Barcelona finished the season in second position. Okay, but Barcelona couldn't really compete with Real Madrid. That is why Barcelona finished second in the points table as the other teams in the league did not perform well at all. If you look at the point difference between Real Madrid and Barcelona last season, you will get the answer to your questions about how consistent Real Madrid was last season and how far behind Real Madrid even though Barcelona finished second.
When I first saw club football, the first league for me was La Liga and I knew Real Madrid and Barcelona as teams, but there is a big difference between Barcelona then and Barcelona today. How Barcelona will return to the previous position is now a big question.
We cannot deny that significant differences are currently occurring in the La Liga competition, Barcelona finances are the main reason for Barcelona current downturn, so to get out of all their problems, of course Barcelona must be able to restore their financial stability, Previously, Xavi was able to bring Barcelona to success get La Liga trophy even though their financial situation was starting to get worse at that time, but Xavi was not a wizard who was able to continue to bring Barcelona to compete in the championship if there was no strong financial support, so that's why it was difficult for Barcelona to be able to compete with Madrid last season because they didn't the improvements that have occurred in the Barcelona squad so I think Barcelona ending the season in 2nd place is actually still better.
Previously, when Barcelona was victorious and turned into one of the big European teams, of course all eyes were focused on the la liga after their fierce competition with Madrid, but looking at Barcelona current condition, of course it is difficult for us to see the possibility of fierce competition occurring in La Liga again next season, currently Madrid has continued to improve and with their current pretty good finances, of course they have the ability to form a very strong team that will be difficult for Barcelona to face in the future.