Barcelona win LaLiga: how Xavi turned FCB from mid-table mediocrity to champions in 18 months
The Blaugrana won their first league title in four years by beating Espanyol in the derby on Sunday night
It had all started against Espanyol. Xavi’s first match as Barcelona coach was a derby at home to the club’s city rivals in LaLiga in November 2021. It ended in a somewhat nervy 1-0 win at Camp Nou as Memphis Depay scored from the penalty spot and the visitors missed a couple of glorious chances late on. But there was a positivity about Barça again, an identity. Hope had been restored.
Barcelona were a mess when Xavi returned to Camp Nou. Football clubs often turn to their legends in time to crisis and their midfield great took over a team low in confidence, struggling in ninth place in LaLiga and still reeling from the painful loss of Lionel Messi the previous summer. Eighteen months later, after beating Espanyol again, the Blaugrana are champions of Spain.
The success has not happened overnight. In his debut season, Xavi took Barça from ninth to second and even oversaw a spectacular 4-0 win away to Real Madrid. But they could not catch Los Blancos in the league and there was disappointment in Europe as FCB crashed out of the Champions League in the group stages and ended up losing to Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League.
Some of the early positivity fizzled out at the end of the 2021-22 campaign, but Xavi’s first full season would give a better indication of his and the team’s progress. It has yielded a Spanish Supercopa and a first LaLiga title since 2018-19.
Despite more disappointment in the Champions League, with Barça eliminated again in the group stages, winning those two trophies represents a good return for FCB. Further improvement is definitely needed, but the Blaugrana have come a long way in those 18 months. Xavi has made this team competitive again.
Barça built on firm foundations
Of all the things expected from Xavi at Barcelona, defensive stability would probably not have been top of the list. But the Catalan’s Barça team is built on firm foundations, with 25 clean sheets in 34 games and only 13 goals conceded all season in LaLiga. The record for clean sheets is 26, while the fewest goals let in over a campaign is 18, so both marks could yet be beaten.
Goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen has returned to his very best under Xavi following an inconsistent couple of years and the German is playing in front of the team’s most solid defence in years. Summer signings Andreas Christensen and Jules Koundé have been excellent, while Ronald Araújo is establishing himself as one of the best centre-backs around and youngster Alejandro Balde has added pace and dynamism on the left. Barça still concede chances, as attacking teams always will, but the numbers highlight a big improvement in defence.
It is often said that while “strikers win games, defences win championships”. And there can be no better example that this Barça side: with 11 1-0 wins in LaLiga in 2022-23, it is the back line which has helped the Blaugrana earn so many points this season. It has come with an improved midfield and collective effort, too, even if Barça still do not consistently play the exciting brand of football Xavi wants. And impressively, FCB have stayed solid despite a series of injuries across defence and midfield this term.
Faith in youth and midfield improvement
In midfield, Sergio Busquets has remained key for Xavi’s side and the Catalan had hoped he would stay on beyond this summer. With the 34-year-old leaving at the end of the season, Barça will now need to adapt, but the time also seems right to introduce a more mobile midfielder in his place.
Frenkie de Jong almost left Barcelona in the summer, but has finally looked like the player who shone so brightly at Ajax before signing for the Catalan club back in 2019. And in Pedri (20 years old) and Gavi (still only 18), Barça have two young players who could be at the heart of their midfield for a decade. They will only get better and playing under Xavi, the greatest midfielder in the club’s history, should help their development in the years ahead.
As would have been expected from a graduate of the club’s famed La Masia academy, Xavi has been keen to champion young players during his time as coach. In defence, Balde has displaced Jordi Alba, while youngster Pablo Torre has made a number of appearances in midfield and 15-year-old Lamine Yamal recently made his debut in attack to become the club’s youngest player this century. Xavi’s philosophy is clear: if they are good enough, they are old enough.
Lewandowski’s goals
Barcelona made a big push to sign players last summer, despite their huge debts. The Catalan club sold off some of their future television rights and a sizeable stake of their in-house production company to activate what were known as ‘financial levers’, with the funds used to pay for transfers and to register new players. It was a gamble, but it has helped the Blaugrana to enjoy success domestically this season.
Robert Lewandowski was never a long-term signing, but he has been a game-changer. The Polish striker, who turned 34 last August and will be 35 by the time next season starts, has hit 21 goals in 30 league games (and 31 in 42 in all competitions). Many of those have helped Barça turn draws into wins this season. And without his goals, there would be no league title.
“This is a team in reconstruction,” Xavi said on Saturday ahead of the trip to Espanyol. And after Sunday’s 4-2 win which sealed LaLiga, he added: “This means we are doing things well, that the project is valid. This Barça is growing and evolving, and starting a new phase. The next objective is [to improve in] Europe.”
Winning LaLiga brings some stability and calm to Barcelona after turbulent times for the Catalan club on and off the pitch in recent years. Next season will bring new challenges and as Xavi says, improvement in the Champions League will be a must. The club’s finances also remain delicate – and the books will need to be balanced in the months and years ahead.
Meanwhile, conversations over summer strengthening have already begun and Lionel Messi could even made a remarable return in time for next season, though his inclusion in this team will also provide some fresh tactical questions for Xavi to solve.
In any case, Barça are back. In the space of 18 months, from Espanyol at home to Espanyol away, Xavi has revived an ailing club. The future looks bright once again.