2021–22 FC Barcelona season
122nd season in existence of FC Barcelona / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The 2021–22 season was the 122nd season in the existence of Futbol Club Barcelona and its 91st consecutive season in the top flight of Spanish football. In addition to the domestic league, Barcelona participated in this season's editions of the Copa del Rey, the Supercopa de España, the UEFA Champions League, and the UEFA Europa League, entering the latter competition for the first time since 2003–04. This was also the first season since 2003–04 not to feature Lionel Messi, who transferred to Paris Saint-Germain after his contract expired.
2021–22 season | ||||
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President | Joan Laporta | |||
Head coach | Ronald Koeman (until 28 October) Sergi Barjuán (interim, from 28 October to 7 November) Xavi (from 8 November) | |||
Stadium | Camp Nou | |||
La Liga | 2nd | |||
Copa del Rey | Round of 16 | |||
Supercopa de España | Semi-finals | |||
UEFA Champions League | Group stage | |||
UEFA Europa League | Quarter-finals | |||
Top goalscorer | League: Memphis Depay (12) All: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang Memphis Depay (13 each) | |||
Highest home attendance | 86,422 vs Real Madrid (24 October 2021) | |||
Lowest home attendance | 20,384 vs Real Sociedad (15 August 2021) | |||
Biggest win | Barcelona 4–0 Athletic Bilbao Barcelona 4–0 Osasuna Real Madrid 0–4 Barcelona | |||
Biggest defeat | Barcelona 0–3 Bayern Munich Benfica 3–0 Barcelona Bayern Munich 3–0 Barcelona | |||
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The season was a tumultuous one, as Barcelona's economic problems forced the departure of Messi and Griezmann, in addition to not being able to replace them with quality players. Barcelona finished third in their Champions League group and failed to reach the knockout stages for the first time since 2003, when it competed in the UEFA Cup after a disastrous domestic campaign the previous season. Furthermore, poor domestic form saw Barça drop as low as ninth in the league by late October, which triggered head coach Ronald Koeman's sacking. He was replaced by a club legend Xavi, who managed to reverse the team's fortunes with new winter signings Ferran Torres and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The team's highlight of the season was the 4–0 thrashing of Real Madrid at the Bernabéu, which helped propel them to the second place in the standings, one they never relinquished for the rest of the campaign. However, April saw Barcelona get knocked out of the Europa League by Eintracht Frankfurt. Coupled with several league stumbles in April and May, in addition to earlier defeats in the Supercopa de España and Copa del Rey, Barça ended up trophyless, never managing to catch up with runaway leaders Real Madrid.