The last party of an insatiable Barça

BarcelonaThe 2024/25 season is now history. Barça fans will be easy to spot as they bask in the sun on the beach, burn calories climbing Mount Puigmal, or step off a plane at Bali airport. They'll be the ones with a belly laugh that will last until August. Hansi Flick's team decided to put the finishing touch to their almost marvelous season by conquering San Mamés, silencing the home fans and reminding Nico Williams where the best football on the continent is played. With two saves from Lewandowski in the first half, Barça finished the job after being crowned champions. Olmo added the icing on the cake with the third from the penalty spot.

A team that wants to win everything. Be it a competitive match or a slap in the face, be it in La Liga or the Champions League. Hansi Flick decided years ago to erase the word "barcelona." defeat from his dictionary. And his Barça is a highly competitive machine. Many Basque fans booing the champion? A win and a job well done. Some players think they can stop Lamine with hard fouls? Let them lose the game and they'll learn. To end the season of three titles, the season of rebirth, Barça surpassed 100 goals thanks to a Lewandowski who, perhaps without the injury he suffered, could have deprived Mbappé of the title of top scorer of the season.

Flick decided to play Iñaki Peña in goal, as if it were a way of apologizing for having sent him to the bench when he prioritized Szczesny. A decision that turned out to be the right one, even if it pained the Alicante goalkeeper, who remains to be seen whether he will continue at Barça. The rest of the team was competitive enough, with Araujo at center back and Gavi in midfield, acting as a squire to his good friend Pedri. Just like in the days of epic poems, great knights need someone to help them and do their dirty work. And Pedri and Gavi fulfilled that role perfectly. The match began with Athletic setting the pace after having organized a moving tribute to the retiring Óscar de Marcos. Athletic knows how to do that well: take care of their own.

Sannadi, without aim

But the tribute was short-lived. After a goal by Ibai Gómez was well ruled out and Nico Williams appeared, Lewandowski broke through the Basque defense with ease and beat Unai Simón with an elegant touch over the goalkeeper. Violin music drowned out the noise of a San Mamés stadium that would be left with a touch of its nose when just three minutes later another defensive error allowed Lewandowski to score one of the most comfortable goals of a career in which he has already scored 101 goals for Barça. The game was already almost over and barely twenty minutes had been played.

The Basques kept trying, they are usually tireless, but in modern football it is key to have good strikers. And Barça played with Lewandowski and Athletic with Sannadi, that giant with a face like a piece of bread who six months ago was playing in the third division with Barakaldo. Sannadi, the son of Moroccans who studied in a ikastola, it's all will. But when they had clear chances, they squandered them. In fact, Barça could have scored a few more goals in a first half where Raphinha and Lamine Yamal, for a day, calmly took them away. The job was done. It was a strange game, true. During the week, Barça had partied at Port Aventura and the locals had held events dedicated to De Marcos. Everyone was eager to go on vacation.

In the second half, Nico Williams tried without luck, well defended by a good friend of his, Alejandro Balde. Once again, it was Sannadi who wasted the Basque chances, while Lewandowski was already starting to get a little fed up with Yuri, one of those rivals you want to lose sight of, tough and rough as he is. He would concede the penalty against Olmo in the last minute, which the Valladolid native would convert to end the season. Barça managed the scoreboard calmly and ended the season in the best possible way: surpassing 100 goals. No one has been able to stop this far superior Barça in the league. So much so, that it has caused Madrid to throw themselves into the arms of Xabi Alonso, frightened of being dominated in the coming years by a wonderful Barça.

The 2024/25 season is now history. It began with questions and ends with certainties. It began with caution and ends with euphoria. The season of rebirth under Hansi Flick has been a celebration. And it ended like that, with another victory. The last one.