Barcelona - World Domination

SEASON 1

The first season was all about setting the pace. How good was the current crop? What about the Madrid teams? Could the ageing players still compete at the highest level?

Transfers
Early on in the window, Kuki (Malaga) and Jorge (Tenerife) were signed for a combined £4.2m, and both immediately loaned away. No first team players were sold. Javier Mascherano was eventually sold to Manchester United for £3.5m in January having made 5 league appearances adding to his 168 previously.

Competitions
The tactic to start the season was a 4-2-3-1 wide, with narrow, expressive play to suit MSN, the jewels of the crown. All friendlies were comprehensive victories, including 16-0 and 17-1 wins over Spanish regional sides. First up was the Spanish Super Cup, with my first competitive tie finishing in a 5-4 win, and a 3-2 win 3 days later.

La Liga came down to the wire but the team held on scoring 19 in the last 4 matches to defend the title, pipping Real Madrid by two points, 86 to 84. 102 league goals were scored, however, the number of goals conceded was far too high for a championship winning side, 52. This problem needed to be resolved. Manager of the year went to Vigo's Eduardo Berizzo, who also were awarded the Most Improved Team. Lionel Messi was crowned Player of the Year for the second year in succession and a record 7th time after 24 goals and 10 assists in 34 appearances. Only Messi and Neymar made the Team of the Season, with Gerard Piqué, Luis Suárez and Sergi Roberto making the bench. Atletico Madrid's Kevin Gameiro won the golden boot with 33, with Suárez second on 28.

The Champions League was a dissapointment. 6 wins and none conceded in the group stages (vs PSV, Legia Warsaw and Basel) lead to a last 16 tie against AS Monaco, which finished 7-4 over two legs. In the Quarters, a poor 1-1 home draw to Juventus, and a 2-1 away loss meant that was that for another season. Tottenham went on to become champions for the first time following a 4-0 victory over Juventus in Cardiff.

Finally, the season ended in despair with a 4-2 loss to Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey final after easy aggregate victories over Barakaldo, Atl. Pamplona, Leganes and Malaga.

Stats
Only one club record was broken/set over the course of the year, with Neymar's 19th second goal on the last day of the season being the fastest goal the club scored.

The biggest win was a 6-1 thrashing against San Sebastián in the league, the biggest loss was also a 6-1 thrashing versus San Sebastián in the league. The most games won in a row was 8, with the longest unbeaten run being 17 games.

Most Goals - Luis Suárez (43)
League Goals - Luis Suárez (28)
Most Assists - Neymar (20)
Most Clean Sheets - Marc-André Ter Stegen (14)
Highest Avg Rating - Luis Suárez (7.76)
Most POM - Lionel Messi (11)
Fans Player of the Year - Lionel Messi (52 games, 31 goals, 15 assists, 11 POM, 7.64 Avg)

TROPHY COUNT: 2 (1 La Liga (2017), 1 Spanish Super Cup (2017))

SEASON 2

The main aims this year were to retain the League title, win more trophies, and vastly improve on defence.

Transfers
This was the season where I could start to mould the team to my liking, as now I knew whereabouts the team were. 6 First team departures saw Jérémy Mathieu (Al-Gharrafa) £1m, Sergio Busquets (Manchester City) £27.5m, Thomas Vermaelen (Roma) £3.5m, Munir (Swansea) £3.8m, Sergi Samper (Vigo) £1.9m, and Christian Tello (Stoke) £4m leave the club, among a whole host of youngsters, raking in £43.5m.

Unlike the first season, most of the budget was spent on bringing in players to bolster the squad depth and look towards the future. A total of £70m was used, with Jonathan Tah (Leverkusen) and Youri Tielemans (Anderlecht) accounting for £53.5m. Various hot prospects such as Carmelo Gómez Ramirez, Carlos Paredes and Paulo Renato (dubbed the next Ronaldo) also joined the club.

The biggest deal of the window saw Mauro Icardi join Arsenal for £61m (£93m).

Competitions
The season started poorly with a 6-5 aggregate loss in the Super Cup to Real Madrid, as we failed to gain revenge from last seasons Copa del Rey.

The league started just as bad as a 2-0 defeat to Valencia followed the 4-0 win over promoted Huesca. However this was the only league loss of the year, as the club won 31 and drew 5 of the remaining 36 to be once again crowned La Liga champions by an impressive margin of 28 points, setting the record number of points (101), goals (121, joint with R. Madrid), home goals (82) and goal difference (103). The team was unbeaten at home (18-1-0) with only 5 conceded. Extremely good results such as 4-0 and 3-1 vs R. Madrid, 9-1 vs Sevilla, 7-0 vs Eibar, 5-0 vs A. Madrid, 6-0 vs Levante and 6-0 vs Bilbao set up a perfect backbone to romp to the title. Manager of the Season was in no doubt. Ter Stegen claimed the Zamora Trophy with 23 clean sheets in 36, Getafe were awarded Most Improved team, Suárez won the Pichichi (Golden Boot) and Player of the Year, with 30 in 29 (12 assists) and 8 (Ter Stegen, Roberto, Umtiti, Alba, Rakitic, Gomes, Neymar, Suárez) got into the Team of the Season Starting XI, as Lionel Messi, who was out for 5 months, failed to make the team.

Very similarly to last season, the champions league proved to be another disappointment. Topping the group consisting of AC Milan, Basel and Red Bull Leipzig lead to a last 16 tie against Celtic (8-1), which included a 7-0 demolition at the Nou Camp which had not seen a home loss for 27 games at that point. Manchester United were the opponents in the quarters, and a Rakitic penalty made it 1-0 going into the second leg at Old Trafford. The team crumbled, as Higuaín and Martial destroyed the defence in a 4-0 loss, sparking rage in the dressing room.

A replica of last season saw the Copa del Rey final pit Real and Barca together for the 5th El Clasico of the season, where nothing could stop Benzema winning the game 2-1 at the Mestalla.

Stats
The 9-1 thrashing of Sevilla became the club's highest scoring league game, and Messi equalled his 5 goals in a match record in the same game. Ter Stegen's 24 clean sheets was the club record over a season, and 9 games without conceding was also a club record.

The 4-0 drubbing to Manchester United was the biggest of only 4 defeats all season, as a new record for consecutive wins was set, 20. Between the league loss to Valencia and this loss to the Red Devils, the club went an astonishing 47 games unbeaten, a new Barcelona and Spanish record.

Most Goals - Luis Suárez (41)
League Goals - Luis Suárez (30)
Most Assists - Neymar (21)
Most Clean Sheets - Marc-André Ter Stegen (24)
Highest Avg Rating - Lionel Messi (7.89)
Most POM - Luis Suárez (10)
Fans Player of the Year - Lionel Messi (30 games, 29 goals, 10 assists, 8 POM, 7.89 Avg)

TROPHY COUNT: 3 (2 La Liga (2017, 2018), 1 Spanish Super Cup (2017))