Barcelona's lamentable farewell to the La Liga title

Barcelona officially bid farewell to La Liga on Sunday, although for a couple of weeks now it's been Mission Impossible. After making a miraculous recovery (they were 12 points behind Atletico Madrid in December), they got stage fright and wasted the chance to move top when they lost to Granada. Since then, everything's been rubbish, ending with the ridiculous draw against Levante (after leading 2-0). Sunday's game against Celta was just a formality in the end. Another sad defeat and more signs of the fragility of this Barça side, who've dropped 19 points at Camp Nou this season. Lamentable numbers (the worse since 2003-04) that show how bad the Blaugrana have been.

The dream of a Copa-Liga double distracted us for a little while from what is a mediocre Barça. A Barça that have taken one point from 12 against their direct rivals for the title. A Barça that was humiliated, once again, in the Champions League. A Barça that, despite Ronald Koeman's best efforts, is what it is. As Lionel Messi announced months ago. No one listened to the Argentine star and the result is what it is: a consolation Copa del Rey trophy that doesn't serve as an excuse to delay the revolution that is still needed. That doesn't mean, of course, kicking out Koeman, but of a deep clean of the squad. This Barça, we hope with Messi (who will win his eighth Pichichi this season) must move forward with a lot of changes. Supported by the experience and excellence of the best ever. There are too many excess players not providing anything. Some whose time at Camp Nou is over and others who never had the quality to start with. They have to sign and they have to sign well, even with no money. And that's Laporta's mission: to build a winning team on a shoestring budget.