Yamal, Pedri & Co - Barcelona's five most important players behind LaLiga title success

The celebrations continued long into the early hours of Monday morning after Barcelona clinched the LaLiga title with a 2-0 win over arch rivals Real Madrid. The Culés then lined the streets of the Catalonia capital for an open-top bus parade on Tuesday as they heralded their heroes. For the second consecutive year under Hansi Flick, Barca have been the dominant force in Spanish football and they currently hold a 14-point lead over Madrid, who have been engulfed in controversy and in-fighting.

The major disappointment for Barca was exiting the Champions League at the hands of Atlético Madrid, who sit 28 points behind them in LaLiga. Ill-discipline was central to their European elimination and Flick’s priority next season will be to deliver success in the most prestigious club competition. For now, Barca will continue to celebrate their 29th LaLiga title and alongside our Spanish colleagues, we've selected their five most important players behind their success and analysed them.

Barcelona’s five most important players in LaLiga title win

Lamine Yamal is the posterboy of Barcelona and Spanish football. It’s often hard to believe that he remains just 18 years old given what he’s already achieved in football. Yamal is arguably already the best player in the world and he was instrumental to Barca’s title success. With Raphinha sidelined for a significant part of the season, Yamal carried the creative burden and his numbers are supremely impressive. The winger scored 16 goals and provided 12 assists in 28 league games, which puts him level with Kylian Mbappé at top spot for goal contributions in LaLiga. Yamal has firmly cemented his billing as the best La Masia academy graduate since Lionel Messi and he remains the most valuable player in the world on Transfermarkt.

Pedri is an absolute joy to watch and deserves to be in the conversion of the best midfielders in the world. This has been the best season of the magician’s career with 27 appearances in LaLiga. Vitinha is arguably the only player who can rival Pedri’s capacity to dictate games from a deep-lying midfield role and his ability to retain possession under pressure is unrivalled. The 23-year-old has overcome injury problems that stunted his development when he made his breakthrough at Barca and he’s deservedly the most valuable midfielder on the planet at €150m. To many, Pedri is the heir to Xavi’s throne.

Joan García has been an absolute revelation at Barca and the best signing of the season in Spain. The 25-year-old was already one of the best goalkeepers in LaLiga and it was an absolute steal to seal his signature for just €25m from Espanyol. Garcia leads the way for clean sheets in the league with 15 in 29 appearances. That statistic is even more impressive when you consider Flick’s extremely bold high-line that he implements in his defence and Garcia is the perfect sweeper keeper.

It was a real toss up between Eric García and Pau Cubarsí for which centre-back to select but the former got the nod. Why? Cubarsi has a reputation as one of the best young centre-backs in the world but Garcia’s excellence this season would have surprised a few. After resigning him for Manchester City in 2021 on a free, Garcia spent time on-loan at Girona and it was viewed as doubtful that he’d ever become a regular at Barca as he was firmly as a squad player. But he’s been outstanding this season and started 30 games in LaLiga, which is substantially more than the previous campaign (14). Cubarsi is the only outfield player to register more minutes for Barca this season, which further highlights Garcia’s importance.

Fermín Lopez is yet another Barca star to enjoy the best season of his career. The 23-year-old isn’t a guaranteed starter under Flick given the quality of alternatives in the attacking midfield role but he’s delivered 15 goal contributions in 30 league games - only 18 were starts. Lopez also shone in the Champions League with six goals and four assists in 10 appearances. Fermin has yet to sparkle for Spain but should be heavily involved at the World Cup, which should expose more eyes to his undeniable quality.