The Highs and Lows for Barcelona in 2015

Barcelona will look back at 2015 as one of the greatest years in the club's history. They won five trophies, going from crisis to kings of Europe in just five months, before later being crowned world champions. 

A stunning transformation, all while not being allowed to register new players thanks to a FIFA transfer ban.

Here are the vertigo-inducing highs but also the low points of Barcelona's year.

Low: The Week of Crisis

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The year did not begin well for Barcelona. With Lionel Messi and Neymar starting on the bench after their winter break, Barcelona went down 1-0 against David Moyes' Real Sociedad at the Anoeta Stadium.

It led to a week of accusations and blame-throwing, which left coach Luis Enrique on the brink of an exit at the Camp Nou.

Messi missed an open training session and liked Chelsea on Instagram, creating panic over whether or not he was staying with Barcelona.

Having suffered a lot in 2014—being hit with a transfer ban, losing the title on the last day of the season and sadly seeing former coach Tito Vilanova pass away—this was a brutal start to the new year for the Catalans.

High: Vanquishing Atletico

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After the Real Sociedad defeat on January 4, Barcelona thrashed Elche in the Copa del Rey, but it didn't prove anything. All eyes were on the weekend and the visit of champions Atletico Madrid to the Camp Nou.

So, on January 11, Barcelona faced the match with the weight of the world on their shoulders. But when they set foot on the lush green turf, their problems melted away.

Suddenly, things clicked. They were unstoppable. Neymar opened the scoring, Luis Suarez hit the second and Lionel Messi finished the game by netting the third. It was the first time all three forwards had scored in the same La Liga match.

The victory over Atletico was worth far more than three points. It showed the club were going to swim to break free of the concrete block attached to their ankle and strive for success.

High: Surge to the Treble

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After the Atletico game, things seemed simpler for Barcelona. They were playing at a high level which kept increasing as they closed in on La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League.

They saw off Atletico over two legs in the Copa del Rey quarter-finals later in January, confirming they meant business. Meanwhile, Manchester City and PSG were crushed in the Champions League, while only a slip against Malaga threatened trouble in La Liga.

Barcelona were flying, and the dream of the treble started to become a reality. With another away win over Atletico in May, they sealed the league title, before seeing Athletic Bilbao off in the Copa del Rey final.

After beating Bayern Munich in the Champions League semi-final, they just had to beat Juventus to complete an historic second treble. You know the rest.

Low: Spanish Super Cup

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A new season led to dreams of the sextuple. Unfortunately they were scuppered in Bilbao.

Athletic hosted Barcelona in the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup final, and they rampaged to a 4-0 victory.

Nobody could quite pin down one thing that went wrong for Barcelona; there were many factors. It was a surprise, though, for a team that had been so dominant at the end of the previous season to cave in such a way.

The second leg was not a lot better. Even though they earned a 1-1 draw, Gerard Pique was sent off and subsequently banned for insulting one of the refereeing team.

This was not a good foot to kick the season off on.

Low: Lionel Messi's Injury

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Neymar missed the start of the season with mumps, but just when it seemed the famous MSN attacking trident was united again, Lionel Messi suffered an injury blow.

The striker damaged his knee in a league clash with Las Palmas and was left out of action for two months, which led to fears that Barcelona would fall behind in the title race.

At first, Barcelona did struggle, with only moments of brilliance from either Neymar or Luis Suarez helping them scrape through games.

In the end, though, that duo stepped up their game and minimised the damage that Messi's absence could have caused.

High: Winning the Club World Cup

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Barcelona had thrown away the lead in three consecutive games, all of which they eventually drew, so the chance to go to Japan in December to compete in the Club World Cup was welcome.

It was an opportunity to enjoy playing against teams from different places, as well as fight for the right to be crowned world champions.

Thanks to two 3-0 wins, over Guangzhou Evergrande and River Plate, they duly did so. Luis Suarez hit five goals as Barcelona won the Club World Cup for a record third time.

It meant they could wear their world champions badge, which they did for the first time against Real Betis on Wednesday night. They won that game 4-0 to head into 2016 as La Liga leaders.

Plenty of Other High Moments in a Momentous Year

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Of course, in a year with so much success for the Catalans, it's only natural there are several other moments and incidents that will be fondly cherished but do not make the list. Here are some of those:

• Beating Real Madrid 4-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu
• Gerard Pique's one-man social media war against Los Blancos...and return to form
• Lionel Messi scoring two of the best goals of his career, against Athletic Bilbao and Bayern Munich
• Neymar being shortlisted for the Ballon d'Or for the first time
• Luis Enrique going from being seen as a disaster to a genius
• Sergi Roberto's transformation from outsider to integral part of the team