"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.

Puig Brands, the Catalan multinational family group for beauty and fashion, which is negotiating an integration with the American Estée Lauder, three times larger, brings to the table the process of ownership change of local companies that has been occurring over the last 20 years. This very week, the Japanese Marubeni Corporation has bought 85% of Factorenergia, founded in 1999 by Emili Rousaud, former candidate for the presidency of Barça, for 204 million euros. The ownership changes of Catalan companies have not stopped. Between 2005 and 2006, the sales of Panrico, by the Costafreda family, to the fund Apax Partners were closed; and that of Chupa Chups, founded by Enric Bernat in 1958, to the Italian Perfetti Van Melle. Bernat's heirs today operate Casa Batlló on Barcelona's Passeig de Gràcia, one of Antoni Gaudí's iconic buildings, which they bought in the 90s.

After years with Espanyol bouncing between the second and first divisions, the Barcelona derby is back in full swing. Two teams firing on all cylinders, plenty of homegrown players, evenly matched on the pitch, and fans eagerly awaiting match day—a feeling that hasn't always been present for Barcelona supporters lately. Luckily, they were able to talk about football. It was needed.

Barça overcame obstacles to secure another victory in Liga F. Ewa Pajor opened the scoring, Claudia Pina unlocked the game with a work of art, Carla Julià capped off a great performance with her goal, and Vicky López and Esmee Brugts sealed the win against Badalona Women (1-5). The match was hampered by the poor condition of the pitch at Palamós, which prevented Barça from playing out from the back smoothly, resulting in several errors in their build-up play. Pajor opened the scoring for the sixth consecutive match, but a giveaway by Mapi León in her own area led to Lorena Navarro's equalizer. It was back to square one.

When this year's LaLiga schedule was released, Espanyol fans were somewhat wary of the fact that the second of this year's derbies was scheduled with just three rounds remaining. This meant it could be a key match in the fight for survival. Some Barça fans, meanwhile, dreamed of the possibility of winning the title again at their city rivals' ground, as happened in 2023.

"We have authorized all regional flags except the Basque flag [the ikurriña] because it is not a regional flag. It is a separatist flag. It is an insult. Before allowing this flag to be displayed, they will pass over my corpse", Manuel Fraga Iribarne, then Minister of Home Affairs and vice-president of a government full of heirs of the dictatorship, stressed in May 1976, a few months after Franco's death. On January 19, 1977, however, less than a year later, the ikurriña was hoisted in the Plaza de la Constitución in San Sebastián. Thanks, in part decisively, to a football derby between Real Sociedad and Athletic which, 45 years ago, helped recover the flag of a people. This Saturday, almost a year after the coronavirus, and with the stands of La Cartuja in Seville empty of people and colour, one of the historical clashes with more tradition in European football will live a special edition on the occasion of the final of the Copa del Rey in 2020 (21.45 h, Telecinco and DAZN). Marcelino's Athletic are looking for their second title of the season after lifting the Spanish Super Cup in January. Imanol's Real are looking to win their first trophy since 1987.