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LALIGA

BRUTAL DOMINANCE: 12 League titles for Barça in the 21st century!

Published:16/05/2025 - 08:23h

Updated:16/05/2025 - 08:53h

A review of the golden eras and key figures of the 'culé' dominance in LaLiga during the last 20 years

Calendar of FC Barcelona

Hansi Flick's FC Barcelona were crowned champions of LaLiga 2024/25 with two matchdays to go. The 'azulgrana' victory at Espanyol's ground (0-2) sealed the title for a team clearly superior to the rest from start to finish to lift their twenty-eighth League trophy.

The goals from Lamine Yamal and Fermín López returned the 7-point advantage to the 'culés' over Real Madrid, with only 6 points at stake. The team defeated 18 of their 19 rivals in the tournament (Betis, the only one to add two draws) and led the tournament with an iron fist, with 27 victories and 97 goals scored.

Thus, Barça regains the crown they had last reached in 2023, with Xavi Hernández on the bench. The Flick era starts in an unbeatable way, with a domestic treble that ratifies the brutal 'culé' dominance in Spanish football.

Barça gets closer again to 8 titles of Real Madrid

And Barça also celebrates its 28th League title in a very special season, the club's 125th anniversary and is again 8 titles behind Real Madrid. The 'blancos' lifted their 36th trophy last year, but so far in the 21st century the 'culés' have been clear dominators of the tournament.

Since 2001, Barcelona has lifted 12 Leagues, 3 more than Madrid (9). The other four trophies are divided between Valencia and Atlético de Madrid, with a couple each. The 'colchoneros' remain on the historical podium of the First Division, with 11 championships, ahead of Athletic Club (8).

Valencia, with 6 trophies, Real Sociedad (2), Deportivo de La Coruña, Sevilla and Betis (one title each) complete the list of clubs with titles in the highest category of Spanish football. The 'azulgrana' team has 2 titles in the last three years and 5 in the last decade.

However, the brutal Catalan dominance began two decades ago, when Leo Messi debuted with the first team and Ronaldinho established himself as the best on the planet. 20 years later, Lamine Yamal takes over as the new world 'crack', accompanied by figures such as Pedri, Raphinha and Lewandowski.

🏆League Titles in the 21st century:

  1. FC Barcelona: 12
  2. Real Madrid: 9
  3. Valencia: 2
  4. Atlético de Madrid: 2

🏆Absolute LaLiga Honours:

  1. Real Madrid: 36
  2. FC Barcelona: 28
  3. Atlético de Madrid: 11
  4. Athletic Club: 8
  5. Valencia: 6
  6. Real Sociedad: 2
  7. Deportivo de La Coruña: 1
  8. Sevilla: 1
  9. Real Betis: 1

Double by Rijkaard's team and absolute dominance by the Pep Team

The Barça squad celebrating the LaLiga 2005/06 title
The Barça squad celebrating the LaLiga 2005/06 title

The first 'azulgrana' title in the 21st century came in the 2004/05 season, Frank Rijkaard's second on the 'culé' bench. The signings of Ronaldinho, Deco, Giuly, Eto'o and Larsson changed the face of a team that had gone five years without titles and ended up doing the double in the League (2005 and 2006), in addition to winning their second Champions League in Paris also in 2006.

Although the Dutchman's cycle closed with two seasons without trophies, Pep Guardiola took over the reins of the club in 2008, starting the most brilliant stage in history for the Catalans. Barça won three consecutive Leagues and a total of 14 official titles in 4 years, including 2 'big-eared' trophies.

Beyond Madrid's enormous investment in reinforcements, the 'culés' managed to revalidate the league titles with 99 and 96 points in 2010 and 2011, respectively. To break the 'azulgrana' hegemony, the 'merengues' had to score 100 points in 2012.

Tito Vilanova, Luis Enrique and Valverde, dominators of the last decade

However, Madrid's success would be ephemeral, as Barça, with Tito Vilanova, recovered the crown in 2013, equaling the record for most points in a season (100). In 2014 Luis Enrique arrived on the club's bench and, in his first season, the Asturian lifted the treble in 2015.

The Barça squad celebrating the LaLiga 2015/16 title
The Barça squad celebrating the LaLiga 2015/16 title

Barça led by the 'MSN' managed to revalidate the League title in 2016, although they could only win one Champions League in three seasons. Ernesto Valverde replaced 'Lucho' as coach in 2017 and also won two consecutive Leagues in 2018 and 2019, with a wide advantage over Real Madrid in both tournaments.

Xavi and Flick allowed Barça to reign again in LaLiga

The Barça squad celebrating the LaLiga 2022/23 title
The Barça squad celebrating the LaLiga 2022/23 title

The 'txingurri' was sacked in January 2020 and Barça had to wait four seasons to be crowned again in the highest category of Spanish football. Xavi Hernández arrived on the 'azulgrana' bench in November 2021 and, in 2023, won LaLiga with a 10-point advantage over Madrid.

The team did not display flashy football, but it did show remarkable defensive performance to sing the title on matchday 34, also against Espanyol and having conceded only 13 goals up to that moment

After the departure of the 'egarense' in 2024, Hansi Flick took over the command of the club. Although only two reinforcements arrived and the squad was much younger and shorter compared to the previous year, Barça displayed an offensive, flashy football with a very advanced defensive line. 

The team took risks at the back, but was an implacable machine in attack, with 97 goals in 35 matchdays (27 more than those scored in 22/23) to seal the title two matchdays before the end.

Comebacks, routs and large results were part of the menu in a very exciting season where the 'culés' crushed an ultra-favorite Real Madrid before the start of the year. In the end, the difference between Barcelona and the rest was clear in the general classification.

The 12 Leagues won by FC Barcelona in the 21st century

Season Coach Points
2004/05 Frank Rijkaard 84
2005/06 Frank Rijkaard 82
2008/09 Pep Guardiola 87
2009/10 Pep Guardiola 99
2010/11 Pep Guardiola 96
2012/13 Tito Vilanova 100*
2014/15 Luis Enrique 94
2015/16 Luis Enrique 92
2017/18 Ernesto Valverde 93
2018/19 Ernesto Valverde 87
2022/23 Xavi Hernández 88
2024/25 Hansi Flick 85**
  1. *Historical points record
  2. **The season has not yet culminated