HOW BARCELONA WON ITS 1st SPANISH LEAGUE TITLE SINCE MESSI'S TRAUMATIC EXIT

When club president Joan Laporta, the man who first hired Pep Guardiola nearly 15 years ago, returned for a second stint in charge near the end of the 2019-2020 season...

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Barcelona’s risky bet to mortgage the club’s future paid off Sunday — in the short term at least — when a team led by newcomer Robert Lewandowski clinched its first Spanish league title in four years. Barcelona won its 27th league title, second to Real

Madrid’s 35, with four rounds remaining after a 4-2 win at Espanyol with a pair of goals by Lewandowski. Now the club can finally start a new chapter after winning its first major title since the painful exit of Lionel Messi two years ago.

Here is how Barcelona led the league since the 13th round, brushing aside an arguably more talented Real Madrid side and giving Atletico Madrid no chance of catching up.

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When club president Joan Laporta, the man who first hired Pep Guardiola nearly 15 years ago, returned for a second stint in charge near the end of the 2019-2020 season, he found a club in ruins. The financial situation of the club with 1.3 billion euros ($1.4 billion) of debt meant Laporta could not honor his pledge to convince Messi to stay. Instead, Laporta told Barcelona's greatest player that he had to leave because the club could not afford him. So last season, after seeing the team win zero titles, Laporta and his board decided it was time for drastic action. They sold off 25% of its Spanish league TV rights for the next 25 years for 667 million euros ($725 million) along with other assets.