Ooops, they did it again.. FC Barcelona, Barça, Futbol Club Barcelona, “Els Culés”, “Els Blaugrana”.. however you want to call them are the Spanish champion again. For the second year in a row, the club coached by former Barça star Pep Guardiola managed to keep the earth rival Real Madrid at a narrow, but sufficient distance of 4 points.
Was it so close? Yes, it was. It was very close. Barça had to fight for all points, playing out but also during the home games in “Camp Nou”. Winning the league with 99 points, only loosing 1 time and making 6 draws is a record set by Guardiola’s men. Barcelona is since about 6 years now a reference in Spanish football. The way of understanding the sport is unique.
Barça, led by President Joan Laporta, his right hand football legend Johan Cruyff and at that time coach Frank Rijkaard started a team from scratch and opted for a complete rejuvenation and introduction of “own breed”. This has resulted into superstars coming out of Barça’s juvinile training center “La Masia”. Players such as Messi, Puyol, Xavi, Iniesta, Piqué, Bojan, Sergio Busquets and Pedro, all forming part of Barça’s first team, have been educated in “La Masia”.
All this effort has been rewarded with 2 Champions Leagues, several national championships and “Copa de Rey” and well, this year being half finalist in the Champions’ league is not so bad (could have been more actually…). Now, after the last league victory Barça is the undisputed king of the Spanish league. Congratulations Champions!