With their 4-2 triumph over local rivals Espanyol on Sunday night, FC Barcelona mathematically secured the league title for the 2022/23 season, and thus, whatever happens, they will be crowned champions of La Liga for the current campaign, given that the Blaugranas restored an indelible 14-point lead ahead of Real Madrid, with 4 games to go.
So, after 4 years of waiting since the Catalans could lift the La Liga trophy for the last time, as the whistle blew, yesterday Barcelona were proclaimed champions of Spain for the first time since the iconic Lionel Messi left the club. In fact, it was the first league triumph for as many as 15 players of the club and only 5 had achieved that before.
Previously, only 5 current players of the club could taste what is it like to win a domestic championship in the Blaugrana colors. Sergio Busquets, who recently announced his decision to leave the club at the end of the season, has now won his 9th title, followed by vice-captain Sergi Roberto with 7. Jordi Alba has 6, Ter Stegen 5 and Dembélé 3 league titles lifted at the club.
Then, there are some others, particularly 6, who did experience winning a league title in their career but did it far from Catalonia. Robert Lewandowski stands out from this section with his 10 Bundesliga and one Polish league title, while Ferrán Torres and Eric García won once with Manchester City, Marcos Alonso with Chelsea, Kessié with AC Milan, and De Jong with Ajax.
That way, the rest of the squad can say that they won their first league title. Many of them are youngsters from the renowned academy of the club, La Masia, or they are fresh signings of the Blaugrana. Specifically, they are Ronald Araújo, Andreas Christensen, Jules Koundé, Alejandro Baldé, Pedri González, Pablo Gavi, Ansu Fati, and Raphinha.
Speaking about youngsters, Pablo Torre, Ángel Alarcón, Aleix Garrido, and Chadi Riad will also count as champions of Spain for this campaign as they have played a few minutes in the first team, and it remains to be seen whether Arnau Tenas and Iñaki Peña will end up playing a minute in this edition of the league, and thus, earning them the gold medal.
Last but not least, 4 footballers, concretely Gerrard Piqué, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Héctor Bellerín, and Memphis Depay, that will not finish the season at Barcelona but started the campaign in the Blaugrana dress, will also be considered champions of this league as well, having played a couple of minutes during the first phase of the season.
