La Liga: Barça’s celebration after moments of shock

After fleeing into the dressing room from the angry Espanyol fans, FC Barcelona’s championship fiesta could really get going.

After the 4-2 win at local rivals on Sunday evening, President Joan Laporta gave the mood cannon in the dressing room, soaking wet. In the bus on the short return journey, the players who had been frightened by the rush of the opposing supporters sang. Thousands of Barça fans took to the streets to celebrate the heavily indebted Catalans’ 27th league title with four games remaining. “An achievement for eternity,” wrote the Spanish sports newspaper “Mundo deportivo”.

With a bit of Messi

From the point of view of many Barça enthusiasts, the crowning glory could yet come.

“We are trying everything possible to bring Messi back to Barcelona,” Spanish media quoted Laporta as saying. Lionel Messi had to endure whistles in the stadium of his still employer Paris Saint-Germain on Saturday when he came back after being suspended. In 2019, Messi was still there for Barcelona’s 26th championship title, and in 2021 for their 31st and last cup win to date.

And somehow he was quite present even after the feat under coach Xavi Hernandez.

“Messi ‘sneaks’ into Barça’s dressing room,” wrote “Mundo deportivo” after the 35-year-old Argentine world champion’s name was also mentioned in the dressing room: Barcelona’s Uruguayan defender Ronald Araujo allegedly had it during a Tik-Tok video mentioned.

On the streets, they kept singing the long “Messi, Messi, Messi” calls. Whether a return is possible depends on the financing plan.

The club could no longer afford Messi two years ago, the debts were too massive. Messi said goodbye in tears at the time, return not excluded. If it’s going to work now, salaries have to be reduced and players handed over. Club legend Sergio Busquets has just announced his end at FC Barcelona – some took this as another indication of a Messi comeback at Camp Nou.

Ter Stegen as a symbol for the team

But this most recent championship title is one without Messi, the first by the way without the superstar since 1999 – the ten following fall into his era. “The team supported the club even without Leo Messi,” wrote “El País” and chose a German as the great campeón among the campeónes. “Barça clinched the title, yes. But if this league has a winner, it’s Marc-André (Ter Stegen). The goalkeeper became the symbol of a team that built an unprecedented wall at Camp Nou.”

And “As” also said: “Barça’s success is due to the solid defense of Xavi’s team, to which the German goalkeeper in particular made a huge contribution.” The now 31-year-old has been playing for FC Barcelona since the summer of 2014. This season he hardly seems to overcome in the Primera Division. The Catalans conceded just 13 goals in 34 matchdays. “As” gave the German national goalkeeper the title “undisputed leader” in a tribute.

Another crucial factor is Xavi Hernandez. “He not only knows the football, but also the club and the style,” said Laporta of the club’s highly decorated ex-professional. The fact that the title was awarded four games before the end speaks for the coach, who took over the post in November 2021. After goals from former Bundesliga star Robert Lewandowski (11th minute/40th), full-back Alejandro Balde (20th) and Jules Koundé (53rd) to win against Espanyol, arch-rival Real Madrid are an uncatchable 14 points behind in second place.

Early exit in Europe and in the cup

However, in addition to the negative headlines about the alleged referee influencing scandal, the FC Barcelona season was also marked by sporting setbacks. In the Champions League, the Catalans were eliminated in the group stage, in the Europa League, after the second round, they stopped.

In the Spanish Cup, Real prevailed in the semi-finals. But that didn’t count in the frenzy of the title triumph. Along with the women’s team, which also won the championship, the party was scheduled to continue on Monday evening with a bus parade through Barcelona.