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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!
#4. Barcelona 3 - 0 Chelsea (March 14, 2018)
The Round of 16 draws of the UEFA Champions League featured many big clashes this season. While Real Madrid were paired with Paris Saint Germain and Juventus faced Tottenham Hotspur, Barcelona also got a very big test as they were drawn with Chelsea FC. The Londoners have been a real nightmare to Barca for a long time. In fact, they knocked the Catalans out of this competition the last time they clashed in 2012.
Though a two-legged encounter, it was in the second leg that took place at the Camp Nou that the Blaugrana really displayed their incredible brilliance. After successfully limiting Barcelona to earn an important 1-1 draw in London, Chelsea traveled to Spain for the return leg.
At the Camp Nou, Barcelona were really ruthless, dominating the game from the very first minute. They took The Blues by storm and went ahead in the 3rd minute after Lionel Messi exchanged passes with Ousmane Dembele and Luis Suarez before sending the ball through the legs of Thibaut Courtois and straight inside the net.
The Argentine continued to dazzle in this intense encounter. He dispossessed Cesc Fabregas in the middle, skipped past Andres Christensen and set up Ousmane Dembele who doubled Barca's lead in the 20th minute.
Chelsea continued to press high and attacked fiercely. Willian was a constant threat, especially at counter-attacks. Eden Hazard was also giving Barca defenders a tough time on the left wing and almost combined with Giroud to set up Marcos Alonso in the second half, only to be denied by a superb intervention from Ousmane Dembele.
Despite their brilliance, the Londoners failed to limit the impacts of Lionel Messi, who was quite unstoppable that night. The Argentine received a pass from Luis Suarez, dashed into the box and sent another low shot through Courtois' legs to seal a fantastic victory for Barcelona.
#3. Barcelona 2 - 0 Espanyol (April 25, 2018)
In one of the toughest Catalan derbies of the decade, Barcelona clashed with their local rivals, Espanyol FC in the quarterfinals of the Copa Del Rey. The Blaugrana initially fell to a shocking defeat in the first leg as the Periquitos earned a 1-0 victory at the RCDE stadium.
With a 1-goal deficit, Barcelona needed to win with at least two goals to advance to the semi-finals of the competition. This raised the pressure on the Catalans as they sought to advance into the semi-finals of the competition for a fifth consecutive year.
The game kicked-off with great intensity and the Blaugrana wasted no time to get their first goal. After receiving a pass from Lionel Messi, Aleix Vidal sent in a perfect cross into the box and Luis Suarez finished it with a great header to put his team ahead after just 8 minutes.
Espanyol responded with a nice shot from Gerard Moreno which Jasper Cillessen did well to save before Esteban Granero threatened the Blaugrana again. The former Real Madrid man received a cross from Victor Sanchez but could only send his effort wide.
Barcelona came up one more time, taking the lead in the 25th minute via a Lionel Messi's goal. Vidal won the ball at the edge of the box and the Argentine fired a shot from 20 yards. The ball deflected off Naldo and went straight into the net to make it 2-0 for Barcelona.
The Blaugrana maintained their lead till the end of the game to make it to the semi-finals of the Copa Del Rey for the fifth consecutive year.
#2. Barcelona 1 - 0 Atletico Madrid (March 4, 2018)
Barcelona won the La Liga title mathematically against Deportivo La Coruna. But, it was their clash against Atletico Madrid on the 4th of March, 2018 that technically decided the title race.
After reducing Barcelona's lead on the table to just 5 points, Diego Simeone's men got the privilege to finally narrow it to 2 and put themselves back in contention for the La Liga. This was a very important game for Barcelona and it proved to be a decisive factor in the title race.
Both teams started brilliantly. The Blaugrana were strolling the ball around nicely, dominating the possession and attacking fluently. Atletico Madrid, on the other hand, defended well, stopping a number of Barcelona advances and were threatening on the counter-attacks.
After several minutes, no team was able to break the deadlock. The Rojiblancos defended intensely and kept the ball away from the danger zones. Therefore, Barcelona remained calm, dominating the possession and waiting for the ultimate chance to pounce on their title rivals.
That chance came in the 25th minute after Thomas Partey brought down Lionel Messi at the edge of the box. The Argentine stepped up to take the resulting free-kick, beating Jan Oblak with a perfect shot that went straight into the net.
After going 1 goal down, Atletico pushed for an equalizer but Barcelona defended well to deny them any hope of a comeback. The Blaugrana maintained their lead till the final whistle to send the Rojiblancos out of the title race.
#1. Barcelona 5 - 0 Sevilla FC (April 21, 2018)
After edging past the likes of Espanol and Valencia, Barcelona made it to the final of the Copa Del Rey once again. This time, they faced Sevilla FC at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium.
The Blaugrana ran riot in the clash, totally dominating the game from the beginning to the end. They had an awesome outing and looked quite unmatchable as they strolled the ball around nicely, exchanging brilliant passes and attacking with great intensity.
After just 14 minutes, Valverde's men took an early lead. Their goalkeeper, Jasper Cilissen sent a clearance straight to Philippe Coutinho from 60 yards. The Brazilian then penetrated into the box and sent an awesome pass to Luis Suarez who scored with a close-range effort.
Soon, Lionel Messi made it 2-0. Andres Iniesta combined well with Jordi Alba on the left flank, with the later sending a beautiful back-heel to the Argentine to poke in. Luis Suarez added the third in the 40th minute after exchanging passes with Messi before finally beating Soria with a low shot to put the game to bed in the first half.
In the second half, Barcelona continued with their impressive display and barely gave Sevilla any chance in the game. Within just 7 minutes, Iniesta made it four before Philippe Coutinho scored the final goal of the match from the spot.
The Blaugrana won 5-0 to claim the Copa Del Rey for another consecutive year. What a match!
