The doublet conspiracy

A trip that had to be a funeral ended up becoming a morale booster for the team. The Blaugrana expedition left Valdebebas head down, frustrated, indignant, exhausted and defeated after falling face down in the Classic. A defeat that also meant a mental blow: the team ended a 19-game streak without losing and also no longer depended on itself to win the championship.

However, Joan Laporta was the first to de-dramatize the defeat and try to put a Copernican twist on the matter. He greeted all the players one by one, reducing the significance of the result, congratulating them for their effort and assuring them that LaLiga was still possible. Moreover, he went so far as to guarantee that if the team won the next eight games it will surely be the champion. THe also made a aside with Ronald Koeman, still visibly annoyed by the referee's performance and especially by the penalty not awarded to Braithwaite, to convey the full confidence of the board to his work.

And it is that the first title of the Laporta era is already around the corner. The team plays this Saturday in the Cup final against Athletic in Seville. A final that Gerard Piqué is not going to miss. It should not be forgotten that the center-back was essential for the Blaugrana to reach the final by being the scorer in the last minute that led the team to extra time, which was later ended by Braithwaite with a header.

Piqué was one of the most active during the return trip, either because he was rested after watching the whole game from the stands or because he was 'on' by the defeat, intense, talking to everyone and incessantly giving instructions to his teammates. In fact, Cuatro's microphones already captured a conversation with Alba leaving the Di Stefano stadium where he assumed that the team was going to win the Cup final, while the full-back did not have all of them with him.

But if Alba had any doubts, it ended up clearing him when he got on the plane and found a Laporta even more convinced, if possible, that they are going to take the Cup to Barcelona this Saturday. In fact, the Blaugrana leader insisted that it will not be the last title they lift this season: he is convinced that they will win the double.

A sensation that has grown a day later in the dressing room, especially after Atlético's draw against Betis (1-1), which turns the defeat against Real Madrid (2-1) into a lesser evil, by leaving him to only two points from the lead, Although it is true that they no longer depend on themselves to win the title, since apart from winning the eight games that remain, they need Real Madrid to lose at least one.

But they are also clear that if the white team continues in the Champions League, the wear and tear of the team will be even greater, so it could make it easier for Zidane's men to leave points along the way in LaLiga.

Thus, the feeling within Barcelona is that the double is more real than ever, despite the defeat on Saturday: with a Copa del Rey to fall and with the start of a new eight-game League, with only two points difference between the first and third, where the blaugrana start with the advantage of playing in five days against Atlético at the Camp Nou.