Lionel Messi had become accustomed to winning La Liga. For all the turmoil and turbulence in their much-maligned dressing room, Barcelona and the six-time Ballon d'Or winner's firm grip on domestic titles was beyond a shadow of a doubt. 

However, their indubitable reign as Spanish champions came to an embarrassing end on Thursday. As Barca collapsed to a mortifying defeat against Osasuna, arch-rivals Real Madrid's win over Villarreal ensured Zinedine Zidane's merciless team were sworn in as the new kings. 

Despite an impressive trophy-winning run at the Champions League, this was only Real's third league title in the past nine seasons. "Today is one of the best days for me as a professional," beamed Zidane, who would later be hoisted into the air by his ecstatic players. "This is better than anything. It takes a tremendous effort to win La Liga."

Not that Messi had taken his foot off the pedal in the title hunt. Even when it was virtually impossible for Barca to dethrone Los Blancos with the points gap widening, the Argentinian talisman was routinely the only spark in a frustratingly unbalanced squad that have struggled to set the tempo or create clear-cut chances. 

The 33-year-old Messi could still perform wonders as the captain tried his utmost to inspire his listless teammates throughout. The scintillating left-footed free kick that he effortlessly curled into the top corner on Thursday was an absolute beauty. Yet his efforts proved fruitless when Osasuna caught Barca's defense flat-footed and netted an astonishing stoppage-time winner. 

With another debacle happening before his eyes, Messi finally reached a threshold that suggests he has completely thrown caution to the wind and went into a tirade about the failures of the team.

"We didn't expect or want to finish like this but it almost sums up the whole year," he fumed. "All season we have been a very weak team, beaten for intensity, for motivation, people can score against us very easy, we lost many points where we shouldn't lose them.  

"The feeling of the team is that we tried but we couldn't do it, that we leave a lot to be desired in many areas...I said long ago that if we continued in this way, it would be very difficult to win the Champions League and that has been shown to be the case in La Liga too." 

"Roma, Liverpool... the fans are running out of patience because we're not giving them anything. If we want to fight for the Champions League, a lot has to change. Like this, we will lose to Napoli."  

When new coach Quique Setien was tasked with instilling a sense of urgency into Barcelona before COVID-19 struck, the Spanish behemoth still sat top of the table. But demoralizing draws against Sevilla, Celta Vigo and Atletico Madrid, coupled with Real's 10 straight wins since the restart utterly swung the momentum. 

"Madrid did their job, but we helped them a lot in that," observed a defiant Messi. "We have to be self-critical, starting with the players, but across the whole club. We are Barcelona, and we are obliged to win every game." 

Alas, the days when Barcelona are exceptionally capable of steamrolling any opponents with their superlative piece of skills and consummate tactical nous have long gone. The 61-year-old Setien, whose position has come under increasing scrutiny just seven months into his new job, might also be gone before long.

When the dust settles, the post-mortem will be unavoidably going on at Camp Nou about just what exactly is going wrong. But at present, the burning question is, will Messi be the next to move on to pastures new?  

The irony is that, for Barca, even a negative answer might not be enough to lighten up the mood and lift the dark cloud.