Barcelona’s 2017-18 season started with a whimper, and many would argue that it ended in one as well.
Ernesto Valverde’s first few competitive games in charge saw his side roll over to arguably the strongest Madrid squad in a decade. The Barca board had questions to answer, many of which they simply chose to ignore, and their team’s biggest rival’s immense success laid their own shortcomings for the world to see.
Fast forward 8 months later, and Barcelona have cruised to the league title with only one loss (a loss that will forever haunt this side), and a Copa del Rey. A season that started off with uncertainty ended with unimaginable success.
But Barcelona fans who are used to seeing their side compete on three different fronts on a regular basis, saw their side give up the initiative in the Champions League to a dogged and determined Roma team, and worse still, saw their most hated rivals lift it for the third time in a row.
The season has just about ended, but already Barcelona have to deal with a new set of problems, arguably bigger in scale than the Neymar one they faced last summer.
Iniesta’s departure has left a giant crater-like hole for Barcelona to fill up, and the board need to act swiftly to ensure that happens. If the haphazard public relations disaster after that Neymar transfer is any indicator as to what the future has in store, Barcelona fans have very few reasons to be optimistic.