It has been a strange season so far for Barcelona. Following a disappointing end to the 2019/20 campaign and controversies involving Lionel Messi, the return of Camp Nou legend Ronald Koeman almost felt like a shrugging of the shoulders moment, and his appointment seemed to contribute to an underwhelming start to the season. It felt like Barca were a team in transition. But despite all this, they have somehow hauled them back into contention for the La Liga title.
On Monday evening, Barcelona faced SD Huesca at the Camp Nou in their latest La Liga fixture, running out 4-1 winners. It was Barca’s seventeenth league game unbeaten, and their fourth successive win, and it will come as a surprise to almost no one that Lionel Messi was central to their triumph, scoring twice and creating another.
Barca began the season slowly after Koeman’s arrival of Ronald Koeman, whose surprising appointment was overshadowed by controversies involving Messi. Firstly, the Argentinian superstar tried to force a move away from the Camp Nou, and when this failed, revelations about his earnings followed. With all of this happening away from the pitch, Barca’s slow start was perhaps unsurprising, and by the beginning of December they found themselves off the pace down in eighth place.
But following back-to-back defeats to Cadiz in La Liga, and a Cristiano Ronaldo-inspired Juventus in the Champions League, Barca slowly awakened, and since the turn of the year have hauled themselves up into second place behind Atlético Madrid. The gap between the two is now just four points, and given that Atlético have dropped points over the past month, Barca will be confident of catching them, and as you can see here on allvideoslots, there are those that agree.
But it won’t be easy. Barca have some difficult fixtures on the horizon. At the weekend they face a trip to face Real Sociedad who have been in good form and are enjoying a good season, while their next away fixture is the second El Clasico of the season. Real won the first at the Camp Nou 3-1, and will also be keen to close the gap on city rivals Atlético.
It’s likely though that all eyes will be on Barcelona’s clash with Atlético at the Camp Nou on 9th May. How things are shaping up, it could well prove to be the La Liga title decider.
A title triumph for Barca this season would probably go down as one of their best in recent times, given how far off the pace they were just a few months ago.
Can they do it?
