The 2022–23 Futbol Club Barcelona season was the club's 123rd season in existence and their 92nd consecutive season in the top flight. In addition to the domestic league, Barcelona participated in this season's editions of the Copa del Rey, the Supercopa de España, the UEFA Champions League (entering for the 19th consecutive season), and the UEFA Europa League. The season covered the period from 1 July 2022 until 30 June 2023.
This was the last season for Barcelona's defender Gerard Piqué, who retired before the winter World Cup. Piqué had spent fifteen seasons with Barcelona and won thirty official trophies with the club. Furthermore, captain Sergio Busquets announced that he would leave the club at the end of the season after eighteen years with Barcelona, having won 32 trophies with the Catalans. This was also Jordi Alba's last season at Barcelona after eleven years, having won nineteen trophies with the club.
On 15 January 2023, Barcelona clinched their first trophy since 2021 by defeating Real Madrid 3–1 in the Supercopa de España final. On 14 May 2023, Barcelona mathematically clinched their 27th La Liga title with four games to spare, the first since the 2018–19 season.
Kits Supplier: Nike Sponsors: Spotify (front) / AMBILIGHT TV (left sleeve) / UNHCR – The UN Refugee Agency (back)
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Season overview Pre-season On 12 May, Barcelona announced reaching an agreement with Aston Villa for the transfer of Philippe Coutinho for €20 million. A week later, Barcelona announced they would be touring the United States to play two friendlies against Inter Miami on 19 July and New York Red Bulls on 30 July.
On 6 June, Barcelona announced that the pre-season would start with the players' medical examinations on 4 July. Two days later, the club also announced reaching an agreement for the sale of Ferran Jutglà to Club Brugge for €5 million. Two days after that, Barcelona announced that they would also be playing against Real Madrid on 23 July and Juventus on 26 July.
On 15 June, Barcelona announced the signing of Pablo Torre from Racing Santander for a fee of €5 million. Dani Alves also announced that day that he would be leaving the club, when his contract expires at the end of June. On 30 June, Barcelona and Sixth Street reached an agreement for the acquisition of a 10% share of the club's La Liga TV rights, with Barcelona generating a total capital gain of €267 million for the current season. Sixth Street would initially invest €207.5 million and in return would receive 10% of the club's La Liga TV rights for the next 25 years.
On 1 July, Barcelona announced that Adama Traoré and Luuk de Jong would be leaving the club after completing their loan stint. Three days later, Barcelona announced the signing of Franck Kessié from A.C. Milan, and Andreas Christensen from Chelsea, both on free transfers. On 8 July, Barcelona and Tottenham Hotspur reached an agreement for the loan of Clément Lenglet for the rest of the season. Three days later, Barcelona and Watford reached an agreement for transfer of Rey Manaj.
On 13 July, Barcelona played their first pre-season friendly versus Olot, which ended in a draw 1–1 from a poor Barcelona side. That day, Barcelona and Leeds United reached an agreement for transfer of Raphinha for €48 million, with the fee potentially rising to €60 million. Barcelona also reached an agreement with Sporting to loan Francisco Trincão for reported €3 million until the end of the season with an option to buy. Three days later, Barcelona and Bayern Munich reached an agreement for the transfer of Robert Lewandowski for €45 million, potentially rising to €50 million. Barcelona also announced the squad for the US tour, taking 28 players to play four pre-season matches there.
On 19 July, Barcelona started the US tour with a 0–6 win over Inter Miami at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Later on, the club announced reaching an agreement with Gorica for the transfer of Moussa Wagué. Two days later, Barcelona sold an additional 15% of the club's La Liga TV right to Sixth Street. In total, Sixth Street would receive 25% of the club's La Liga TV rights for the next 25 years.
On 23 July, Barcelona won their second game of the US tour 0–1 over Real Madrid at the Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada. Three days later, Barcelona drew 2–2 against Juventus in Dallas, with Ousmane Dembélé scoring a brace. On 28 July, Barcelona reached a verbal agreement to sign French defender Jules Koundé from Sevilla. The next day, Barcelona announced the signing of Koundé on a 5-year contract for a fee of €50 million. In their final match of the US tour on 30 July, Barcelona defeated the New York Red Bulls 0–2 in Harrison, New Jersey, with Ousmane Dembélé and Memphis Depay scoring a goal each. Later on, the club reached an agreement with Celta de Vigo for the transfer of Óscar Mingueza for €3 million.
August On 1 August, Barcelona announced the activation of the third 'economic lever', selling 24.5% of Barça Studios to Socios.com for €100 million "to accelerate the club's audiovisual, blockchain, NFT and Web.3 strategy". Three days later, Riqui Puig left for LA Galaxy on a free transfer.
On 7 August, Barcelona and Neto reached an agreement for the termination of his contract. Later on, the club concluded the pre-season with a 6–0 victory over Mexican club Pumas UNAM, winning the Joan Gamper Trophy for the 45th time. Pedri scored a brace, while Robert Lewandowski, Ousmane Dembélé, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Frenkie de Jong contributed to the victory with a goal each.
On 12 August, Barcelona announced the activation of the fourth 'economic lever', selling an additional 24.5% of Barça Studios to Orpheus Media. The next day, Barcelona were held to a goalless draw against Rayo Vallecano at Camp Nou in the first league match of the season. The new signings Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, Andreas Christensen and Franck Kessié made their competitive debuts in this match. Later on, Nico González was loaned to Valencia. Two days after that, Álex Collado also joined Elche on loan.
On 21 August, the team got their first league win of the season, after they beat Real Sociedad 1–4 away. Robert Lewandowski scored twice, his first goals for the club, with the other two goals coming from Ousmane Dembélé and Ansu Fati.
On 24 August, Barcelona drew 3–3 against Manchester City at Camp Nou, in a charity match to raise funds in the fight against ALS. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Frenkie de Jong and Memphis Depay scored for the Blaugrana. The next day, Samuel Umtiti departed for Lecce on loan.
On 28 August, Barça defeated Real Valladolid 4–0 with goals coming from Pedri, Sergi Roberto, and a brace from Robert Lewandowski. Jules Koundé made his competitive debut in this match.
September On 1 September, Barcelona announced reaching agreements with Martin Braithwaite to terminate his contract and with Chelsee on the transfer of Pierre Emerick Aubameyang for €12 million. The same day, Sergiño Dest and Abde Ezzalzouli were loaned to AC Milan and Osasuna respectively, and the club confirmed the signing of former La Masia graduate Héctor Bellerín from Arsenal. The next day, Barcelona also announced the signing of Marcos Alonso from Chelsea.
On 3 September, Barcelona beat Sevilla 0–3 away. Raphinha and Eric García both scored their first goals for the club with the other goal coming from Robert Lewandowski. Four days later, Barcelona started the UEFA Champions League group stage with a big 5–1 win against Viktoria Plzeň in Group C. Robert Lewandowski scored his first hat-trick for the club, Franck Kessié scored his first goal for the club, a goal from Ferran Torres completed the victory, and Pablo Torre came off the bench late on to make his debut for the club. On the same day, Barcelona reached an agreement with midfielder Miralem Pjanić to terminate his contract.
On 10 September, Barcelona beat Cádiz 0–4 away. Robert Lewandowski, Frenkie de Jong, Ansu Fati and Ousmane Dembélé got on the scoresheet with a goal each, while Héctor Bellerín and Marcos Alonso both made their debuts for the club. Three days later, Barcelona suffered a 2–0 defeat against Bayern Munich.
On 17 September, Barcelona won 3–0 against Elche, and achieved their best league start in the last five years, achieving 16 points out of a possible 18 from the first six matches. Robert Lewandowski scored a brace and the other goal came from Memphis Depay.
October On 1 October, Barcelona continued their good form after the international break with another win, this time a 0–1 away win against Mallorca. Robert Lewandowski scored the only goal of the match. Three days later, Barcelona suffered a narrow 1–0 defeat against Inter Milan under controversial circumstances after Pedri had scored in the 67th minute, but it was ruled out by Video Assistant Referee (VAR) for a controversial handball by Ansu Fati. It was a night of controversy at the San Siro from VAR decisions, with another notable incident coming towards the end of the match when Denzel Dumfries appeared to handle the ball in the penalty area while trying to redirect a cross, however it was controversially ruled he had not conclusively knocked a cross away from Ansu Fati with his wrist.
On 9 October, the team got their seventh league win in a row after winning 1–0 against Celta Vigo, with the only goal of the match coming from Pedri. Three days later, Barça were held to a dramatic 3–3 draw in the return fixture against Inter Milan at Camp Nou. Two goals from Robert Lewandowski and another goal from Ousmane Dembélé were not enough to give the team a much needed win in the Champions League, which left them in the risky position of not making it out of the group for the second consecutive season.
On 16 October, Barcelona suffered their first league defeat of the season, after losing 3–1 against Real Madrid in the first El Clásico of the season. Ferran Torres scored the only goal for the team. Four days later, Barcelona defeated Villarreal 3–0, thanks to a brace from Robert Lewandowski and a goal from Ansu Fati. Three days after that, the team crushed Athletic Bilbao 4–0, with Ousmane Dembélé, Sergi Roberto, Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres getting on the scoresheet with a goal each.
On 26 October, Barça suffered a 0–3 defeat against Bayern Munich in the return fixture. The defeat meant that Barcelona were eliminated from the Champions League and couldn't advance from the group stages for the second season in a row, and were relegated to the UEFA Europa League knockout stage for the second consecutive season. It was the first time since 1999 that the Catalan club failed to advance to the knockout stage of the Champions League in consecutive years, coinciding with the departure of Lionel Messi to Paris Saint-Germain two seasons ago. Three days later, Barcelona ended the month with a narrow 0–1 away victory against Valencia, with Robert Lewandowski scoring the only goal of the match.
November On 1 November, Barcelona ended their Champions League campaign with a 2–4 away win against Viktoria Plzeň. Ferran Torres scored twice, while both Marcos Alonso and Pablo Torre both scored their first goals for the club. Iñaki Peña and Marc Casadó also made their debuts for the club.
On 3 November, Barça's legend Gerard Piqué announced his retirement from football by releasing a heartfelt video on his social media accounts, having enjoyed a trophy-laden 14 years at the club since returning from Manchester United in 2008, during which he played 615 games for the team.