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I agree with you. If you look at the statistics in the previous few seasons, Barcelona was able to stay in the top 3 for several seasons and that shows that they are still the same Barcelona and are one of the big teams in La Liga. But what differentiates them from previous seasons is that they slumped to 4th and 5th place this season. I think that's something that rarely happens to Barcelona. And coupled with the financial crisis experienced by the team, some people think that Barcelona is in trouble. But if you look at their current position I am sure they will get second place in La Liga. And with great young players in their team, I think Barcelona will return to being one of Europe's strongest teams next season.
I am very impressed with Barcelona struggle to get out of their downturn this season, they were knocked out of the top four positions due to poor performances which resulted in them losing a lot of points. However, Barcelona was able to show its identity as a big team in La Liga, now they have managed to re-enter the UCL Zone by occupying second place. The decline in performance of Atletico and Girona provides an advantage for Barcelona, although it is a bit difficult for Barcelona to reach the first position now occupied by Real Madrid, they can try to secure the runner up position until the end of the season.
I also think Barcelona has performed very well in the last few matches they have played, this is the result of the hard work of the team trying to recover from its nightmare at that time. This season, it is impossible for Barcelona to compete with Real Madrid who are at the top of the standings, because Barcelona's points tally is 8 points different from Real Madrid's. However, I quite applaud the struggle of Barcelona, which at that time was ranked 6th in the standings, with its hard work it has now moved to second place in the standings. This is certainly a matter of pride for all Barcelona supporters, perhaps not only that, Xavi will also be very happy to see his squad's performance return to normal as expected. Hopefully next season his performance and consistency will still be maintained like this, so he can compete with Real Madrid.