By playing good soccer and winning big matches, Barcelona is leaving aside the distractions of its latest scandal.
With its second win over Real Madrid in less than three
weeks, Barcelona made sure there is more talk about the team’s prowess on the
field than the club’s alleged troubles away from it.
The Catalan club has been under scrutiny over its payments
of several millions of dollars over several years to the former vice president
of the country’s refereeing committee. The club will have to defend itself in
the courts after being formally accused by prosecutors with alleged corruption,
fraudulent management and falsification of documentation.
Barcelona is holding its own just fine on the field, though.
It rallied for a 2-1 win over Madrid on Sunday to all but secure its first
Spanish league title since 2019. The victory, coming on a stoppage-time winner
by Franck Kessié after Madrid took an early lead at the Camp Nou, gave
Barcelona a more-than-comfortable 12-point lead over its rival with 12 games
left.
“It was a happy locker room,” Barcelona coach Xavi said. “We
can’t forget where we are coming from. Last year, the gap to Madrid was 12
points, but we were behind. In October we were three points back, so we made up
15 points to Madrid. You have to give credit to how things are being done in
this club.”
Madrid is among the clubs siding against Barcelona in the
legal proceedings, as is the Spanish government, the league and the soccer
federation. Barcelona has consistently denied any wrongdoing or conflict of
interest, saying it paid for technical reports on referees but never tried to
influence their decisions in games.
Madrid did leave the Camp Nou complaining about the
refereeing, though, after its 81st-minute go-ahead goal by Marco Asensio was
disallowed by video review in a tight offside call. Madrid coach Carlo
Ancelotti said the offside wasn’t clear enough to be overturned.
Barcelona had already been saved by the VAR last weekend
when Athletic Bilbao’s equalizer was called back after a controversial handball
in the buildup of Iñaki Williams’ 87th-minute goal.
Despite the recent help, Barcelona has been playing well
under Xavi and finding ways to win when the team is not on its best form or
dealing with injuries like the recent ones to Robert Lewandowski, Ousmane
Dembélé and Pedri.
Barcelona is seeking its first league title since being
dragged into a deep financial crisis that led to the departure of Lionel Messi
to Paris Saint-Germain. It’s chasing a 27th league trophy, which would leave it
eight behind Madrid.
Barcelona won eight league titles in 11 seasons through
2019. Since then, it finished second to Madrid in 2020, third — behind Madrid
and champion Atletico Madrid — in 2021, and second to Madrid again last season
without Messi.
This year it has already won the Spanish Super Cup — the
team’s first trophy since the 2021 Copa del Rey. The Catalan club was
eliminated from both the Champions League and Europa League again, but remains
alive in the Copa. It is facing Madrid in the semifinals, having won the first
leg 1-0 at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium after another solid performance. The
return leg is next month at Camp Nou.
Barcelona will need another big result then to keep the
spotlight on Xavi’s team and not on the club’s off-the-field problems.
“We’ve only won the Super Cup so far,” Xavi said. “The league is ours to lose. We can’t relax. We hope the players return well from the international break.”