5 Matches That Sum Up Barcelona's Brilliant Season
It is true that real strength is not developed in winning. Rather, it develops from how one copes with defeat and how one reacts to certain challenges at various moments. How FC Barcelona overcame the challenges that plighted the club initially and produced excellence is a pure masterclass.
The club lost one of it's brightest figures in Neymar when he left for PSG in the summer. They also faced a lot of crisis and reactions, while the humiliation they suffered in the Super Cup concluded a miserable pre-season for the Blaugrana.
The Catalans met their arch-rivals, Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup final. But, due to their poor performance amidst difficulties, they suffered an embarrassing humiliation from their rivals. The Capital club destroyed the Blaugrana, claiming the trophy with a 5-1 victory on aggregate.
This brought a lot of criticism on the Club. In fact, many people started underrating them. Some even stated that they were incompetent to challenge Real Madrid in the new season.
However, instead of falling to their defeat, the club used it as a source of motivation as they entered into the campaign. Though slowly, they started improving and great results started to follow. They continued like that for several months, with great determination and hard work. Now, the club is one of the most dominant outfits in Europe, having completed a fantastic double in the campaign.
Their success is a product of endurance and high level of performance, especially in the biggest and most decisive games. In fact, the Blaugrana did well in important matches this season and their tireless efforts were rewarded with a lot of brilliant achievements in the campaign.
Let's look at 5 matches that sum up their brilliant season:
5) Real Madrid 0 - 3 Barcelona (23 December 2017)
There is no feeling like tormenting one's enemy in an important rivalry match. Barcelona and Real Madrid derive a lot of joy from exerting dominance on each other in the El Clasico. In fact, these two teams are the greatest enemies in the history of the game as they constantly fight for superiority.
The two clubs had already met earlier in the Spanish Super Cup, with the Los Blancos emerging victorious and humiliating the Catalans in a one-sided affair that ended 5-1 on aggregate.
Revenge. That was what was written all over the hearts of Barcelona fans when the two clubs clashed again for the first leg of the El Clasico this season. On the 23rd of December 2017, both teams marched to the pitch and everyone could see clearly that Barcelona were prepared for a great battle.
Los Blancos even made the case worse by displaying their new Club World Cup trophy in front of the Blaugrana, making them hungrier for a brutal revenge. After the whole ceremony, the match kicked off at the Santiago Bernabeu.
As usual, it started with great intensity as both teams fought hard to dominate. Real Madrid attacked fiercely, going close to break the deadlock on a number of occasions. Barcelona, on the other hand, kept calming the game and allowed the Galacticos to consume much of their energy. They also went close to goal on a few occasions but no team was able to break the deadlock in the first half.
The second half began with Barcelona taking total control of the game. The Blaugrana dominated the possession and attacked ruthlessly against a Madrid side that looked already tired. Luis Suarez scored the opening goal of the match with a nice shot after Sergio Busquets, Ivan Rakitic and Sergi Roberto combined to set him up in the 54th minute.
About 9 minutes later, Dani Carvajal got sent off from the game after he handled the ball on the goal line. Lionel Messi stepped up and converted the resulting penalty, beating Keylor Navas with a perfect strike to double Barcelona's lead. The Argentine also contributed to the third goal, dribbling to the right before sending a perfect pass to Aleix Vidal who fired a thunderous shot straight into the net.
The game ended 0-3 as the Blaugrana earned an important victory at the Santiago Bernabeu. Los Blancos were humiliated in front of their own fans, what a perfect revenge!