Freixa says Barcelona’s trophy advantage is fuelling Real Madrid’s anxiety

Toni Freixa, a former Barcelona presidential candidate and former club spokesperson, has played down the significance of the club’s defeats by Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid, saying setbacks against two strong teams are a natural part of a long season.

Writing in the Catalan newspaper Sport, Freixa warned against treating every poor result as a crisis or encouraging pessimistic narratives about Barcelona’s future. He acknowledged that the club’s record-breaking start to La Liga had created a wave of euphoria, perhaps beyond what was justified, but insisted the team could recover its form and demonstrate its quality again during the campaign.

Freixa pointed to Barcelona’s difficulties last season as evidence that setbacks do not necessarily signal lasting problems. The club lost at home to Paris Saint-Germain, suffered a 4-1 defeat by Sevilla at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan, and then required a late goal to beat Girona 2-1 before losing to Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu.

He also referred to what became known as “dirty November” in the 2024-2025 season, a phrase used at the time by manager Hansi Flick. Barcelona lost to Real Sociedad, drew with Celta Vigo and then suffered three successive home defeats against Las Palmas, Leganes and Atletico Madrid.

Despite those difficult spells, Barcelona went on to win five of the six possible domestic trophies across the following two seasons, Freixa said. He argued that temporary stumbles should not automatically be interpreted as evidence of a crisis because the team had already shown it could recover and return to winning ways.

Freixa criticises ‘apocalyptic’ narratives

The former presidential candidate also criticised those who turn every defeat into a catastrophe and promote what he described as “apocalyptic narratives” about the club.

Freixa suggested that such reactions were linked to Barcelona’s historical superiority in recent years. He said the club had won seven La Liga titles and six Copa del Rey trophies in the past 12 seasons, while Real Madrid had claimed four league titles and one cup during the same period.

That created a 13-5 advantage in domestic trophies, a gap Freixa said was “choking” the Real Madrid camp and “explains the panic they feel at the prospect of it widening further this season”.

He concluded that Barcelona had been doing “very good work” for some time and would continue to prove it during the current season, despite attempts by certain parties to push the situation in the opposite direction.