It will take a while before the news of Lionel Messi's shock departure fully sinks in, but Barcelona simply have to look forward, with the club going in search of their 27th Spanish league title in 2021-22.
Last Thursday, it was announced that Ronald Koeman's side would be unable to keep hold of Messi, which sent shockwaves around the world of football, and the fact that the club have lost one of the greatest players to ever play the sport will be hard to digest over the coming season.
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Barcelona will go on without the legendary figure, though, and they will be desperate to improve on last season's third-place finish, with seven points separating them from champions Atletico Madrid.
It is now two seasons since the Catalan giants last lifted the La Liga trophy, and Koeman still has an incredibly strong squad to work with despite the departure of a certain Argentine.
Here, Sports Mole provides an in-depth preview of the team's 2021-22 campaign and discusses what the club's supporters can expect in the coming season.
FIXTURES
Barcelona have a tough start to the new season, as they will welcome Real Sociedad to Camp Nou on August 15 before travelling to Athletic Bilbao six days later; the month ends with a home game against Getafe, before opening September with a trip to Estadio Ramon to take on a dangerous Sevilla.
Koeman's side will face the champions Atletico Madrid at the start of October, before hosting Real Madrid towards the end of the month. Barcelona's home game against Atletico will be at the start of February, and it will be fascinating to see how the table looks entering the final months of the campaign.
Barcelona's second league Clasico of the season will be at the Bernabeu in the middle of March, while April begins with a home game against Sevilla, and the Catalan giants will hope to be involved in the Champions League at that stage of the season, which would make the double-header even more difficult.
The La Liga giants will face Real Betis (A) and Celta Vigo (H) in the early stages of May before playing their penultimate match of the season away to Getafe. On the final weekend, Koeman's team will host Villarreal, which could be a very tricky assignment if there is something serious on the line.
> Click here to see all of Barcelona's 2021-22 fixtures
SUMMER SIGNINGS
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In
Emerson Royal (£8.1m, Real Betis)
Memphis Depay (free, Lyon)
Sergio Aguero (free, Manchester City)
Eric Garcia (free, Manchester City)
Out
Junior Firpo (£13.5m, Leeds United)
Jean-Clair Todibo (£7.7m, Nice)
Carles Alena (£4.5m, Getafe)
Juan Miranda (free, Real Betis)
Matheus Fernandes (free, Palmeiras)
Francisco Trincao (loan, Wolverhampton Wanderers)
Lionel Messi (released)
Barcelona total spent to date: £8.1m
Barcelona total received to date: £25.7m
Barcelona net transfer balance: £17.6m
SQUAD
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Goalkeepers: Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Neto
Defenders: Sergino Dest, Gerard Pique, Ronald Araujo, Clement Lenglet, Jordi Alba, Sergi Roberto, Samuel Umtiti, Eric Garcia, Oscar Mingueza, Emerson Royal
Midfielders: Sergio Busquets, Miralem Pjanic, Riqui Puig, Philippe Coutinho, Pedri, Frenkie de Jong
Forwards: Antoine Griezmann, Martin Braithwaite, Ousmane Dembele, Ansu Fati, Sergio Aguero, Memphis Depay
STRONGEST XI
STAR PLAYER - PEDRI
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Selecting an 18-year-old as Barcelona's star player is somewhat controversial, but there is no question that Pedri is a vital player for the Catalan giants, and he will be in the starting side more often than not next term.
In 2020-21, the midfielder made 52 appearances in all competitions at club level, contributing four goals and six assists, before then representing Spain at Euro 2020 and the Tokyo Olympics.
It has been an incredibly busy last year for the teenager, but he is due to return to training at Barcelona this week and should be available for their league opener against Real Sociedad.
Pedri has showed maturity beyond his years over the last 12 months, and it is incredible to think that he had only made 37 appearances in senior football for Las Palmas before arriving at Camp Nou.
MANAGER - RONALD KOEMAN
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There was plenty of speculation surrounding Koeman's future at the end of last season, as the Dutchman had an underwhelming first campaign at the helm. The 58-year-old managed to deliver the Copa del Rey title, but the club were eliminated by Paris Saint-Germain in the last-16 stage of the Champions League.
In La Liga, Barcelona finished third, seven points behind the champions Atletico, and the season, coupled with the issues off the pitch, led to suggestions that there would be a change of manager at Camp Nou.
Koeman will lead the team into the new season, though, and having won four La Liga titles as a player during his time at Barcelona, the Dutchman will be desperate to finish at the summit. Overall, the former defender has had 54 games in charge of the Catalan giants and boasts a record of 34 wins, nine draws and 11 losses.
LAST SEASON - THIRD
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As mentioned above, Barcelona won last season's Copa del Rey, but they disappointed in the Champions League, and the club would also not have been pleased with their finish in Spain's top flight.
Koeman's side won 24, drew seven and lost seven of their 38 league matches to collect 79 points, which left them in third, just two points above fourth-placed Sevilla, while Real Madrid were five points ahead in second.
Barcelona managed to keep Messi despite a summer of speculation, but a poor start to the season saw the team win just two of their first six matches, while they had already lost four times in the league by the start of December, which left them playing catch-up in the second half of the campaign.
The team's form between the start of January and start of April was sensational, but they suffered a damaging defeat at Real Madrid on April 10 before losing again to Granada at the end of the month.
The Catalan giants also only managed to win one of their final four league games of the season, with the run including a 2-1 home defeat to Celta Vigo, but they did keep hold of third position and were never in any danger of dropping out of the Champions League positions.
PREDICTION
Had Messi stayed at Barcelona then we would be predicting either first or second for the club this season, but it is difficult to overlook the Argentine's exit when picking where the team will finish.
There is still an incredibly talented squad at Camp Nou, and they will win plenty of football matches during the 2021-22 campaign, enough to leave them in and around first position entering the final weeks of the campaign.
We are actually expecting a very, very tight title race between Atletico, Real Madrid and Barcelona but just cannot predict Koeman's side to finish above either of the capital giants and have therefore settled on third.
VERDICT: Third
Matt Law
