This is a SuperBarca, a brilliant Super Cup winner with eyes on the future

Barça are champions again. Super champions. In an extraordinary match, they convincingly beat Madrid in Riyadh and won the first title of the Xavi era. At last we saw a brilliant Barça from start to finish. A perfect Barça, without ups and downs, without disconnections. A Barça that knew how to control the match, set the pace, be patient, look for opportunities and take advantage of the opponent's mistakes to achieve a historic victory. Xavi approached the battle with a lot of tactical intelligence, with four midfielders and a spectacular Gavi acting as a false winger. The cantera player, at 18, showed the nous of a veteran and was the true star of the final, contributing to all three Blaugrana goals.

Barça were much better than Madrid because they put a lot more intensity into the duel. Probably because they needed victory much more than Madrid. Barça showed more ambition and gave Ancelotti's team no option, reducing them to a caricature against Barca;s footballing show. This Barça that won the Spanish Super Cup is a Barça prepared to take on great challenges. A very complete Barça, solvent in defence, brilliant in the midfield and efficient in attack. A lucid Barça. A total Barça. A Barça ready to be champion of everything.

Any new project needs to be consolidated through success. Xavi is rebuilding a Barça that was broken by failures and the painful departure of Leo Messi. For twenty years, the Argentine crack was the reference point for the Blaugrana. Under his magical influence, Barça won 35 titles. The last one, 2021 Copa del Rey. That was more than a year and a half ago. Since his traumatic departure, the Blaugrana had gone from disappointment to disappointment. With two consecutive eliminations in the group stage of the Champions League. Barça's image had been devalued in Europe. And the triple economic, sporting and institutional crisis caused by the previous board had left the club on the verge of collapse.

Laporta made such a brave and risky bet that he needed immediate results. He needed wins. And that, obviously, generated emergencies. And enormous pressure. The enormous victory this Sunday in the final of the Spanish Super Cup greatly reduces the tension and allows us to follow the path towards the future with more calm and, above all, with more enthusiasm. This title against Madrid, 638 days later, should take Barça soaring towards a new era of triumph. The Xavi era.