Monday 18 May 2015 15:02, UK
After Barcelona were crowned La Liga champions for the 23rd time, we look back on how the title was won…
August
Barcelona started the season as they meant to go on, easing to a 3-0 win over Elche at the Nou Camp in Luis Enrique’s first game in charge with Lionel Messi scoring a brace and youngster Munir El Haddadi netting the other on his debut. The only downside for the Catalan side was the sending off of Javier Mascherano late in the first half, but they coped just fine without their Argentine enforcer.
Their second game away to Villarreal was a far tighter affair. Barcelona dominated possession but couldn’t find a way through until the 82nd minute, when Messi set up teenage substitute Sandro Ramirez to tap home. Barcelona had not been at their best, but Enrique maintained his 100 per cent record.
September
Barcelona left it late in their next game, too, as Neymar came off the bench at home to Atheltic Bilbao to score his first goals of the season in the last 11 minutes to seal a 2-0 win. Both goals owed a lot to Messi, who created the openings with two superb moments of skill after a disciplined defensive display from the visitors.
Barcelona hammered Levante 5-0 in their following game, but their winning run came to an end a few days later when they were held to a goalless draw away to Malaga. In fact, Barcelona were lucky to escape with a point as they failed to register a single shot on target and had to rely on a string of saves from Claudio Bravo. They responded to that disappointment in style, however, routing Granada 6-0 at the Nou Camp as Neymar smashed a hat-trick and Messi’s brace took him to 400 career goals.
October
After ending September with a 3-2 Champions League defeat to Paris St Germain, Barcelona kicked off October with a 2-0 win away to Rayo Vallecano as more goals from Messi and Neymar kept them top of La Liga. Messi hit another milestone in the following game, scoring his 250th league goal as Barcelona defeated lowly Eibar 3-0 at the Nou Camp.
Enrique’s men followed that up with a 3-1 Champions League win over Ajax, but their undefeated start to the domestic season was emphatically ended in the first Clasico of the season on October 25. Neymar gave Barcelona an early lead at the Bernabeu, but Cristiano Ronaldo, Pepe and Karim Benzema hit back as Madrid moved within a point of Barcelona. As well as consigning the Catalans to their first La Liga loss, it also ended a run of eight straight clean sheets in the league under Enrique.
November
Enrique and his side found themselves under real scrutiny following that defeat, and a week later they were stunned at the Nou Camp as Celta Vigo claimed a 1-0 win. Barcelona hit the woodwork three times as £75million signing Luis Suarez finally made his debut, but the Uruguayan couldn’t prevent their first home defeat since January. To make matters worse, Madrid’s 4-0 win at Granada meant they moved above Barcelona into top spot.
Enrique’s men were close to another disastrous defeat in their next La Liga game against Almeria, but Suarez came off the bench to set up Neymar and Jordi Alba as they scraped a 2-1 win. They were back at their best in their next game, however, as Messi silenced speculation over his future by smashing his first hat-trick of the season in a 5-1 demolition of Sevilla.
After thrashing Champions League opponents Apoel Nicosia 4-0, they then finished November with a 1-0 win at Valencia which was sealed by Sergio Busquets’ stoppage time strike. Messi exited the field rubbing his head after being struck by a water bottle thrown from the crowd in the aftermath of the goal.
December
After beating Huesca 4-0 in the Copa del Rey, Barcelona’s first league game of December ended in a 5-1 defeat of rivals Espanyol. A day after Ronaldo had set a new La Liga record with his 23rd hat-trick, Messi responded by moving up to 21 himself as Barcelona stayed two points behind league leaders Madrid.
The two-point gap was extended to four in their next game as Barcelona were held to a goalless draw away to Getafe. That result ensured Madrid would be top for Christmas, but they responded by hammering Cordoba 5-0 at the Nou Camp as Suarez notched his first league goal and Messi added another brace to his tally. December also featured a 3-1 win over Paris St Germain in the Champions League, and an 8-1 hammering of Huesca in the Copa del Rey.
January
Barcelona suffered a 1-0 defeat to David Moyes’ Real Sociedad in their first game after the Christmas break as Enrique controversially benched Messi, Neymar, Dani Alves and Gerard Pique. Fortunately for Barca, Madrid were defeated by Valencia on the same day, but that didn’t ease the sense of crisis engulfing Enrique. The defeat was followed by an avalanche of reports detailing a breakdown in his relationship with Messi. The Spaniard refused to comment, but Messi fuelled speculation by missing Barcelona’s open training session the following Monday.
Rather than resulting in a collapse, however, defeat at the Anoeta seemed to spark Barcelona – and Messi – into life. They thrashed Elche 5-0 in the Copa del Rey before producing one of their best displays of the season against champions Atletico Madrid as Messi, Neymar and Suarez scored in a 3-1 La Liga victory. Elche were brushed aside with a 4-0 win in the second leg of their cup clash, and Barcelona followed that up with another 4-0 victory away to Deportivo as Messi once again silenced speculation over his future with another sensational hat-trick.
Barcelona advanced in the Copa del Rey with 1-0 and 3-2 victories over Atletico either side of another hammering of poor Elche in La Liga this time as Messi fired another brace to finish the month with eight goals in seven appearances.
February
A 3-2 win over Villarreal was followed by a 5-2 triumph away to Athletic Bilbao as Barcelona cut Madrid’s lead at the top of the table to one point. Messi then fired a hat-trick in his 300th La Liga appearance as Barcelona thrashed Levante 5-0, but a run of 11 wins in all competitions was ended by a shock 1-0 defeat at home to Malaga on February 21.
The defeat was sealed by Juanmi’s early strike as Barcelona missed out on the chance to claim top spot in La Liga. Enrique made no excuses. "I'd like it to be an accident but it is becoming habit, the opposition close up and we can't find a way through. You could consider this a deserved defeat,” he said.
Suarez scored twice as Barcelona claimed a 2-1 Champions League win away to Manchester City in their next game, and the Catalan side got back to winning ways in La Liga with a 3-1 triumph away to Granada to keep the pressure on leaders Madrid.
March
After knocking Villarreal out of the Copa del Rey, Barcelona finally reclaimed top spot with a 6-1 hammering of Rayo at the Nou Camp as Messi netted a record 24th La Liga hat-trick. Eibar were beaten 2-0 as Messi added another two goals to his tally before a 1-0 win over City put them into the Champions League quarter-finals.
On March 24, Barcelona welcomed Real Madrid to the Nou Camp for another mouth-watering Clasico. Defender Mathieu opened the scoring with a 20th-minute header and Suarez struck the decisive goal after Ronaldo’s equaliser. It was the former Liverpool striker’s 14th goal of the campaign and moved Barcelona four points clear at the top of the table.
April
Mathieu struck another crucial goal to give Barcelona 1-0 win away to Celta in their next game, and that was followed by an easy 4-0 win over Almeria at the Nou Camp. Barcelona then threw Madrid a lifeline in the title race as they drew 2-2 with Sevilla, who twice fought back from a goal down after goals from Messi and Neymar.
Barcelona then eased past Paris St Germain in the Champions League either side of a 2-0 La Liga win at home to Valencia, in which Messi hit his 400th goal for Barcelona to keep the Catalans in pole position. Barcelona beat rivals Espanyol 2-0 despite Jordi Alba’s sending off, and they rounded off a busy month with a thumping 6-0 win over Getafe which featured braces from Messi and Suarez and put them five points clear at the top.
May
Barcelona went two goals better to destroy Cordoba 8-0 in their following game as Suarez netted his first La Liga hat-trick. Pep Guardiola then returned to the Nou Camp with Bayern Munich in the Champions League semi-final, where a late Messi masterclass gave the hosts a crushing 3-0 win. That was followed by a 2-0 win over Real Sociedad as Barcelona took a step closer to the title, before they sealed their passage to the Champions League final with a 3-2 defeat to Bayern at the Allianz Arena.
Barcelona travelled to the Vicente Calderon in their next game knowing victory over Atletico Madrid would seal the title a year after Diego Simeone were crowned champions at the Nou Camp. The Catalans dominated much of the encounter but, as has so often been the case this season, it was left to Messi to make the difference.
In the 65th minute, the brilliant Argentine played a lovely one-two with Pedro on the edge of Atletico’s area before slotting a low finish into the bottom corner for his 54th goal of the season. The hosts looked for an equaliser in the closing stages, but Barcelona held on before forming a huddle in the centre circle and celebrating their La Liga success. With a Copa del Rey final against Athletic Bilbao and a Champions League final against Juventus still to come, Enrique will be hoping to finish his first season with a famous treble.
