The celebrations for Barcelona's first title in four years got underway as soon as the final whistle ended the club's 4-2 victory over Espanyol on Sunday. They lasted less than three minutes.
As the players formed a spontaneous sardana - a carousel of interlinking players and coaching staff in the centre circle - some embittered Espanyol fans, with relegation looming over their club, hurdled the hoardings to charge at the squad of their city rivals.
“It’s a pity, but it’s football, it’s life,” Barcelona's captain Sergio Busquets sighed. “What matters now is to celebrate, to be happy.”
Here's how Busquets and anyone else associated with Barcelona celebrated the 2022/23 title triumph.
Dressing room drenching
After Barcelona's players spotted the first wave of pitch invaders - which included a representative for the conservative People's Party in May's local elections - they quickly scuttled to the relative safety of the tunnel.
Once the freshly crowned league champions had been ushered into the dressing room, they were swiftly joined by club president Joan Laporta. Never one to shirk the spotlight when the players have achieved success despite the club's chronic mismanagement, Laporta was bundled into the changing room like a fleshy, tailored bowling ball.
Lionel Messi looms
Presumably with a bag of rice on standby in the event of water-logging, Ronald Araujo took to social media to livestream the scenes from the dressing room. The Uruguayan's former teammate Lionel Messi joined the watching public on Instagram which certainly caught Araujo's attention.
Messi's shadow hung over all the celebrations. In April, 90min revealed that the club are 'leaving no stone unturned' in their efforts to bring Barcelona's all-time record scorer back to Catalonia. Once he had towelled off, Laporta underscored the club's public attempt to resign Messi, whose contract at Paris Saint-Germain ends this summer with no extension in sight.
It may have been Barcelona's first La Liga title of the 21st century without Messi on the pitch but his name was sung during the celebrations. Even Araujo was spotted mouthing the rhythmic calls for the Argentine from the team bus.
Neymar makes an appearance
Much has been made of the strict rules Xavi Hernandez reintroduced upon his appointment as manager in November 2021 but even the arch-disciplinarian loosened the leash on Sunday night.
When quizzed about the team's curfew after defeating Espanyol, Xavi shrugged: “Nah, tonight there’s freedom. This deserves a big celebration.”
Some of the unleashed Barcelona players and staff members took the party to Carpe Diem nightclub. According to the Spanish publication Sport, the former Barcelona forward Neymar was a surprise guest. Taking advantage of the two days off PSG had granted him, Neymar was filmed at an airport in Barcelona before reportedly joining up with colleagues from the club he left in 2017.
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Joint parade
For Barcelona's men's team, this year's league title ended a four-year drought and masked their European failures. However, the women's senior side wrapped up a fourth consecutive domestic crown ahead of an imminent Champions League final and celebrated alongside their male counterparts in a joint parade throughout the Catalan capital on Monday.
The celebratory chug on top of the open coaches lasted more than three hours as thousands of fans and even more pieces of ticker tape swarmed the triumphant squads.
Barcelona's official basketball, hockey and handball teams are also all top of their respective divisions this year. Although, those disciplines did not get a spot in the fleet which crawled through the city's streets this week.
Ugly side of the celebrations
The Informativos Telecinco camera operator Adrian Sanchez Berger recorded the more sinister side of the celebrations. Fans had crammed into the area surrounding the Canaletes fountain at the top of the Ramblas, a regular rendezvous spot to mark Barcelona's triumphs, after the triumph at Espanyol's Cornella.
Alongside the club's familiar hymns, a vocal group of the gathered support bellowed: "Vinicius muerete!" Die Vinicius - a shameful threat aimed at Real Madrid's star winger Vinicius Junior.
The ill feeling between both clubs has been stoked in recent weeks by Laporta's barbs accusing Real Madrid of being “the club of the regime” and the capital club supporting the ongoing investigation into payments made by Barcelona to a former referee chief.
On a day of great celebration, some had to spoil the spectacle.
This article was originally published on 90min as The best videos and celebrations from Barcelona's La Liga title win.
