Football Season Guide

Barcelona enter the 2025/26 season after a historic domestic treble, winning La Liga, Copa del Rey and Spanish Super Cup. They also came within three minutes of reaching the Champions League final, narrowly losing to Inter Milan. Under Hansi Flick, the pressure is on to maintain that extraordinary level. The squad remains largely intact. Marcus Rashford joins on loan from Manchester United to provide pace and versatility up front, while goalkeeper Joan García arrives from Espanyol to add competition between the posts. Oriol Romeu returned from loan but is expected to leave the club shortly. Barcelona have also seen some departures, with Pau Víctor moving to Braga, Álex Valle to Como, Ansu Fati on loan to Monaco, Pablo Torre to Mallorca, and Clément Lenglet joining Atlético Madrid. Iñigo Martínez has left for Al Nassr, and Hansi Flick appears set on a stable defensive pairing — placing Ronald Araújo on the right side of central defence and continuing with Pau Cubarsí on the left. The team is built around star trio Lamine Yamal, Pedri and Robert Lewandowski. While the starting XI is highly competitive, there are still doubts about overall depth in defence. With a long and demanding season ahead, any injuries across the back line could stretch the squad thin. After such a strong campaign, expectations are sky-high. A return to the Champions League final is now a clear objective—Barcelona haven’t reached that stage in ten years.