Who Would Pay the Price If Barcelona Went Trophyless This Season?

At times this season—mostly its entirety—Barcelona looked impervious. Questions about trophies didn’t start with “if,” but “how many.”

Winners of the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup, some would suggest the Catalan giants have already won silverware this year but, for argument’s sake, the trophies that matter are the Copa del Rey, La Liga and the UEFA Champions League.

Scheduled to face Sevilla in the Copa del Rey final on May 21, Barca have at least one opportunity for a major piece of silverware. Knocked out of the Champions League by Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid, the defending European champions lost their chance to repeat—something never accomplished before in the tournament’s modern format.

La Liga, though, is far more complicated.

Before April, Luis Enrique’s men had a nine-point lead over second-place Atleti and a 10-point lead over third-place Real Madrid. Three consecutive league losses—to Real Madrid (H), Real Sociedad (A) and Valencia (H)—were seized upon by the chasing Madrilenian duo.

What was once bordering on, and extended to, double digits has been reduced. Atletico currently share the same points total of 82, and Real Madrid are one point behind. It was almost unthinkable one month ago La Liga’s title race would …

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