Three golden points for Barça in a match marked by Lamine Yamal's injury and a first half that lasted 67 minutes (1-0). La Liga, closer. Next, some immediate thoughts.

"The extraordinary thing is that it seems normal." With this slogan, Barça celebrated the men's league in the 2018-19 season. The team then led by Ernesto Valverde had just won their eighth league title in eleven seasons. At that time, the first women's team only had four league titles to their name. Since then, the blaugranes have been crowned champions of the domestic competition in the next seven seasons and now have eleven league titles. The latest one, this Wednesday after beating Espanyol 1-4 away. With more than ten points ahead of Real Madrid and with four matchdays left to finish the competition, Barça already has the second trophy of the season in their trophy cabinet, after the Spanish Super Cup.

"The extraordinary thing is that it seems normal." With this motto, Barça celebrated the men's league in the 2018-19 season. The team then led by Ernesto Valverde had just won their eighth league title in eleven seasons. At that time, the first women's team only had four league titles to their name. Since then, the Blaugranas have been crowned champions of the state competition every season and now have eleven league titles. The last one, this Wednesday after winning 1-4 on Espanyol's ground. With more than ten points clear of Real Madrid, and with four matchdays left to finish the competition, Barça already has the second trophy of the season in their trophy cabinet, after the Spanish Super Cup.

The Italian Guardia di Finanza has dismantled a network accused of exploiting prostitution and managing nightlife-related events that allegedly provided services to high-level footballers. Among the players mentioned are Real Madrid's Dean Huijsen and Inter's defender, a target for Barça, according to information that has emerged in the Italian press. As confirmed by the EFE agency, the operation, which is being investigated by the Milan Court at the request of the Public Prosecutor's Office, has resulted in four people under house arrest, accused of facilitating prostitution by organizing escort services, as well as money laundering derived from this activity.

“When something gets stuck in my head, it doesn't leave, and now the bike has gotten stuck in it”, explains Paula Blasi, one of the Catalan athletes of the moment. This weekend she achieved the greatest success of her career, winning the 12th edition of the Amstel Gold Race, held between Maastricht and Valkenburg, with a route of 158.1 kilometers. A prestigious race where she beat the best female cyclists in the world with a great attack and in which she was not initially supposed to participate, but was called up by her team, UAE, at the last minute because other more experienced cyclists were missing. "I will need a few weeks or months to realize it. It's my first time in the Ardennes and I've had problems with positioning, I can't believe what has just happened to me", she explained euphorically.

A little more than two weeks before the classic, Barça takes for granted that it will have to seal a League title that cannot escape in any way without its great star. We will have to wait for the tests that will be done this Thursday to Lamine Yamal, but with barely a month left until the end of the competition and with a World Cup around the corner, the feelings at the end of the match against Celta did not invite optimism. With a penalty goal, just before falling injured in his left leg and the stadium freezing because a fan suffered cardiac arrest, the Rocafonda winger did what will probably be his last service of the season to Barça. The victory (1-0) against Celta dyes the League a little more blaugrana on a complicated night at Camp Nou.

First box or stripe overcome. Barça debuted the play-in with a good grade. The Catalan team eliminated Estrella Roja (80-72) and will play for a ticket in the fight for the title against Monaco, who lost to Panathinaikos (87-79). Despite an unexpected eclipse when they were winning by 22 points, the Barça team played with personality to secure the victory at the Palau Blaugrana.

The rivalry between Barça and Espanyol is very present whenever the two clubs face each other. A few weeks ago it was experienced at the Camp Nou with the men's derby and at Johan Cruyff in the match between the reserve teams, and this Wednesday (7 p.m.) the excitement moves to the Ciutat Esportiva Dani Jarque with the duel that will pit the two women's teams against each other. A match that takes on special relevance because the blaugranes could certify the League title at the home of their eternal rival. Pere Romeu's team depends on itself and will be champions if they beat Espanyol. In the minds of all culers and pericos is what happened three years ago, in 2023, at the RCDE Stadium, when an invasion forced the cancellation of the blaugranes' celebration on the pitch. Fortunately, the blanc-i-blaves already have their survival assured and the tension will be less than what was experienced that day at the RCDE.

In the preview of the Barça-Celta match this Wednesday (9:30 PM, Movistar), Hansi Flick has defended that the team has recovered from their Champions League elimination and that "the atmosphere is very good" to achieve what would be the second consecutive league title with the German on the bench. "The players are well, happy, and motivated. I see it in training. Now we have to transfer it to the remaining matches." The Barça coach has praised his players, a very young group, and has recalled his affection for Barça and also for the city of Barcelona. This has led him to talk about his continuity in the Catalan institution, beyond the next season (2026-27), in which his current contract would end.

It has been more than a month since Camp Nou has been operating with the first two stands full. After uncomfortable tug-of-wars with technicians from the Barcelona City Council, Barça was able to implement phase 1C of the stadium's reopening to aim to accommodate a maximum of 62,000 people inside. The current season will end with this capacity, despite considerable progress in the construction of the third stand, which will house more than 40,000 spectators, reaching a capacity of 105,000.

“Catalan boys and girls have 30% of the opportunities they would have if they lived elsewhere in the State”. This is the complaint made by UE Olot, as the representative of Catalan non-professional clubs along with Nàstic, at the assembly of the Catalan Football Federation (FCF) and the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF). The team from Garrotxa has raised its voice to denounce the imbalance between the number of Catalan licenses and the places obtained by Catalan clubs in the semi-professional categories (Primera, Segunda, and Tercera Federación).

The return of the Champions League quarter-finals to the Metropolitano made evident, once again, one of Barça's great shortcomings: the absence of a reference center forward who does not generate doubts in the starting eleven. While it is true that Ferran Torres performed at a good level in Madrid in a position where he started to emerge at City with Pep Guardiola and which he has ended up making his own at Barça, the sporting leadership is clear that the "nine position does not lie with the Valencian nor with Robert Lewandowski.

Sant Andreu is celebrating. One of the historic Catalan football clubs has been able to celebrate promotion to Primera RFEF, after the triumph of the four-bar team (2-1) against Reus Reddis in a Narcís Sala packed to the rafters. More than a decade later, the club returns to the third tier of state football after a strange week as the team's coach, Natxo González, suffered a heart attack that led to him being hospitalized. Today, logically, he could not be on the bench for the match against the Reus team, a club where he also worked. The Reus fans present at Narcís Sala showed banners of support for González, who could not witness the triumph on the field with goals from Mendes and Señé, from a penalty. Goals that led to a great celebration on the stadium's pitch.

Frenchman Arthur Fils ended up without a shirt, jumping into the pool of the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona-1899. Tradition dictates that the champion of the ATP 500 Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, the long-standing Godó tournament, must take a dip in the pool, a scene that Rafa Nadal used to enact every year until not too long ago. On this occasion, it was Fils who did it for the first time, defeating Andrey Rublev, who at times seemed like he would manage to extend the final to a third set. But when he had it within reach, Fils showed his competitive spirit and clinched his first title in Barcelona in quick fashion, in two sets: 6-2 and 7-6.

"I thought I would fall crying and I would fall. I was afraid of falling and seeing the Cup on the ground," recalls Miquel Prat, historic captain of BM Granollers. 50 years ago, the club from Valles became the first Catalan club and the first in the entire state to win a continental title, the Recopa, by defeating German Dankersen in extra time in the final by 26 to 24 in the old municipal sports hall, the popular Parquet. A historic milestone achieved by a bunch of home-grown players who weren't even professionals. A golden generation, an era of tight jerseys, long beards, and dreams of freedom, with senyeras in the stands and a city devoted to a team that paved the way.

Barça lost on the court of a sensational Hiopos Lleida (90-80). Oriol Paulí, who trained at the blaugrana club, became the executioner of the culé team, which wasted an 8-point difference at Barris Nord. The forward scored 27 points, 7 assists, and 7 rebounds. The Catalan, who arrived at La Masia when he was only 12 years old, has worn the Barça jersey in all possible categories, from youth to the Liga Endesa.

Barça's financial fair play went up in smoke in 2020. With the pandemic and closed stadiums, revenues fell and the club was left with no capacity to pay player salaries. In 2021, with Joan Laporta in the box, the decision to tweak the numbers and load up to 555 million in losses onto the fiscal year that had started with Bartomeu as president, only aggravated the problem to the extreme. Five years later, and despite having activated levers, having fine-tuned the wage bill, and having closed low cost, the club is heading towards another summer with problems to face the transfer market normally.

The north of Seville became for a few hours a part of Gipuzkoa. Real Sociedad won their fourth Copa del Rey at the La Cartuja stadium, after beating Atlètic de Madrid in a penalty shootout after a match that ended in a two-goal draw. Simeone's team, defeated, will now focus on trying to win the Champions League for the first time after falling against the Basques, who repeat the success of the 2021 Copa final in the same venue, although then they did it without fans as it was during the pandemic. On this occasion, the loyal followers of the Txuri-Urdin team were able to witness it live.

The north of Seville became, for a few hours, part of Gipuzkoa. Real Sociedad won their fourth Copa del Rey at the La Cartuja stadium, after beating Atlético de Madrid in a penalty shootout following a match that ended in a two-goal draw. Simeone's team, defeated, will now focus on trying to win the Champions League for the first time after falling to the Basques, who repeat the success of the 2021 Copa final in the same venue, although then they did it without fans, as it was during the pandemic. On this occasion, the loyal followers of the txuri-urdin team were able to experience it live.

Despite trying until the last second, Barça could not make the comeback against Atlètic de Madrid effective. The script of the match unfolded as expected, with Hansi Flick's team overwhelming Cholo Simeone's players, to the point that at times they opted to place a line of seven players in front of Juan Musso's goal. With the Blaugrana desperately seeking a gap in the defense, one of the most relevant actions of the duel occurred. Marcos Llorente threaded a good pass between the lines to leave Alexander Sorloth with a clear advantage against the Catalan defense. Eric Garcia, who was unable to cut off the attack, brought the Norwegian down when he was the last man, thus earning a direct red card and leaving Barça with 10 men at a crucial moment of the match.