Madrid in October prompting the newspaper AS to write that “Xavi is nude and he is not an emperor” but La Liga was won comfortably, Barcelona being on top since the 14th round in October. A crucial step was winning the ‘Clasico’ in March through Franck Kessie’s late goal It took them 12 points ahead of defending champions Real Madrid.

In the same month, Barcelona beat Real 1-0 in the Copa del Rey semi-final, a result overhauled in some style by the men in white who won the return leg 4-0. So, things are far from perfect. As was evident from another early exit from the Champions League, causing a loss north of €20m, and then the Europa League.

But what better way to rebuild than by winning one of the world’s most competitive leagues? Replacing Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets and, possibly Jordi Alba, can be difficult if not impossible, but Barcelona have coped well. Araujo and Alejandro Balde have excelled in place of Pique and Alba but an alternative to Busquets will have to be found. Without sporting director Mateu Alemany, and possibly Jordi Cruyff who was director of football, that could be difficult.

With Busquets and Frenkie de Jong at the heart of the midfield, Gavi on the left and Pedri on the right, Barcelona found the balance that eluded them early in the season. Gavi’s ability to move inside not only gave them an extra midfielder, it also provided Balde space to move forward. Kounde would then move into centre-back, a position he is more comfortable in.

That gave Barcelona defensive solidity. They let in 13 goals this term, the fewest among top five leagues in Europe. At home, they have conceded only twice and one was a self-goal. Dogged had replaced the dazzling, Barcelona won 11 games by a 1-0 scoreline.

Marc-Andre Ter Stegen helped with 25 clean sheets, one short of the league record. After two poor seasons and time away from the game, he has returned to form and is one of the vice-captains. Barcelona having the most turnovers in the rival half was also crucial to winning 27 of their 34 games. It meant they were pressing better. It is an important step in the team’s recalibration.

Problems remain, with La Liga estimating that they need to earn €200m before new contracts of Araujo and Gavi can be registered. So, some players will need to be off-loaded. De Jong, Raphinha, Ousmane Dembele, whose five goals and five assists remain the team’s third highest despite the wide right missing 17 games due to injury, could be on that list as could Ansu Fati whose career has been derailed by injuries. With Camp Nou, where on an average 24000 more showed up last term, under renovation, Barcelona will move to the smaller Olympic Stadium and that would affect gate sales.

Yet when earlier in the year Ter Stegen said, “we are growing again”, it didn’t sound odd. With him in goal, Lewandowski and a raft of young talent in Pedri, Gavi, Balde, Araujo, Lamine Yamal, and Kounde, the future looks better for Barcelona than it did at the beginning of the season.