Barça is champion again. With their 1-0 victory at home over Llevant this Saturday night, the blaugrana have won la Lliga, the Spanish league, for the 26th time in their history, and the eighth time in the last eleven seasons - a clearly dominant force in Spanish football. Only Real Madrid (2012 and 2016) and Atlético de Madrid (2014) have prevented the last decade from being coloured in unbroken blue and crimson.
What a difference a Messi makes
These 8 leagues in 11 seasons have arrived thanks above all to one player - who was the goal scorer tonight as well - Leo Messi. The Argentinian player has grown up at Barça, the club of his life, to become the best player in the world and his goals, his assists, his fabulous dribbles and his remarkable vision of play have been decisive for Barça's success.
EFE
In total, Messi has scored 385 goals in the last eleven seasons. A true goal-scoring bestia who is practically unmatched. His biggest rival, Cristiano Ronaldo, scored 348 goals in those same 11 years in regular competitions, but bear in mind that for the 2008/2009 season Ronaldo was at Manchester United and this season, 2018/2019, he's at Juventus.
It all began with Guardiola
More than a decade of glory for Barça that began with Pep Guardiola. The visionary coach from the Catalan village of Santpedor revolutionized the team, sacrificed sacred cows like Deco and Ronaldinho, and built his squad around an exceptionally talented generation of graduates from Barça's football school, La Masia. Xavi, Iniesta and Messi were unstoppable on the pitch; Puyol, Piqué and Valdés were a wall at the back; and, Busquets and Pedro came from the Third Division with the youth team, Barça B, and they slotted in wonderfully. When the stars line up... everything is easier.
FC Barcelona
Guardiola achieved three consecutive leagues (2008/2009, 2009/2010 and 2010/2011) in the first three years on the Barça first team bench. But in 2011/2012, Jose Mourinho coached Real Madrid to triumph in the historic 100-point league, a scoring record which one year later (2012/2013) was repeated - but this time bringing another Barça league trophy with it - under the guiding hands of coach Tito Vilanova, who until then had been Pep's assistant.
Tito, Tata and Luis Enrique
The year after that, the 2013/2014 season, was one of transition. Tata Martino arrived because Vilanova, suffering from cancer, was unable to continue in charge of the team for health reasons. The players are not machines dedicated exclusively to putting balls in nets and Vilanova's illness affected them. Even so, Barça reached the last days of the season with the possibility of winning a cup-and-league double.
In the Copa del Rei, Madrid won 1-2 with that famous race along the left touchline between Gareth Bale and Marc Bartra. As for the league, the last round of competition brought Atlético de Madrid to Camp Nou. Barça needed a win to claim the title and when the scoreboard was reading 1-1, Messi scored a goal that referee Mateu Lahoz ruled out for an offside that never was: the ball had come off an opponent, not a Barça player.
That "if only" would have meant another trophy in the Camp Nou cabinet if it had occurred this season with the introduction of the VAR. But instead, Barça had a season that was almost trophyless, with only Spanish Supercup being the only silverware. And then Luis Enrique took his place on the bench. With the trident, Messi, Suárez and Neymar, the blaugrana achieved the second triple in the history of the club (2014/2015).
EFE
Success in the league would be repeated in 2015/2016, but in 2016/2017, Zidane made Madrid champion for the first time in four years. Then, with the arrival of Ernesto Valverde at the Catalan club (2017/2018), Barça clearly dominated the league with only one loss all season: against Llevant at the Ciutat de Valencia ground.
Now, under Valverde, Barça have achieved their second consecutive league title, having won 26 now in total. In the overall count, the blaugrana are still second, with Real Madrid holding 33 titles. But with eight out of the last eleven, Barça's recent superiority is clear.