How Barcelona won La Liga: Lamine Yamal's consistent brilliance, Raphinha breakout and more
CBSN
Barcelona officially won La Liga on Thursday following a win against Espanyol
Barcelona finally won La Liga on Thursday with a 2-0 win against Espanyol, the seven-point gap between them and Real Madrid officially too large to knock the new champions out of top spot.
The team have been the favorites to win the title for several months now and add coupled their La Liga prize with the Copa del Rey, marking their first double-winning season since 2017-18. Their dominance this campaign, which included a run to the UEFA Champions League semifinals, was not exactly easy to predict at the start of the season. Barcelona entered this campaign with an everlasting sense of uncertainty, both through a managerial change and their chronic financial issues. Things clicked quickly under Hansi Flick, though, who built a team that was hard to beat from start to finish.
Barcelona spent much of this season bulldozing through their opponents, a list that includes a Real Madrid side that lost all four editions of El Clasico and were outscored 16-7 along the way. They benefited from the steady rise of teenage phenom Lamine Yamal but Flick also got impressive end product from his attackers, including a resurgent Robert Lewandowski and breakout Raphinha. Flick's attack-minded philosophy not only overpowered their opposition but also made amends for Barcelona's weaknesses, chief among them a wobbly back line.
