Barcelona had a successful first season under Ernesto Valverde, winning the domestic league and cup double.
Their campaign got off to a tricky start after they surprisingly lost Neymar to PSG and then lost the Spanish Super Cup by a 5-1 aggregate scoreline against Real Madrid, but Valverde kept things simple with a 4-4-2 formation and squeezed seven straight wins out of the squad to start the season, which, combined with dropped points from their rivals, gave them an early lead in the table.
Thanks to excellent performances from Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Lionel Messi, Barcelona dropped just six total points over the course of the first half of the season. By the time they defeated Real Madrid 3-0 away from home in a December Clasico they had a nine-point lead at the top and it seemed inevitable that they’d win the title.
Atletico Madrid emerged as their closest challengers, but a 1-0 victory over the capital city side in early March killed the title race, before they thrashed Sevilla 5-0 in the final of the Copa del Rey.
Barcelona’s season will, though, be remembered by some for their Champions League exit, especially the manner of it. Despite winning the first leg of their quarter-final against Roma 4-1, they lost 3-0 in Rome with a toothless performance and that put a dampener on their excellent domestic campaign, as did the fact that their push for an unbeaten league season was ended with a 5-4 loss at Levante in the penultimate week.
Looking ahead to next season, Barcelona are losing captain Andres Iniesta and will hope January signing Philippe Coutinho can come close to replacing him. Their fans would also like the style of football to be improved, now that Valverde has come through this transitional year.
