The draw at Bidasoa’s home in the second match of the 2023-24 Asobal League (that 26-26 on September 9), the first point given up after 33 consecutive victories, did little to suggest that Barça would pass the ball in the following 24 games to end up walking and winning their 31st league title (23 in the Asobal format and 8 in the Honor Division) with the ease with which they have done so.
They achieved it mathematically this Saturday by beating Fraikin Granollers 40-37 in a vibrant and very close Catalan derby in a great game at the Palau Blaugrana.
The Blaugrana’s 31st League is the 14th consecutive – the third of the Carlos Ortega era on the bench -, which clearly speaks of the overwhelming, insolent, incontestable dominance of Barça, as well as the alarming lack of an antagonist who oppose the title and put the Catalans in difficulties. So since Ciudad Real disappeared (later Atlético de Madrid, liquidated in 2013), domestic competitions are practically training for the Blaugrana, to prepare for the Champions League, their great challenge.
Compared to its 30th Asobal League (last year), in this one in 2024 Barça has been practically as dominant, with overwhelming monopoly-level numbers like those of a year ago: apart from Artaleku’s small setback which prevents them from achieving full victories (24 out of 25 games), Ortega’s team takes the title almost with the same speed (two days later, five days in advance), with almost identical records, having scored 40 or more goals in 10 games (with a maximum of 46 over Huesca and Cuenca), with hardly any suffering, with a minimum advantage of 3 goals (33-30 against Benidorm and 40-37 against Granollers) and a maximum of 28 (46- 18 to Cuenca, equaling the historical record of 2000), and with almost the same average advantage per game (11.7 goals; 12.3 last year).
That is to say, Barça at Asobal has little or nothing noticed the two notable absences of Ludo Fàbregas and Luka Cindric, who left the club in the summer, nor the long-term absence of Domen Makuc (on August 15, in the first preseason game). The wardrobe has been enough to get through the League matches without great trouble (another thing is the Champions League), and Ortega has also known how to exploit the talent of the young Petar and Djordje Cikusa, Ian Barrufet and Oriol Zarzuela, who have enjoyed of quality minutes.
The weight has not only fallen on their new captain Dika Mem, but Melvyn Richardson, the team’s top scorer in the League with 131 goals, and best passer (81 assists), and a growing Javi Rodríguez, the pivot, have taken a step forward. signed from Logroño, who is the 4th best scorer (67).
Now the challenge for the Blaugrana team is twofold: to win the Copa del Rey again (from May 31 to June 2) – it would be the 11th in a row – and to qualify for the final four in Cologne, beating PSG in the quarterfinals (25 April in Paris and May 2 at the Palau), on the way to the 12th Champions League.
