The first title of the season is here. Not a resounding victory, but a very solid performance from Barça in defense, where a lack of clinical finishing – and a stellar performance from goalkeeper Misa Rodríguez – prevented a bigger scoreline. Pere Romeu adds his fourth title – after achieving the national treble last season – by defeating Real Madrid with a goal from Esmee Brugts in the first half and a penalty converted by Alexia Putellas in stoppage time of the second half (2-0). Barça continues its dominance over Real Madrid: 22 wins and only one defeat, and the young players Clara Serrajordi, Aïcha Camara, Carla Julià, Rosalía, Martine Fenger, and Laia Martret now have their first titles to their name. Laia Aleixandri also wins her first trophy as a Barça player, although she was unable to play in the Super Cup due to injury.

There are friendships that endure beyond one's own life and impact future generations. This is the case of Conxita Badia and Pau Casals, two musicians and friends whose respective careers were cut short by the Civil War. This year, the fiftieth anniversary of their death, we celebrate the Year of Conxita Badia with a series of events that aim to vindicate the figure –not sufficiently known– of one of the best Catalan sopranos of the 20th century.

It's a sign of intelligence to respect Real Madrid in a sporting sense and be aware of its virtues, especially because in the Copa del Rey final, there was an air of superiority in the Barça atmosphere that didn't translate overwhelmingly onto the pitch when there were fans betting on a rout. In the second half in Seville, Madrid gave us a scare, and after Barça's painful elimination in the Champions League semi-finals, it's only natural to feel dizzy and a certain tingling in your stomach, considering the Barcelona fan's suffering attitude, along with the knowledge that football often lacks logic. But that's as far as it goes.

The country is so stunned, so anesthetized, that football once again occupies its rightful place as an outlet for collective passions, so tamed since the defeat of the Partido Proceso (Procession Process). Banks and large corporations are back, their blackmail fulfilled; the sociovergence is slowly returning, with a single administrator, the PSC (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party). And the eternal duel between Barça and Madrid returns to channel a sentiment that has no mainstream political expression. A diffuse, globalized Catalanism hides behind the celebration of Barça's goals, and is also expressed in the truce with the eternal rival, the ministerial team full of galacticos. The Cularada no longer calls the 17:14 minute, but they enjoy chanting in Catalan and projecting a more manageable difference than the complex amalgam of loyalties that constitutes today's Catalonia. Football functions as a funnel or a still where a self-referential, real, and vibrant elixir is distilled, but politically innocuous, as it has always been, except during the decade of the Revolution.

Six-match ban. Thus, Antonio Rüdiger will not be able to play any La Liga matches this season after throwing an object at the referee during last Saturday's Copa del Rey final. Rüdiger was already ruled out because this Monday he underwent surgery for a partial tear in his external meniscus. He wanted to confront the referees. The sole disciplinary judge of the Royal Spanish Football Federation considered that the action occurred with "slight violence" towards the referee. He was sent off after extra time. Thus, he has not received any type of sanction and his card has been revoked after a review of the allegation based on videos presented by the club.

Barcelona's musical scene has been a lucky one these past few days, as two of its main venues, the Palau de la Música Catalana and L'Auditori, hosted two concerts by the group MusicAeterna, led by Teodor Currentzis. And if Sunday was the Ninth Symphony Bruckner's (which I couldn't listen to), on Monday it was the turn of the Second by Mahler, Resurrection, at L'Auditori and with the help of Ibercamera. I repeat that I was unable to attend Sunday's performance at the Palau, but I have always thought that Mahler proceeds much better in Currentzis: the author's narrative of the Rückert-Lieder It seems more to me ad hoc for the Greek-born conductor, because the tragic element does—it seems—much more for him.