How David Moyes helped Barcelona win the treble

David Moyes doesn’t know the full story, but he inadvertently helped both top-flight Barcelona clubs this year.

When his Real Sociedad side beat Barça in January, the defeat unleashed a wave of negativity at Camp Nou which led to changes, departures and Xavi helping clear the air between Luis Enrique and Lionel Messi.

Enrique was frequently criticised in the week after that defeat in San Sebastian and it was a commonly held opinion in Barcelona that he wasn’t good enough to be coach and also that he wouldn’t be in charge next season. The word was that Messi in particular had been assured of the latter.

How the mood has changed after Enrique’s won the treble, how those fickle football fans – and every club has them - are now toasting their new emperor.

That January defeat also ushered in regime change, with the promise of early club elections after a series of scandals. Again, that all faded into the background as Barça got better and better.

Following Barça’s comfortable triumph in Berlin, the current board stood down as they confirmed an election date for July. Eight candidates have already set their campaign offices up around Barcelona, with acting president Josep Maria Bartomeu, who was ridiculed in January, standing for president in his own right. He was the former right hand man to Sandro Rosell, chosen by the board to complete Rosell’s term of office in 2014 when Barca’s disgraced president resigned.

Bartomeu was seen as being at fault as Barça were charged with breaking FIFA’s transfer regulations for young players, at fault too for Neymargate as his signature is on most of the contracts.

Yet Bartomeu’s position has been transformed like the fortunes of the team. He only needs to say: ‘Vote for me, we won the treble on my watch’.

Not only that, he moved decisively in the days after Berlin to get Dani Alves and Luis Enrique to sign new contracts. Barça also signed Sevilla’s fleet-heeled Catalan winger Aleix Vidal, though he can’t play until January because of their transfer ban.

It was a torrent of superb news for fans still on a massive high after the triumph in Germany. No wonder Xavi looked a little wistful as he sat alone and reflected at the back of the open top bus carrying his team back through the streets of the Catalan capital. That was until a drunken Neymar tried to push him and Xavi reacted angrily.

Espanyol players are also delighted with Moyes, since Real Sociedad’s victory at Rayo Vallecano on the final day of the season meant they finished tenth. Espanyol’s players and manager received big bonuses for finishing in the top ten.

There are other stories in Catalonia. Girona, as detailed last week, were a minute away from a first ever promotion to La Liga when Lugo equalised in the 93rd minute. That meant Girona dropped into a play-off place – though not before the players returned to the pitch long after the final whistle to play an extra 40 seconds lost after a linesman was hit by a bottle. They didn’t score.

Their promotion rivals Sporting Gijon won at champions Real Betis, who appeared to roll over with their work already done. Poor Girona. They looked shot mentally and physically, but then hammered Zaragoza 3-0 away in the first play-off game. There’s life still in them.

Luis Enrique is a lifelong Sporting fan so he was delighted that his team are back in the top-flight and he’ll manage against them at the highest level for the first time in his career next season.

Enrique is a busy man and celebrated the treble by cycling for three days with his mates. He did 116 kilometres and climbed 4000 metres on his first day - nothing unusual for a fitness freak who has competed in several iron man competitions. He’ll enjoy his break before returning to head up Barça’s pre-season tour to the United States where they’ll meet Manchester United and Paris St Germain among others.

His players won’t have quite the same break. Several travelled directly from their celebrations to join their national squads, the Spain players Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets, Marc Bartra, Jordi Alba and Pedro (Iniesta is injured) for two games. Former Barça player Cesc Fabregas was Spain’s best player in a laboured 2-1 win against Costa Rica, with Barça player to be Vidal also sharp after an excellent season with Sevilla.

David de Gea, Alvaro Morata, Paco Alcacer, Nolito, Bernata and former Liverpool defender Mikel San Jose were among the younger players chosen by Vicente del Bosque and as he attempts to find the right winning combination to get them back to the top of world football after the departures of Xavi and Xabi Alonso.

Pique was whistled by Madridistas in the crowd in Leon because he’d made a joke at Madrid’s expense during Barça’s celebrations. It was light-hearted as he thanked Kevin Roldan, the singer who’d published a picture from Cristiano Ronaldo’s 30th birthday party which caused such a backlash as it came hours after a 4-0 derby defeat in February.

Some trace Madrid’s decline from that point onwards, but did the whistling fans him want him to stop having a laugh, to become a robot who says nothing of interest like other footballers? Or do Madrid fans boo anyone, including their own, as Iker Casillas found out recently.

“Whistles? Maybe some didn't get my joke,” said Pique, one of the brightest men in football. “Truth is it doesn’t affect me, I’m very happy with the treble.” And he’s right to be.

After next week’s Euro 2016 qualifier in Belarus, the Spain players will get a rest while Barça’s South Americans who headed off for the 24-day long Copa America have plenty of work ahead of them if their national sides continue to do well.

By the time that tournament has finished in Chile, their teams will be back in pre-season – though they’ll get two weeks off. There’s almost no break for the top players in a trophy-winning team like Barça, yet while they were expected to tire at the end of the season, they got better.

Not that they’ll have any sympathy from the players in Spain’s lower leagues. Their season is on-going with the play-off finals not scheduled to finish until June 21st. In Spain the 12 month season is already upon us.