Barcelona secured last Sunday their 23rd La Liga trophy by defeating Atlético Madrid at the Vicente Calderón, after a season marked by seismic ups and downs and a tug-of-war at the league table’s pole position as Barcelona started March four points behind Real Madrid but managed since to redress the situation and emerge victorious in the end.

Barcelona’s success was due largely to their steady performances in away games. They could, contrary to what they’ve shown in previous seasons, impose their style of play and manage their away game in a composed and efficient manner as much as they usually do at the Camp Nou. We shed light on Barça’s statistical improvement on the road and how the numbers and records they set, collectively and individually, helped the team beat Real Madrid to the Spanish League trophy.

Barcelona failed to win only five of their 19 away La Liga games this season, winning 74 percent of them, the highest away winning percentage in Barça’s league history ahead of 2010/11 and 2012/13. After the Anoeta loss that many analysts and fans consider as the reference point of the season which led to a positive change in the team’s attitude and performance, Barcelona only lost two points on the road in an always difficult contest at the Sánchez Pizjuán where the team gave away a two-goal lead. Nevertheless, if we think about it, culés won’t be celebrating the title at all if it wasn’t for that small point won there. The amazing victorious run in away games in the second half of this Liga is in fact unmatched in the club’s history, collecting a record 25 points and losing only two matches compared to three lost at the Camp Nou. And in the whole Liga season the Blaugrana recorded 45 points, bettered only in 2010/11 when they recorded 46 in their entire history.

It helped that Barcelona took matters into their hands even when playing in hostile territory. They opened the score in a season-high 15 away games (winning 13 of those) and only conceded the first goal twice (vs Almería and Real Sociedad). They also started their games in an organized manner as they only conceded one goal in the opening 30 minutes, and finished them strong by scoring 22 goals in the last 30 minutes.

Those incredible numbers were achieved in big part against difficult opposition and/or in stadiums where Barcelona used to struggle for years:

Dramatic win at Mestalla where Barcelona won only two of their previous eight games. In fact, no other team managed to beat Valencia at the Mestalla in La Liga this season.

Complete performance and convincing win at the New San Mamés, after failing to win any of the previous four away games against Athletic.

An 8-0 win at Córdoba, equaling the record of biggest away win in the history of La Liga also achieved by Barcelona twice before.

Important wins in the stadiums of teams fighting to avoid relegation like Eíbar, Almería, Elche, Depor and Granada.

The golden win at the Vicente Calderón that sealed the title in the same stadium where Barcelona failed to win on three different occasions last season.

Barcelona’s performances in away games improved considerably, the numbers of 2014/15 La Liga away games are better than the average of those of the previous five seasons in various aspects. Starting with the amount of points (45) which is the second most in Barça’s history after 46 points in 2010/11, and at least three points more than any other team this season (Real Madrid, 42 points).

Barcelona also scored 46 goals in away games and for the first time in the last six seasons, fired more than 300 shots. Five of those goals were from set pieces (excluding penalties), more than they scored in the previous four seasons combined. In another bright note, the so-called “Messi Dependency” in the scoring part was not as much palpable in away games as previous seasons, with Neymar and Suárez doing their part. Other players also stepped up in specific occasions to score the winning goal like Sandro vs Villarreal, Alba vs Almería, Busquets vs Valencia and Mathieu vs Celta. Nevertheless, Messi didn’t let this season end before setting another record on the road, becoming the first player in La Liga history to score in 80 away games. He scored three goals from set pieces, the highest number among Liga players in away games this season and completed 77 dribbles, at least 30 more than any other player.

But the most impressive feat was Barcelona’s solid defensive performances away from the Camp Nou, keeping 13 clean sheets and conceding an average of 0.53 goals per game, both shattering the all-time records for La Liga. Barça actually kept more away La Liga clean sheets than they did at the Camp Nou, and conceded only one goal more, relying on solid defensive plans and remarkable individual brilliance by the backline members – including a season to remember by the experienced and soon-to-receive-the-Zamora-trophy Claudio Bravo – and on the whole team’s ability to impose their own style and manage the games as if they were playing at the Camp Nou. Barça averaged more possession in away games than at home, winning considerably more aerial duels and created approximatively the same amount of scoring chances.


The evolution of Barcelona throughout La Liga season can be seen in the style of play and the players’ individual away performances evolution since round 1, but the radical overhaul in Barça’s results was particularly witnessed after the fabled away loss at the Anoeta, and the sweet reward of it all was enjoyed in an away win against the previous champions at their own home. A Barcelona that could walk into the pitch of any Spanish stadium and claim it as its own is something we haven’t seen for a long time, and it is one of the main factors that made Barcelona La Liga Champions in 2015.

Article made possible by the collaboration of the entire Grup 14 Stats Team: Adil Elkhandouki, Javier Camacho, Sarah Khoury, Erdi Myftaraga and @BarcaStat.

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