What is Barcelona up to after the historic treble?
The Blaugrana reached the pinnacle of footballing world, when they defeated Juventus comprehensively in the UEFA Champions league final in Berlin, on 6th June. The 3-1 crushing of La Fidanzata d'Italia completed Barcelona's 2nd treble within 6 years, after they completed the domestic double by defeating Athletic Club, 1-3, in the Copa Del Rey final on 30th May.
They had earlier sealed the La Liga title with a 1-0 victory over Atletico Madrid on 17th May (Of course, they went on to add the Spanish and European Super Cups and the Club World Cup, meaning an unprecedented six major titles in a calendar year, the last time they did it, in the 2008/09 season).
Now, that the season has ended, it's time for the players and the manager to throw away the stress and put on those flip flops and head to the beach. However, the holiday season this time seems like a very important time for the reigning La Liga champions as they look to build a team that is able to repeat the feats they achieved this season.
This is what could happen at the Camp Nou in the summer.
The curious case of Luis Enrique: Solved
The one thing every cule wanted to know is, if Luis Enrique will stay at Barcelona or not. And no Barcelona fan currently walking the Earth wanted him to go after Lucho ended his first season at Camp Nou winning everything he set sights on and the announcement that he has extended his contract till 2017 came as pleasant news for Barca enthusiasts all over the world.
Luis Enrique has a kind of technique that is very common in Spain, he is willing to take unconventional decisions. Pep Guardiola, Valverde, Unai Emery are the other headliners of this generation.
There was some turmoil mid-season, when Enrique asked Dani Alves, Neymar and Leo Messi to enjoy an extended mid-winter break and when they came back, Neymar and Messi didn't make it to the first team of 2015 against Moyes's Real Sociedad.
The game ended with Barcelona losing 1-0 and Enrique, swallowing his pride at half time, asked Messi to come on and seemingly received a retort from the Argentine. He waged a war against the boss in the dressing room. A war he was never going to win, because there can't be two alphas in one group and clearly Messi was the alpha dog here.
The constantly changing starting XI dint help either, and suddenly everyone was talking about a new manager.
But Luis finally let the premier actors take centre stage and as he went on to resolve his conflicts with the team and more importantly the left footed talisman, Barcelona came back on track and the rest is history. All things aside, he still hadn't confirmed, even after the Champions League triumph, if he will stay or leave the club, and all his statements stating uncertainty over his future and not knowing where he will be next season made the condition more baffling.
Josep Bartomeu, the current FC Barcelona president has, though made it clear from the beginning that he expects the Spaniard, who managed the Barcelona B team from 2008-2011, to stay at Catalonia. And with appointment of Rafa Benitez as the head of their bitter rivals Real Madrid, the next season's Liga is very much in the bag and Lucho staying just ensured it.
The Presidency
the elections take place on 19 July.
The mid season crisis also led to the sacking of Andoni Zubizarreta in January, the then sporting director of FCB after their transfer ban was upheld. His assistant, Carlos Puyol, who played at the heart of Barcelona defence for 16 years, followed him.
Suddenly Messi was missing training due to some stomach bug, and he turned the whole football fraternity upside down when he followed Chelsea Football Club on instagram.
Amidst all this, came a decision, touted as the best ever of Sandro Rosell and Zubi and Bartomeu reign by some people, to schedule the presidential elections after the current season.
And now finally the elections are set to take place on 19th July. Bartomeu will resign and the cules will be called in to poll and show their support for the leader they want. Bartomeu will be running for the president, but he won't win.
The other 2 contenders are Jordi Ferre and Agusti Benedito. And as most of the people know the man that would and will win if he contests is Joan Laporta.
Joan was the president of Barcelona in the 2000s and he revamped the squad, appointed Pep and made Barcelona the best in Europe. Laporta has always enjoyed a healthy relationship with the players and his firm resolute, though with a big ego, will resonate in the dressing room. And if he does win, we could well witness another era of winning, tradition, stability at Camp Nou.
The transfer ban for 2015
With Xavi gone and Andres Iniesta entering the twilight of his career, Barcelona are in a dire need of buying some good mid fielders. But are handicapped by the transfer ban imposed on the club till January 2016.
No doubt Ivan Rakitic fared well but he can't be put in the same bracket as Xavis and Iniestas. But what player will sign with a club, when he knows that he will not be able to play till January. An option is to sign players and loan them out till the ban is relaxed.
Even in these tough times, Barca managed to sign Aleix Vidal and renew the deals of Jordi Alba (till June 2020), Dani Alves (till June 2017) and Pedro (till June 2019). These deals definitely come as a relief.
The striking department seems fairly adept with MSN and now with Pedro also tied down. Attacking midfielder Alen Halilovic can be called into the first team and also the defensive midfielder Sergi Samper, regarded as the new 'Sergio Busquets' can make inroads into the team.
Also players like Munir and Sergio Roberto impressed with their little stints last season and can well get some more game time this term.