Barcelona won LaLiga by 14 points last season, but that bald statistic does not tell even half the story as Atletico Madrid pushed the Catalan giants incredibly hard.
The title hinged on Atletico s trip to Camp Nou in early March, when a typically brilliant Lionel Messi free-kick earned Barcelona a 1-0 victory that put them in pole position for the league.
Diego Simeone thereafter switched his focus to the Europa League and Antoine Griezmann scored twice in a 3-0 defeat of Marseille in the final to justify that decision in some style.
Atletico who downed Real Madrid 4-2 in the UEFA Super Cup look poised to offer Barca their strongest competition again this term, with their city rivals adapting to a new era without Cristiano Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane.
B…