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FC Barcelona - La Liga
Barcelona's players may be dealing with the disappointment of having being knocked out of the Champions League in the Quarter Finals for the third year running, but they do have their domestic record to lean on.
The Catalans are 11 points clear of Atletico Madrid who is in second place. While the victory is yet to be made official it would take a miracle (or disaster depending on how you look at these kinds of matters), for Barca to lose out on the trophy. More importantly, it's an occasion for Messi and his teammates to gain a victory over their arch-rivals Real Madrid, winners of last season's competition.
There are plenty of reasons to account for Barcelona's success in the Spanish competition, but the biggest contribution has to have been that of Lionel Messi. In fact, the Argentine leads both in terms of goals scored and assists and has managed to win the Man of the Match award on 20 occasions from the 29 La Liga games he has been involved in.
The team's stats show just what it took for the team to manage and achieve their La Liga success. Barcelona average 2.5 goals per game, a passing success rate of 87.2% and their possession rate stands at 60.8%.
Barcelona had a great starting team and substitute bench to choose from. While Real Madrid may have had better squad depth, Barca's best players ended up making the difference.
The Catalans followed up losing Neymar to PSG, with some high-profile transfers meant to successfully replace the Brazilian. Over €300 million was spent on the likes of Coutinho, Dembele, Paulinho and Semedo.
Barcelona also started out strong out of the gates winning their first nine La Liga games and haven't lost a game in the competition thus far. By comparison, their rivals had an up and down season, with Real Madrid losing five of their encounters.
Regardless of the performances of their new players, the Camp Nou side once again proved to be dependent on the form of Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta. Morale for the squad received an important boost when it was announced the two would sign new contracts with the club, in this way putting an end to growing uncertainty.
Leading by example, the Argentine has scored, assisted and lead the team to great performances which will result in another trophy in the Catalans' very wealthy trophy cabinet.
