A decade of Dominance

Shining in the glory of 'Eight in 11', as was also inscribed on their jersey made specifically for the occasion, Camp Nou erupted into a frenzy as this season's heroes completed their ornamental lap of honour – Barcelona had yet again made the extraordinary appear exceedingly ordinary. With the defeat of Levante at home, FC Barcelona wrapped up yet another league title with three games in hand. Cherishing one of the most comfortable positions in the long season, Barca now has to prepare for two finals with an eye on another milestone: A treble of trebles.

Though this season seemed to be comfortably in its kitty, Barcelona had its nerves tested. Hammered by Betis, somehow snatching a point against Villareal with two injury-time strikes, Barca has pushed its way out of impending troubles through sheer commitment to brilliance. Eight stalemates and defeats to Betis and Leganes sure gave Barcelona a few hiccups in dominance; but thrashing potential title-contenders – Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid – along with other challenging teams of the league – Sevilla, Valencia, Athletic Bilbao – has emboldened the Catalans this season.

Despite just two defeats this term and one in the last, Barca's dominance has been underappreciated. Valverde's men have only lost one important fixture – the UCL quarter-final second leg in Rome last year – that cost them a trophy and eclipsed all other achievements. Eight La Liga titles and seven Copa del Rey cups – with another final against Valencia due on May 25 – draw a perfect picture of Barca's domestic reign reflecting the Catalans' era of dominance. But, the recent drought in Europe seems to have eroded some glitter. Nevertheless, in the past decade, Barca has registered three Champions League triumphs, with two of those being trebles and one being converted into a historic Sextuple (2009) – six trophies in a calendar year.

Unlike Juventus, Bayern, PSG, who have portrayed a similar dominance in their respective leagues – in Spain, Barcelona has always been challenged by a tremendous competitor in Real Madrid, with Atlético Madrid often being a party spoiler, especially after having snatched the title from Barca on the last matchday in 2013-14. Real Madrid has scripted their own supremacy, winning an unprecedented three consecutive UCL trophies under their enigmatic coach Zinedine Zidane. Obviously, Real did not meet Barca in any of the UCL seasons in a decade, technically implying that Barca did not lose out on the UCL-conquering Madrid directly but failed to win it due to its own shortcomings. Having set the standard so high – two trebles and a Sextuple – Barca's domestic double is often dubbed as a consolation prize to many who view the Catalan side as a potentially all-conquering club.

Game-changer

Back in 2008, when Barca appointed ex-captain Pep Guardiola as manager, it didn't appear that he would bring about a phenomenal change, enforcing Barca's metamorphosis into a massive powerhouse capable of unlocking defences just by precise passing and possession. Pep changed football in this context and is solely responsible for influencing Barca in a way that has defined much of its illustrious decade.

Pep's philosophy drew comparisons to his coach and legendary player Johan Cryuff's Total Football tactic that had sealed Cryuff as the most successful Barca manager, winning 11 trophies in his eight-year spell at the helm with his famous Dream Team. But while Cryuff is credited with incorporating pressing and possession in the game, Pep deserves credit for redefining the modern game by reinterpreting his coach's philosophy. Tiki-taka – a sophisticated combination of possession and pressing that are synchronised through elaborate positional play had deprived the opponents of a counter just as Barca began scripting history.

The ball-playing technique and pressing which Guardiola's footballers championed are dominant features of the modern game today with teams actively shifting to offensive pressing while utilising open spaces in the field. UEFA's own technical reports even describe this gameplay as "the Guardiola effect". Guardiola's approach would have scaled his mentor's success graph but it pierced through the threshold and scripted a new record only due to one additional alteration that he made in that all-conquering Barca side – the decision to play a young Lionel Messi as False-9. With pass masters Xavi and Iniesta by his side, the trio did not need wingers for an advanced attack. The masterplan Pep crafted with these three was enough to make Barca formidable if not unbeatable. And, as they say, the rest is history. Barca has a haul of 14 trophies with the Sextuple to its name under him.

The glittering decade

All three ex-Barca captains later appointed as coach in this decade have one thing in common. All of them won the La Liga at least twice and all stuck to Barca's grassroots gameplay of possession. Luis Enrique and Ernesto Valverde had different teams than Pep but the ideology has remained similar. Tiki-taka gradually diminished with Xavi and Iniesta exiting the fray but Pep's evolution of Messi is the greatest gift Barca may ever have. It gave Barca a decade of unprecedented success, spreading palpable fear among opponents.

Pep set a precedent that Barca has carried for over a decade. Winning 34 trophies in the past 15 seasons points to the recent success in footballing history cherished by Barca, and a big acknowledgement of that sits deservingly on their talisman – Lionel Messi. His tenth league title, with a sixth UCL trophy almost in sight, takes us back to the talisman's speech at the curtain-raiser Joan Gamper match where he addressed Camp Nou and promised to bring back European success after Barca had been humiliated and kicked out of last year's UCL by Roma in a disastrous ending. Netting 48 goals and setting up 22 more in 46 matches (so far this season), Messi has been as instrumental in Barca's success as he has been in every season of this glittering decade.

Though quality players of the club have departed one after another and the team has changed drastically since 2008, Barca's philosophy and Lionel Messi have not dimmed the fire sparked by Pep. Likes of Busquets and Pique have also stepped up their game since last season to provide a comprehensive effect and traverse the road to a potential treble. New summer signings in Arthur, Vidal, Coutinho, Dembélé and Lenglet has given Barca the edge it lacked since the departure of Neymar two seasons ago. Suarez and Messi have been at their attacking best while Ter Stegen has been sharp with deadly instincts to provide match-winning saves.

Barcelona has been striving to achieve the UCL trophy and their domestic dominance just reflects the willingness to go all the way.