Lionel Messi tops the league's top scorer chart with a stratospheric tally of 28 goals. At the end of July 2023, he reached his first final of the year in Gstaad, a tournament he had won four years ago by beating two Italians Fabio Fognini (6-1, 2-6, 6-2) and Lorenzo Sonego (6-3, 3-6, 6-4), seeded number three, as well as Peruvian Juan Pablo Varillas (6-7, 6-1, 6-4) and Serbian Miomir Kecmanović (6-2, 6-3), seeded number two. He notably composed the music for two films by Orson Welles: Othello and Falstaff. On December 18, ranaldo jersey Éric Abidal receives the green light from doctors to play football again after being treated for the last two years for liver cancer. The Emirates therefore secure their direct qualification after a spectacular match. In the opening game of the second day, South Korea, shaken by three injuries and six cases of fever causing the absence of stars Koo Ja-cheol and Son Heung-min, beat Kuwait with great difficulty by lining up a revamped team (1-0). After a closed first half with the goal, the second half turned into an incredible offensive spectacle with Kuwait playing for survival and vainly jostling the Korean defense.
He led the reserve team of his former club, Elche CF, then coached CD Alcoyano in the 3rd division for two seasons. Three days later, on November 20, Barcelona beat Spartak Moscow 3-0 (including two goals from Messi) in the cold of the Luzhniki Stadium in the Champions League. On November 11, g ramos Barcelona beat Mallorca 2-4 on Matchday 11 of the league. On November 7, after 12 games unbeaten, Barcelona were beaten in Scotland by Celtic 2-1 in the Champions League. Then, Barça drew 0-0 against Benfica on December 5 in the Champions League in a match without stake for the Barcelonans already assured of finishing in first place in the group. The club began their Champions League campaign on September 19 at Camp Nou by beating Spartak Moscow (3-2, another double from Messi) before facing Benfica and Celtic FC in October.
In a match full of twists and turns, Barça beat Deportivo 5-4 (three goals from Messi) before defeating Celtic Glasgow 2-1 at Camp Nou on October 23 in the Champions League, a victory that allowed Barça to consolidate first place in his group. Barcelona are guaranteed to finish in second place and thus secure their ticket to the Supercopa de España. After a balanced game, Barcelona managed to maintain their eight-point lead over Real Madrid with a 2-2 draw (two goals from Lionel Messi). After trailing 2-0, Barça won thanks to two goals from Cesc Fàbregas (including one at the last minute) and one from David Villa in stoppage time (93rd minute). The championship resumes on October 20 after the two matches of the Spanish team qualifying for the World Cup. It is his assistant Jordi Roura who takes the reins of the team until the recovery of Tito Vilanova. The year 2014 begins with a meeting on January 5 against the newly promoted Elche at Camp Nou (18th day of the championship) without Messi or Neymar in the starting XI but with goalkeeper Víctor Valdés who returns after six weeks of absence.
On September 2, during the third day of the championship, FC Barcelona beat Valencia CF with difficulty 1 to 0 thanks to a fine goal scored by defender Adriano at Camp Nou in front of 76,300 spectators. On September 29, Barça made an exceptional comeback outside against Sevilla FC. With this victory (the seventeenth), Barcelona equals the record for points in a first round of the championship (52 points) while there is still one day to play. This record was beaten the following season by Gerardo Martino's Barça. With this victory, Barcelona breaks the record for points in a first round of the championship (55 points out of 57 possible). The Blaugranas thus maintain their invincibility with 18 points from a possible 18 while having a comfortable eight-point lead over Real Madrid before the Clásico on October 7. At the end of the year, Barça are 9 points ahead of Atlético de Madrid and 16 over Real Madrid. Atlético are now trailing nine points in the standings while Real Madrid are thirteen points behind the Barcelona leader guaranteed to be winter champions. On August 29, Barça lost 2-1 on Real Madrid's lawn in the return match of the Spanish Super Cup.