The 2023–24 Futbol Club Barcelona season was the club's 124th season in existence and their 93rd 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 and the UEFA Champions League (entering for the 20th consecutive season). The season covered the period from 1 July 2023 until 30 June 2024.
Barcelona played 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 was 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 was 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.
The season was one of ups and downs, with the team ending their Champions League group stage as the Group H winners, securing its advance to the knockout stage for the first time in three years after they had failed to advance in the previous two seasons. In the knockout stage, they defeated Napoli 4–2 on aggregate in the round of 16, with their Champions League journey ending in the quarter-finals where they were defeated by Paris Saint-Germain in part due to a Ronald Araújo red card in the second leg of tie, which tipped the scales in Paris' favor despite Barcelona's first leg win.
Elsewhere, Barcelona finished as runners-up in the Supercopa de España, and was eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey in extra-time by the eventual winners Athletic Bilbao. In the league, they failed to defend last season's title, ending the season in the second place, with the only saving grace being the qualification for next season's Supercopa de España.
It was Xavi's third, second full, and last season as the head coach of the team, with Hansi Flick confirmed to take over the position starting next season. Statistics-wise, the team scored 110 goals in all competitions, with Robert Lewandowski scoring the most (26 goals in all competitions).
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Season overview
Pre-season On 12 May, 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 24 May, Jordi Alba and the club reached a mutual agreement to terminate the final year of his contract, bringing his time at Barcelona to an end.
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. Four days later, the club 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. A week later, the club announced that they had reached an agreement with Athletico Paranaense for the transfer of Brazilian striker Vitor Roque, with the player scheduled to arrive in the summer of 2024, and that they would face Tottenham Hotspur on 8 August to compete for the Joan Gamper Trophy at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys.
On 18 July, Pablo Torre was loaned to Girona for the rest of the season, and the following day 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. The next day, Álex Collado departed for Real Betis for an undisclosed fee. Two days after that, 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; the same day, Nico González was sold to Porto for €8.5 million.
August On 1 August, Barcelona defeated Milan 0–1 thanks to a goal from Ansu Fati, with Julián Araujo loaned to Las Palmas for the rest of the season the same day.
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. The next day, 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 12 August, Ousmane Dembélé was sold to Paris Saint-Germain for €50.4 million, and the following day, Barcelona were held to a goalless draw by Getafe CF at the Coliseum. 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. İlkay Gündoğan made his debut for the club in this match.
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. The next day, Sergiño Dest was loaned to PSV Eindhoven for the rest of the season.
On 27 August, Barcelona defeated Villarreal 3–4 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. Fermín López made his debut in the match. Four days later, 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 €7,5 million, and confirmed that they had loaned out three players until the end of the season: Clément Lenglet to Aston Villa, Ansu Fati to Brighton and Eric García to Girona.
On 3 September, the team got a hard-fought 1–2 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. Three days later, 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 0–1 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, with the latter netting his first goal for the club and becoming 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 1–2 by Real Madrid in the first El Clásico of the season. İlkay Gündoğan scored his first goal for the club.
November On 4 November, Barcelona got a narrow 0–1 away win against Real Sociedad thanks to a last minute header from Ronald Araújo.
On 7 November, Barcelona suffered a narrow 1–0 defeat against Shakhtar Donetsk under controversial circumstances after three penalties for the team were denied by Video Assistant Referee (VAR), of which two were handballs inside the box which were not called and the third was a foul on João Félix inside the penalty area which was also not given even after VAR checked the incident.
On 12 November, the team defeated Deportivo Alavés 2–1 thanks to a Robert Lewandowski brace in the second half.
On 25 November, Barcelona were held to a 1–1 draw against Rayo Vallecano, with the only goal for the Blaugrana being an own goal by Rayo Vallecano's defender Florian Lejeune.
Barcelona concluded the month with a decisive 2–1 win against Porto on 28 November. The win secured Barcelona's advance to the knockout stage for the first time in three years after they had failed to advance in the previous two seasons; the win also confirmed the team as the group winners. João Cancelo and João Félix scored the goals for the team.
December