How Barcelona won La Liga: the story behind success for a new era

I n the end, no one could catch Barcelona, not even the Espanyol fans who chased them off the pitch and down the tunnel – although they got closer than anybody else. The banner at the RCD stadium on Sunday had declared “we are Espanyol and this is our life”, yet it wasn’t one they chose, still less one they liked. They had never seen their team win a derby in the place they made home, and this time not only did they witness another defeat that pushed them ever closer to a second relegation in three seasons, but the few who hadn’t left early also watched their rivals celebrate becoming champions in their own back garden. For some – morons, mostly – it was too much to take.

Out there in the centre circle Barcelona were dancing a sardana, a ring of players and staff spinning, when suddenly they broke into a sprint instead. There had been no provocation and they hadn’t even been there three minutes, coach Xavi Hernández already deciding it was enough, that this was neither the time or the place and calling them to come in, when it happened. In the south stand, some Espanyol fans – a couple of hundred perhaps, many with faces covered – smashed barriers, climbed onto the pitch and began a stampede, heading for the players. Alerted just in time, Barça set off straight for the sideline, bundling in. Some fell as they went, others were caught up in it all, scared. As he ducked beyond the forming cordon, Frank Kessié smiled.

There, from behind police and security staff hurriedly trying – and not always succeeding – to block off the entrance to the tunnel, they watched missiles being thrown, chairs and bottles flying, and listened to the abuse. Some supporters turned to look up at the directors’ box and demanded resignations. One