The area that will really sting for Barcelona fans is Madrid’s reemergence as European football’s dominant force. Financial turmoil has resulted in the greatest player in their history, Lionel Messi, leaving the club. Barcelona have failed to win any of the last three league titles – they’d not gone two years without winning it since 2008. The Catalan club have also won five Copa del Rey since 2012, while over that period Madrid only have one.īut things have markedly shifted in recent years. They’ve won five of the last 10 La Liga titles since Guardiola’s departure, to Real Madrid’s three and Atletico Madrid’s two. In fact, over the past decade, Barcelona have continued to edge it when it comes to domestic matters. Under Guardiola’s former right-hand man Tito Vilanova, Barcelona emphatically returned to the summit of the Spanish top-flight in 2012-13 and later, with Luis Enrique at the helm, would claim a second treble in 2014-15. But Barcelona had won three La Liga titles in a row prior to that, as well as two Champions Leagues in three years – and three since Los Blancos claimed their ninth European Cup back in 2002. Jose Mourinho’s Madrid pipped Barcelona to the league in Guardiola’s final season. But how do the two eternal rivals compare for spending in that time? A lot has changed in Spanish football since Pep Guardiola left Barcelona in the summer of 2012 – not least Real Madrid ruling Europe once again.

Real madrid money spent on players