Barcelona has experienced a tough campaign in Spain as they initially struggled to find consistency in La Liga. Despite their 2-0 home defeat vs Villarreal last weekend, Xavi has managed to turn things around and deserves a lot of praise for steering his men to a strong second-place finish in the league.
Barcelona’s 2021-22 Season Review: Major Talking Points
Barca made a decent start to this campaign as they won two and drew one to open up their La Liga campaign. However, their form in the UEFA Champions League group stages was poor which saw their league results suffer as well. Xavi’s side got dumped out of the Champions League but went into the UEFA Europa League as they finished third in Group E.
The Catalan giants had a lot of poor results in the winter months but ended 2021 with a 1-1 draw away at Sevilla. Barca suffered a 3-2 loss at the hands of Athletic Bilbao which eliminated them from the Copa del Rey. However, Xavi got his players back on track in the second half of this campaign.
Following the midseason arrivals of players such as Dani Alves, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Ferran Torres, the Catalan club made their way up the league table and secured an impressive second-place finish in La Liga. However, their Europa League dreams ended back in April when they were beaten by Eintracht Frankfurt over two legs.
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Barcelona’s Best Players Of The 2021-22 Campaign
Memphis Depay
The Dutch attacker had an excellent first half of this La Liga season in which he managed to score 12 goals and secure two assists in 28 league matches. He is definitely a player of the year contender despite missing some key games due to injury.
Ousmane Dembele
The Frenchman’s form in the league has been quite good this season. He has picked up 13 assists and scored one goal in 21 league appearances for Barcelona during this campaign. Dembele has caught the eye by averaging 2.2 shots, 2.1 key passes and 2.8 dribbles per game in La Liga and has at times been Xavi’s best player on the field (stats via whoscored).
Key Moments
Barcelona’s brilliant team performance in the 4-0 drubbing of Athletic Bilbao in La Liga: 27 February 2022
Barcelona’s excellent 4-0 win at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium vs Real Madrid in La Liga: 21 March 2022
