How Barcelona emerged victorious in LaLiga: Traditional methods, fresh drive, and a shift in leadership

Upon becoming Barcelona manager in November 2021, Xavi discovered a team with low self-confidence.

Barca had not won the league title for two and a half years, and there was little indication that they were prepared to challenge for it again soon.

The group’s desire to compete with the best in Europe was evident after experiencing difficult defeats in the Champions League. The comeback losses to Roma and Liverpool in 2018 and 2019 still lingered as sources of trauma.

The crushing 8-2 defeat from Bayern Munich in 2020 continued to haunt the veteran players who were part of that experience.

Vitaliy Klymenko, Editor In Chief in Slotamia, says this created a challenging atmosphere for the team’s young players to progress and improve. It also indicated a decrease in discipline, focus, and intensity in training.

Reviving Discipline: Xavi’s Quest to Restore Order in Barcelona’s Dressing Room

Upon entering, Xavi requested a summary of the existing dressing room regulations from his ex-colleague and close buddy, Sergio Busquets. Barcelona had various rules that governed the team’s daily operations while playing together. These rules involved penalties for tardiness, and the specified times for players to report for training were clearly defined.

All of them had vanished, but not sticky wilds slots. Six years after Xavi left as a player for Barca in 2015, there were no regulations in the dressing room. This took him aback, and immediately took action to restore order.

Penalties for tardiness were brought back and would be escalated for repeated violations. Xavi required that all his players come to practice 90 minutes before the start of the session to eat and get ready as a team. He preferred the players eat breakfast and lunch at the club so that the team’s staff could improve their diet management.

Xavi’s Journey to Redemption and Renewal

The manager was one of many who realized that changes were necessary. Although Real Madrid won both La Liga and the Champions League last season, Barcelona ended their campaign with disappointing losses at home to Rayo Vallecano and Villarreal in their final six games. Throughout the leadership of the club, there was a strong belief that the team required rejuvenation and revitalization.

Progress towards this achievement could have been smoother and free of danger. As we will observe, there are many unknown factors and difficulties that await us in the future.

Now Barca has won the La Liga title for the first time since 2018-19, and Xavi and his revamped team are celebrating.

The Athletic’s Pol Ballús, Laia Cervelló Herrero, and Dermot Corrigan dissect their title win thoroughly, breaking it down into three parts, beginning with an inside glimpse into the dressing room.

The shift in power between the recent Barca team and the title-winning version has been a defining factor in their transformation.

Part one: letting go of the past and focusing on the future

Barcelona’s decision-makers aim to create room for fresh knowledge by leaving history in the past. The concept is to allow young players to develop while persuading older professionals to reduce their role.

The process started before the season when Xavi informed Gerard Pique that he would have reduced playing time.

Pique believed he could change Xavi’s mind and secure a spot on the team, so he assured him he would work hard to earn a place in the starting line-up. However, the defender also mentioned that once he believed he was no longer able to make a significant impact in the top tier, he would exit the scene.

That is precisely the sequence of events that unfolded a fortnight after a defensive error during the crucial October Champions League game against Inter Milan at home. It had given Pique a wake-up call, and he declared his retirement from football in a tearful goodbye at the Camp Nou on November 5.

His departure created space for a new deputy captain among the top three players under captain Busquets on the club’s official roster. Marc-Andre ter Stegen would join Jordi Alba and Sergi Roberto.

Ter Stegen’s Resurgence: A Key Player in Barcelona’s Revival Under Xavi

Ter Stegen has been at the club since 2014, and while his voice in the dressing room has been respected for a long time, his performances last year were subpar. He was aware of that fact, however, Xavi remained confident in his top-choice goalkeeper, even amidst speculation of him leaving.

The 31-year-old is happy with the manager’s leadership of the group. After spending close to ten years at Barca, Ter Stegen probably has a better insight than many into how much the club has departed from its previous norms.

Ter Stegen’s joy and faith in the team’s goals have been evident on the field during an outstanding season for him. He is now among the few team members who are fully at ease in a public leadership position. He believes that the individual in charge has also improved his own actions.

The German player, who joined the club in 2014, will be featured in another article by The Athletic this week after Barcelona’s title win. The article will analyze his impressive performance on the field this season. Having him protecting the goal, Barcelona has only allowed 13 goals in 34 La Liga games this season, which means an average of 0.38 goals per match. He has maintained a total of 25 clean sheets, with the current record for a single season standing at 26.

While Ter Stegen has certainly improved under Xavi, Robert Lewandowski has been the key player in facilitating this significant change so far, especially throughout the summer and first half of the season.

Barcelona have reached ten or more occurrences since 2000

Barcelona has secured their 10th title of the century this season, with both Barcelona and Madrid winning a total of 19 out of the 23 full Spanish league seasons since 2000. Atletico Madrid (in the seasons 2013/14 and 2020/21) and Valencia (in the seasons 2001/02 and 2003/04) are the only two clubs besides Barcelona and Real Madrid to have finished at the top of La Liga during those periods.

Winners:

2000/01: Real Madrid

2001/02: Valencia

2002/03: Real Madrid

2003/04: Valencia

2004/05: Barcelona

2005/06: Barcelona

2006/07: Real Madrid

2007/08: Real Madrid

2008/09: Barcelona

2009/10: Barcelona

2010/11: Barcelona

2011/12: Real Madrid

2012/13: Barcelona

2013/14: Atlético Madrid

2014/15: Barcelona

2015/16: Barcelona

2016/17: Real Madrid

2017/18: Barcelona

2018/19: Barcelona

2019/20: Real Madrid

2020/21: Atlético Madrid

2021/22: Real Madrid

2022/23: Barcelona

Image: Victoria Prymak on Unsplash