Barcelona’s Path to La Liga Glory: 5 Essential Games From Their Championship Pursuit

Barcelona sealed La Liga victory with four matches left to go, thanks to a 14-point gap before the 22/23 season comes to an end.

However, it would not be fair to say it has been a cruise for Barcelona, given there have been some tough moments where the team managed to pull through despite not performing at their best.

Sports Brief has looked at five five key games for Barca in La Liga which helped them secure the trophy.

Real Sociedad 1 - 4 Barcelona

After a disappointing 0-0 result to Rayo Vallecano at home in the first fixture of the season, it was important for Xavi and his players to make a statement, taking into account the club's spend in the summer transfer window.

Visiting Anoeta is never an easy task despite Barcelona having managed to overcome the dark period when playing at Real Sociedad’s stadium was an absolute nightmare.

From 2011 to 2016, the Culers didn’t win any of their eight matches there. Now, fortunately for them, it’s a different story, although the 1-4 scoreline doesn’t tell the whole story.

Despite Robert Lewandowski scoring his first La Liga goal after 45 seconds, Alexander Isak (now a Newcastle player) made it 1-1 shortly after. Then came the controversial disallowed goal from Brais Mendez in the second half.

A long-distance free kick intended as a cross went past everyone, including the keeper, but was not given because the referees considered Robin Le Normand, who came from an offside position, to be obstructing Marc-Andre Ter Stegen.

Had it counted, Barca might’ve ended the first two games with zero points. Instead, Ansu Fati came on shortly after to shake things up and led the team to a win with one goal and two assists.

The Catalans left Anoeta with enough self-confidence to win the following four games before the international break, scoring 14 goals and conceding none.

Barcelona 3 - 0 Villarreal

After the international break, Barcelona seemed unrecognisable, barely pulling through in La Liga and disappointing in Europe. That is - until Real Madrid beat them 3-1 to take the top spot and give them a reality check.

La Blaugrana were very vulnerable at this point, yet managed to not give up and recovered in the best possible way.

A fantastic performance against Villarreal, scoring three goals in seven minutes, did the job and kept Barcelona believing in themselves.

In fact, they would then go on to smash Athletic Club 4-0 in Ernesto Valverde’s return to the Camp Nou.

Osasuna 1 - 2 Barcelona

This was the last match before the World Cup break and Barca needed to win to secure the top spot they had just reclaimed after Real Madrid dropped points against Girona and Rayo Vallecano.

Xavi's men had recently been hammered by Bayern Munich in the Champions League, followed by a nail-biting 93rd minute win against Valencia, before beating Almeria 2-0.

With Barcelona’s form dropping slightly, it was pretty obvious Osasuna would not be an easy opponent.

In fact, things went from bad to worse for the visitors after David García scored in the sixth minute before Lewandowski was then sent off in the 30th minute - his controversial gesture of touching his nose would lead to a suspension.

It seemed very unlikely Barcelona would survive 70 minutes at El Sadar, being already one goal down. Yet somehow, Pedri gave the team hope by scoring early on in the second half.

The Catalan giants held on until they got their golden chance in the 85th minute, through a pinpoint long ball from Frenkie de Jong that Raphinha lobbed over Sergio Herrera with his head.

The team showed it had character and the capacity to react under very difficult circumstances.

Barcelona 2 - 1 Real Madrid

It was the fourth El Clásico of the season and Madrid’s last realistic chance of putting pressure on the league leaders with nine points separating them.

The home team had the better start and generated some very good opportunities, but Los Blancos - known for scoring when they least deserve it - did it again.

This time, it was with an unlucky own-goal from Ronald Araujo after Vinicius Junior tried to cross the ball into the box. Despite the setback, Barcelona kept pushing and got the equaliser thanks to Sergi Roberto, just before the half-time break.

Real Madrid looked more threatening in the second half, missing some good looks in and even getting a goal by Marco Asensio, which was later disallowed due to a very tight offside position.

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Barcelona had just enough luck on their side with that goal eventually not counting, but also scoring in added time with Franck Kessié unexpectedly showing up to practically seal the title.

Espanyol 2 - 4 Barcelona

Last is the game that finished things off for Barcelona - a local derby that crowned the Culers as champions of the 2022/23 La Liga season.

It felt like Espanyol would put up a fight given their desperate need for points, yet they were torn apart by their city rival's attack, conceding three goals in the first half and practically giving away the win.

This was undoubtedly one of the sweetest wins for Barcelona this campaign, with players later forced to run for safety as aggressive pericos invaded the pitch.

The Catalans eventually had their title party, although it was crashed by Neymar Junior, according to Marca.

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