2023–24 FC Barcelona season

2023–24 FC Barcelona season
The 2023–24 Futbol Club Barcelona season is the club's 124th season in existence and their 93rd consecutive season in the top flight. In addition to the domestic league, Barcelona is participating in this season's editions of the Copa del Rey, the Supercopa de España and the UEFA Champions League (entering for the 20th consecutive season). The season covers the period from 1 July 2023 until 30 June 2024.
Barcelona play their official home matches for the entire season at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys due to the start of Espai Barça project to revamp the club's sporting facilities.
This season is the first without captain Sergio Busquets, who left the club after 18 years (15 years as a first team player since the 2007–08 season) as a free agent in the summer and the first full-season in 15 years without Gerard Piqué, who retired before the winter World Cup. It is also the first season since 2011–12 without the left-back Jordi Alba, who reached an agreement with the club to terminate his contract one year before its expiration.
Kits
Supplier: Nike
Sponsors: Spotify (front) / AMBILIGHT TV (left sleeve) / UNHCR – The UN Refugee Agency (back)
Notes
Season overview
Pre-season
On 12 May 2023, Barcelona announced they would be touring the United States to participate in the pre-season Soccer Champions Tour, with four friendly matches against Juventus in San Francisco on 22 July, Arsenal in Los Angeles on 26 July, Real Madrid in Dallas on 29 July, and Milan in Las Vegas on 1 August.
On 8 June, Barcelona announced that the pre-season will start with the players medical examinations on 10 July.
On 26 June, Barcelona announced the signing of İlkay Gündoğan, on a two-year deal until 2025. On 30 June, Barcelona announced that they had reached an agreement to sever ties with Samuel Umtiti. On 5 July, the club announced the signing of Iñigo Martínez, on a two-year deal until 2025. On 19 July, the club announced the signing of Oriol Romeu, on a three-year contract until 2026.
On 22 July, the club announced that their match against Juventus on the same date would be cancelled due to a viral gastroenteritis outbreak among a significant part of the Barcelona squad.
On 26 July, Barcelona started their pre-season with 5–3 defeat to Arsenal. Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and Ferran Torres were on the scoresheet for the team.
On 29 July, Barcelona got their first win of the pre-season, after they defeated Real Madrid 3–0 in the El Clásico thanks to goals from Ousmane Dembélé, Fermín López and Ferran Torres.
On 1 August, Barcelona defeated Milan 1–0 thanks to a goal from Ansu Fati.
On 8 August, Barcelona concluded the pre-season with a 4–2 win against Tottenham Hotspur to retain Joan Gamper Trophy. The goals were scored by Robert Lewandowski, Ferran Torres, Ansu Fati and Abde Ezzalzouli, while Frenkie de Jong was chosen as Player of the match.
August
On 9 August, the club announced the departure of Franck Kessié to Saudi club Al-Ahli for 12.5 million €. He played 43 matches for the club and scored three goals.
On 13 August, Barcelona were held to a goalless draw by Getafe CF at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez. In an extremely physical match, both teams were reduced to ten men when Raphinha and Jamie Mata were sent off in the 42nd and 57th minutes respectively. The match ended with late drama when Barcelona were denied a penalty for a foul on Ronald Araujo right at the end.
On 20 August, Barcelona got their first win of the season, winning 2–0 against Cádiz, with the goals coming from Pedri and Ferran Torres.
On 27 August, Barcelona defeated Villarreal 4–3 in a seven-goal thriller. Gavi, Frenkie de Jong and Ferran Torres scored a goal each, along with Robert Lewandowski who scored his first goal of the season and sealed the win in the 71st minute.
On 31 August, the draw for the 2023–24 UEFA Champions League group stage was held at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco. Barcelona was drawn into Group H, alongside its opponents Porto, Shakhtar Donetsk and debutants Royal Antwerp.
September
On 1 September, Barcelona confirmed the signings of forward João Félix and defender João Cancelo on loan until the end of the season. On the same day the club also announced that they had sold Abde Ezzalzouli to Real Betis for €7,500,000, and confirmed that they had loaned out three players until the end of the season: Clément Lenglet to Aston Villa, Ansu Fati to Brighton & Hove Albion and Eric García to Girona.
On 3 September, the team got a hard-fought 2–1 away win against Osasuna, with Jules Koundé and Robert Lewandowski scoring the goals. New signings João Félix, João Cancelo and Iñigo Martínez made their debuts during the match. Gavi made his 100th appearance for Barcelona, thus becoming the youngest Barça player ever to become a centenarian, reaching the figure at the age of 19 years and 27 days.
On 5 September, the nominees for the Golden Boy award were announced. Three Barcelona players were nominated: Pedri, Gavi and Alejandro Balde.
On the next day, the nominees for the 2023 Ballon d'Or were announced. Robert Lewandowski and İlkay Gündoğan were nominated for the Ballon d'Or award. Barcelona had the most players nominated for the Kopa Trophy than any other club, with Alejandro Balde and holders of the award Pedri and Gavi representing the club. While Marc-André ter Stegen was nominated for the Yashin Trophy.
On 16 September, Barcelona got a comfortable 5–0 win against Real Betis. Both João Félix and João Cancelo scored their first goals for the club; Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha both scored a goal each; and the other goal was scored by Ferran Torres, who converted a free-kick in the 62nd minute, scoring the club's first free-kick goal in over two years, since Lionel Messi scored a free-kick in a league win against Valencia back in May of 2021.
On 19 September, the team started their Champions League campaign with a dominant 5–0 against Royal Antwerp. João Félix scored twice, Robert Lewandowski and Gavi scored a goal each and the other goal was an own goal from Royal Antwerp's defender Jelle Bataille. Lewandowski became the third player in history behind Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo to reach 100 goals in UEFA club competitions.
On 23 September, Barcelona completed an epic comeback defeating Celta Vigo 3–2, after they were trailing 0–2 until the 81st minute, when Robert Lewandowski scored his first goal of the match and just four minutes later he scored his second, João Cancelo scored the last goal of the match in the 89th minute to complete the dramatic comeback. It's the first time in club's history in the league that the team has been able to overcome a two-goal deficit after the 80th minute.
On 26 September, Barcelona were held to a 2–2 draw away at Mallorca. Raphinha scored one goal and Fermín López scored his first goal for the club.
On 29 September, Barcelona ended the month with a 1–0 win against Sevilla thanks to an own goal scored by Sevilla's defender Sergio Ramos.
October
On 4 October, Barcelona defeated Porto 1–0 away thanks to a Ferran Torres goal at the end of the first half. This match was Xavi's 100th match in charge as a coach, during which time the team has amassed 63 wins and has scored 191 goals. With his start in this match, Lamine Yamal became the youngest player ever to start a Champions League match, just three days younger than Celestine Babayaro was in November 1994 when he started a game for Anderlecht.
On 8 October, Barcelona were held to a 2–2 draw against Granada away. Sergi Roberto and Lamine Yamal scored a goal each, and with his goal Lamine Yamal became the youngest La Liga goalscorer ever aged 16 years and 87 days, breaking the record held by Malaga's Fabrice Olinga, who scored against Celta Vigo in 2012 aged 16 years and 98 days.
After the international break, Barcelona defeated Athletic Bilbao 1–0 on 22 October, thanks to a goal from teenage debutant Marc Guiu who scored his first goal for the club just 23 seconds after coming on as a substitute, and became the youngest Barcelona player to debut with a goal in La Liga in the 21st century at just 17 years and 291 days.
On 25 October, the team beat Shakhtar Donetsk 2–1 thanks to goals from Ferran Torres and Fermín López.
On 28 October, Barcelona suffered their first defeat of the season after they were defeated 2–1 by Real Madrid in the first El Clásico of the season. İlkay Gündoğan scored his first goal for the club.
Management team
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"
|-
! style="background:#26559B; color:#FFF000; " |Position
! style="background:#26559B; color:#FFF000; " |Name
|-
|align=center|Head coach
|align=left| Xavi
|-
|align=center|Assistant coaches
|align=left| Òscar Hernández, Sergio Alegre
|-
|align=center|Fitness coach
|align=left| Iván Torres
|-
|align=center|Goalkeeping coach
|align=left| José Ramón de la Fuente
|-
|align=center|Analysts
|align=left| Sergio Garcia, Toni Lobo, David Prats
Players
First team
|-
!colspan="12"style="background:#26559B; color:#FFF000; " | Goalkeepers
|-
|-
!colspan="12" style="background:#26559B; color:#FFF000; " | Defenders
|-
|-
!colspan="12" style="background:#26559B; color:#FFF000; " | Midfielders
|-
|-
!colspan="12" style="background:#26559B; color:#FFF000; " | Forwards
|-
Reserve team (From FC Barcelona Atlètic and FC Barcelona Juvenil)
Contract renewals
Transfers
In
Out
Loans in
Loans out
Transfer summary
Undisclosed fees are not included in the transfer totals.
Expenditure
Summer: €3,400,000
Winter: €TBD
Total expenditure: €3,400,000
Income
Summer: €78,900,000
Winter: €TBD
Total income: €78,900,000
Net totals
Summer: €75,500,000
Winter: €TBD
Total: €75,500,000
Pre-season and friendlies
On 12 May 2023, Barcelona announced they would be touring the United States to participate in the pre-season Soccer Champions Tour, with four friendly matches against Juventus in San Francisco on 22 July, Arsenal in Los Angeles on 26 July, Real Madrid in Dallas on 29 July, and Milan in Las Vegas on 1 August. On 12 July, the club announced they would face Tottenham Hotspur on 8 August to dispute the Joan Gamper Trophy at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys. On 22 July, the club announced that their match against Juventus on the same date would be cancelled due to a viral gastroenteritis outbreak among a significant part of the Barcelona squad. On 26 July, Barcelona started their pre-season with 5–3 defeat to Arsenal. Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and Ferran Torres were on the scoresheet for the team. On 29 July, Barcelona got their first win of the pre-season, after they defeated Real Madrid 3–0 in the El Clásico thanks to goals from Ousmane Dembélé, Fermín López and Ferran Torres. On 1 August, Barcelona defeated Milan 1–0 thanks to a goal from Ansu Fati.
On 8 August, Barcelona concluded the pre-season with a 4–2 win against Tottenham Hotspur to retain Joan Gamper Trophy. The goals were scored by Robert Lewandowski, Ferran Torres, Ansu Fati and Abde Ezzalzouli, while Frenkie de Jong was chosen as Player of the match.
Competitions
Overall record
La Liga
League table
Results summary
Results by round
Matches
The league fixtures were announced on 22 June 2023.
Copa del Rey
Barcelona will enter the tournament in the round of 32, as they had qualified for the 2023–24 Supercopa de España.
Supercopa de España
Barcelona qualified for the tournament by winning the 2022–23 La Liga.
UEFA Champions League
Group stage
The draw for the group stage was held on 31 August 2023 in Monaco. Barcelona, as a winner of one of the highest ranked leagues in Europe, entered in Pot 1.
Statistics
Overall
Goalscorers
Assists
Cleansheets
Disciplinary record
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;width:80%;"
|-
! rowspan=2 style="background:#26559B; color:#FFF000; " width=15|
! rowspan=2 style="background:#26559B; color:#FFF000; " width=15|
! rowspan=2 style="background:#26559B; color:#FFF000; " width=15|
! rowspan=2 style="background:#26559B; color:#FFF000; " width=175| Player
! colspan=3 style="background:#26559B; color:#FFF000; " width=120|
! colspan=3 style="background:#26559B; color:#FFF000; " width=120|
! colspan=3 style="background:#26559B; color:#FFF000; " width=150|
! colspan=3 style="background:#26559B; color:#FFF000; " width=140|
! colspan=3 style="background:#26559B; color:#FFF000; " width=120| Total
|-
! style="background:#26559B; color:#FFF000; " width=35 |
! style="background:#26559B; color:#FFF000; " width=35 |
! style="background:#26559B; color:#FFF000; " width=35 |
! style="background:#26559B; color:#FFF000; " width=35 |
! style="background:#26559B; color:#FFF000; " width=35 |
! style="background:#26559B; color:#FFF000; " width=35 |
! style="background:#26559B; color:#FFF000; " width=35 |
! style="background:#26559B; color:#FFF000; " width=35 |
! style="background:#26559B; color:#FFF000; " width=35 |
! style="background:#26559B; color:#FFF000; " width=35 |
! style="background:#26559B; color:#FFF000; " width=35 |
! style="background:#26559B; color:#FFF000; " width=35 |
! style="background:#26559B; color:#FFF000; " width=35 |
! style="background:#26559B; color:#FFF000; " width=35 |
! style="background:#26559B; color:#FFF000; " width=35 |
|-
| 11
| FW
|
|align=left| Raphinha
||1|| ||1|| || || || || || || || || ||1|| ||1
|-
| 6
| MF
|
|align=left| Gavi
||5|| || || || || || || || ||2||1|| ||7||1||
|-
| 2
| DF
|
|align=left| João Cancelo
||2|| || || || || || || || ||1|| || ||3|| ||
|-
| 21
| MF
|
|align=left| Frenkie de Jong
||2|| || || || || || || || || || || ||2|| ||
|-
| 9
| FW
|
|align=left| Robert Lewandowski
||2|| || || || || || || || || || || ||2|| ||
|-
| 18
| MF
|
|align=left| Oriol Romeu
||2|| || || || || || || || || || || ||2|| ||
|-
| 3
| DF
|
|align=left| Alejandro Balde
||1|| || || || || || || || ||1|| || ||2|| ||
|-
| 1
| GK
|
|align=left| Marc-André ter Stegen
||1|| || || || || || || || || || || ||1|| ||
|-
| 8
| MF
|
|align=left| Pedri
||1|| || || || || || || || || || || ||1|| ||
|-
| 27
| FW
|
|align=left| Lamine Yamal
||1|| || || || || || || || || || || ||1|| ||
|-
| 24
| DF
|
|align=left| Eric García
||1|| || || || || || || || || || || ||1|| ||
|-
| 5
| DF
|
|align=left| Iñigo Martínez
||1|| || || || || || || || || || || ||1|| ||
|-
| 15
| DF
|
|align=left| Andreas Christensen
||1|| || || || || || || || || || || ||1|| ||
|-
| 22
| MF
|
|align=left| İlkay Gündoğan
||1|| || || || || || || || || || || ||1|| ||
|-
| 38
| FW
|
|align=left| Marc Guiu
||1|| || || || || || || || || || || ||1|| ||
|-
| 32
| MF
|
|align=left| Fermín López
||1|| || || || || || || || || || || ||1|| ||
|-
| 4
| DF
|
|align=left| Ronald Araújo
|| || || || || || || || || ||1|| || ||1|| ||
|-
| 23
| DF
|
|align=left| Jules Koundé
|| || || || || || || || || ||1|| || ||1|| ||
|-
| 14
| FW
|
|align=left| João Félix
|| || || || || || || || || ||1|| || ||1|| ||
|-
| 20
| MF
|
|align=left| Sergi Roberto
|| || || || || || || || || ||1|| || ||1|| ||
|-
| 7
| FW
|
|align=left| Ferran Torres
|| || || || || || || || || ||1|| || ||1|| ||
|-
! style="background:#26559B; color:#FFF000; "; colspan=2|Coach
|
|align=left| Xavi
||1|| ||1|| || || || || || ||1|| || ||2|| ||1
|-
! style="background:#26559B; color:#FFF000; "; colspan=4| Totals
! 25|| ||2|| || || || || || ||10||1|| ||35||1||2
Injury record
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! style="background:#26559B; color:#FFF000; " width=30|
! style="background:#26559B; color:#FFF000; " width=30|
! style="background:#26559B; color:#FFF000; " width=30|
! style="background:#26559B; color:#FFF000; " width=160|Name
! style="background:#26559B; color:#FFF000; " width=310|
! style="background:#26559B; color:#FFF000; " width=70|
! style="background:#26559B; color:#FFF000; " width=125|
! style="background:#26559B; color:#FFF000; " width=145|
! style="background:#26559B; color:#FFF000; " width=130|
! style="background:#26559B; color:#FFF000; " width=150|
|-
| 4
| DF
|
| align=left|Ronald Araújo
| Biceps femoris tendon rupture — left leg
|
| FCB.com
| in training
| 17 August 2023
| 22 September 2023
|-
| 8
| MF
|
| align=left|Pedri
| Quadriceps injury — right leg
|
| FCB.com
| in training
| 24 August 2023
|
|-
| 21
| MF
|
| align=left|Frenkie de Jong
| Tibiofibular syndesmosis injury — right ankle
|
| FCB.com
| vs Celta Vigo
| 23 September 2023
|
|-
| 11
| FW
|
| align=left|Raphinha
| Hamstring injury — right thigh
|
| FCB.com
| vs Sevilla
| 29 September 2023
| rowspan=3 | 28 October 2023
|-
| 9
| FW
|
| align=left|Robert Lewandowski
| Sprained ankle — left ankle
|
| FCB.com
| vs Porto
| 4 October 2023
|-
| 23
| DF
|
| align=left|Jules Koundé
| Lateral collateral ligament injury — right knee
|
| FCB.com
| rowspan=2 | vs Granada
| rowspan=2 | 8 October 2023
|-
| 27
| FW
|
| align=left|Lamine Yamal
| Iliopsoas muscle injury — left leg
|
| FCB.com
| rowspan=2 | 22 October 2023
|-
| 3
| DF
|
| align=left|Alejandro Balde
| Adductor brevis muscle injury
|
| FCB.com
| vs Scotland with Spain
| 12 October 2023
|-
| 20
| MF
|
| align=left|Sergi Roberto
| Soleus muscle injury — right leg
|
| FCB.com
| in training
| 18 October 2023
|
|-
References
FC Barcelona seasons
Barcelona
Barcelona
2023 in Catalonia
2024 in Catalonia