End of Season Review: Barcelona | OneFootball

Context. Football, much the same as life, is all about the context.

Yes, Barcelona have won a La Liga and Copa del Rey double – losing just one game all season. But what makes this achievement even more astonishing is the context. The context of where we were at the start of the campaign, with arguably world’s biggest club in arguably it’s biggest ever institutional crisis.

The 2017/18 season started with Gerard Piqué admitting for the first time in his Barça career that he felt “inferior” to Real Madrid. One of their star men, the one that was supposed to be Lionel Messi’s heir, was sold to Paris Saint-Germain, and there were calls for the president Josep Maria Bartomeu to resign after failing to sign Philippe Coutinho before the end of the summer window.

And yet here we are, a double in the bag.

Player of the Season: Lionel Messi

Sometimes the obvious answer is the right answer. I could have tried to be clever and told you how Ivan Rakitić and his ball-retention skills, or Marc-Andre Ter-Stegen and his ability play from the back were the real key to Barça’s 25th title. They weren’t. It was Messi. As it always is. The Argentine sensation had to adapt his game when Neymar left in the summer, moving from wide-right in a front-three to partnering Luis Suárez in a traditional 4-4-2. The fact that he’s far and away the top goalscorer in La Liga this term tells you just how successful that’s been. Vital goals at the Bernabéu and Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan have kept the unbeaten run going and the fact that run stopped when he wasn’t playing says everything.

How did the manager do?

This was third time lucky for Ernesto Valverde. Twice before the 54-year-old had been considered for the job, twice before being pipped to the post by Tata Martino and Luis Enrique. This summer though, when he finally took the job, there was a different air to Barcelona. Real Madrid had just won a league and European Cup double, they’d been embarrassed in the Spanish Super Cup by their arch-rivals and the in-fighting at board level seemed to suggest that the walls were falling in on a Dynasty. What a job he’s done then. No, they don’t play the same brand of scintillating football that thrilled us all in the Pep Years, but what Valverde has brought is a calmness, an assuredness to the role. “I just try to get out of the way,” he told reporters after the title was won. Sometimes, that’s the hardness thing of all.

Disappointment of the season: Ousame Dembélé

You’d have to have a heart of stone not to feel sorry for Ousmane Dembélé. Brought in over the summer as the third most expensive player of all-time. Brought in as, essentially, Neymar’s replacement. Brought in to a club in crisis. No wonder then, that the 20-year-old has struggled so much in his first season at Camp Nou. An injury at the end of September curtailed his progress, but Valverde has never fully trusted the youngster when he returned in the New Year. The France international has only showed flashes on his brilliance since then and that’s to be expected if you’ve only just started being allowed into 18 certificate movies. Not though, when you’re at Barcelona and their most expensive signing ever.

Who needs to go?

It’s perhaps not a case of who needs to go, but who will go in the summer. No matter what way you cut it, Barcelona look like they’re in for another busy off-season. Andrés Iniesta has already confirmed that he’s on his way to Asia, Samuel Umtiti has been fluttering his eyelashes at Manchester United and André Gomes has been linked with the likes of Tottenham and Valencia. Jasper Cillessen has admitted he wants to leave for more game time and Lucas Digne is just the formalities away from signing for Juventus. That’s five players from a pretty thin squad.

Who should be brought in?

You can’t replace Iniesta, but a new midfielder, someone who can retain the ball and excel in that very specialist No.8 position at Barca is vital. Marco Verratti was that man – maybe not now. A new right-back could come in handy, considering Sergi Roberto has been filling in their all campaign. And despite bringing in Dembélé and Coutinho in the past two windows, another forward to team up with Luis Suárez and Messi is being considered…well, Antoine Griezmann is being considered.

Mark out of 10: 8.5