This will not be a normal season for Barça

The disasters in Turin, Rome and finally Liverpool pushed Barcelona chiefs to the edge, outraged by the indolence of the dressing room, and by cases such as Luis Suarez's, who was operated on before the Copa del Rey final so he could go to the Copa America with Uruguay. The answer to the last few seasons has been to take not of the petitions from the dressing room -- the first in the club's history that we know of -- in terms of signings. Griezmann was not to their liking; Neymar was. The transfer window has closed and the singings aren't what the players wanted. It leaves a fracture which should serve to wake up a group accused of inaction at the most important moments of the season. The initial challenge was this: provoke a crisis to revolutionise the team, to get them out of their comfort zone, where they have won leagues and cups but failed in Europe. To chop them up, wake them up and get them to demonstrate the reason they earn so much.

"After the biggest crisis come the biggest victories." This was the reason from the board, whose president, Josep Maria Bartomeu, wants to leave through the front door when his time's up, with another Champions League. The example was Anoeta. A huge crisis which ended with the treble. We will see if the same happens. For now, going against the desires of the dressing room has increased the tension that has been seen on the pitch in the first weeks of the season. So far, long faces, injuries, bad results... This will not be a normal season. Not at all. It starts after a busy summer which has seen four signings and, at the last minute, some steps to try and sign Neymar. Only some.