Barcelona weren't expected to challenge for La Liga this season, not properly, and in the end they ended up winning it by some distance. Legend Xavi though thinks that has just papered over the cracks.
This time last year Real Madrid had just won the Champions League for the second time in a row and had finally won La Liga for the first time in five years and their dominance didn't look like it would end.
They played rivals Barcelona in the Spanish Supercopa in the summer pretty easily and also dispatched Manchester United in the UEFA Super Cup.
It looked like 2017/18 was going to see them run away with everything once again and whilst they did become the first team to win the Champions League three times in a row they were miles off the pace in La Liga.
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Instead it was Barcelona who walked away with it and were just one game short of going the season undefeated however that clearly didn't impress former Barca midfielder Xavi.
Speaking in a private Whatsapp conversation broadcast by Catalan radio station El Penalti de Radio Estel he ripped into those making decisions on transfers, saying:
"Madrid have this winning gene and Barca have slept, for years, when it comes to signings. Those who make the signings do not know what they are doing, and you pay for that. It seems Barca win [La Liga] titles, but the others [Madrid] are winning the Champions League."
It does seem a little harsh on Barca considering they signed Ousmane Dembele, Philippe Coutinho, Paulinho, Nelson Semedo and Yerry Mina last season.
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One problem them was that Coutinho couldn't play for the Catalan side in the Champions League having already played for eventual runners up Liverpool already at the beginning of the season.
However Barca's recent record in the Champions League isn't as good and they've crashed out in the quarter finals in the three seasons Real have won it.
In the records Xavi also reckoned Los Blancos had been lucky in those three wins, saying, "Real Madrid had everything go their way. Injuries like Neymar, [Arjen] Robben, [Jerome] Boateng, the referees, Liverpool's most important player [Mohamed Salah] getting injured, mistakes from the Bayern and Liverpool goalkeepers. It is like a curse."
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It can't be fun for Barca fans to see Real keep winning the Champions League!
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Xavi, Football News, Barcelona, Champions League, Spain, Real Madrid, La Liga