In the dressing room after Barcelona’s brilliant 3-0 win over Real Madrid, the Catalan club’s players were naturally raucous, but manager Ernesto Valverde was still the picture of restraint. Quietly content, of course, but also concentrated and steely. It was a mood slightly out of kilter with the extent of the win and the celebration going on around him, but entirely in-keeping with Valverde’s general approach, as well as his reaction to the other extreme: Barca’s previous match against Real Madrid.

That August fixture culminated in a dismal 5-1 aggregate defeat in the Super Cup that also brought to a head what had looked like one of the worst summers in the club’s history. Given the sensational sale of Neymar, as well as their much debated struggles to actually go and spend the money to replace him and replenish a squad that badly needed improvement even before that, it was almost like both the depressing close-seasons of 2000 and 2001 combined. There was a modern Luis Figo-level nightmare story, as well as a lack of direction that didn’t exactly speak well of the club’s planned path.

It really was that bad. Then there was the actual specifics of the job itself. Aside from the gloom about the sale of Neymar, this was a tired-looking squad recovering from a failed title challenge for the first time in three years. Valverde had to accommodate a player who nobody seemed to want in Paulinho, and who did provoke debate among the club’s hierarchy, and then lost Neymar’s eventual replacement Ousmane Dembele to injury for three months.

Real Madrid vs Barcelona: Player ratings Show all 22 1 /22 Real Madrid vs Barcelona: Player ratings Real Madrid vs Barcelona: Player ratings Keylor Navas - 7 out of 10 At fault for the final goal but very little he could do about the other two AFP/Getty Images Real Madrid vs Barcelona: Player ratings Dani Carvajal - 4 Sent off for an cynical handball in the second half AFP/Getty Images Real Madrid vs Barcelona: Player ratings Raphael Varane - 5 Did his best but was left wholly exposed for Suarez's opener AFP/Getty Images Real Madrid vs Barcelona: Player ratings Sergio Ramos - 5 Stayed on the pitch - for a change - but isn't the defender he once was anymore AFP/Getty Images Real Madrid vs Barcelona: Player ratings Marcelo - 6 Got forward well early but faded Getty Images Real Madrid vs Barcelona: Player ratings Casemiro - 5 Left his back four exposed for Suarez's goal. Subbed shortly after Getty Images Real Madrid vs Barcelona: Player ratings Luka Modric - 6 Wasn't his usual self despite starting the game well AFP/Getty Images Real Madrid vs Barcelona: Player ratings Mateo Kovacic - 6 Did a job on Messi for large parts of the game but didn't do enough the other way Getty Images Real Madrid vs Barcelona: Player ratings Toni Kroos - 6 Not his finest display Getty Images Real Madrid vs Barcelona: Player ratings Cristiano Ronaldo - 6 Flashed signs of his class but not enough to give his side a way back. Snatched at a couple of chances when passes would have been the better option Getty Images Real Madrid vs Barcelona: Player ratings Karim Benzema - 7 Should have done better with first half header. Lacked service as game progressed Getty Images Real Madrid vs Barcelona: Player ratings Marc-Andre Ter Stegen - 7 Saved well in the first-half but became relatively untroubled Getty Images Real Madrid vs Barcelona: Player ratings Sergi Roberto - 8 Kept Ronaldo on a relatively short leash and got forward well AFP/Getty Images Real Madrid vs Barcelona: Player ratings Gerard Pique - 8 His best performance of the season. Excellent Getty Images Real Madrid vs Barcelona: Player ratings Thomas Vermaelen - 7 Considering his lack of playing time a tremendous display under pressure AFP/Getty Images Real Madrid vs Barcelona: Player ratings Jordi Alba - 7 Got forward superbly while always tracking back AFP/Getty Images Real Madrid vs Barcelona: Player ratings Paulinho - 7 Brilliant again. An unsung hero who was often Barca's biggest attacking threat AFP/Getty Images Real Madrid vs Barcelona: Player ratings Ivan Rakitic - 7 Excellent against Real's formidable midfield. Created the opener brilliantly AFP/Getty Images Real Madrid vs Barcelona: Player ratings Sergio Busquets - 8 At his powerful best. His composure for the opener set Barca on their way AFP/Getty Images Real Madrid vs Barcelona: Player ratings Andres Iniesta - 7 Not quite the influence he once was but still a classy customer Getty Images Real Madrid vs Barcelona: Player ratings Lionel Messi - 9 The main man as ever. Scored the second from the spot before making the third in style AFP/Getty Images Real Madrid vs Barcelona: Player ratings Luis Suarez - 7 Quiet for large parts but took his goal superbly AFP/Getty Images

On top of all of that, there was the unsettling uncertainty fostered by what may well have ended up as the biggest moment in the club’s history: Leo Messi’s apparent indecision over a new deal. Even if many were always confident the Argentine was fine, and preaching as much, the Neymar situation illustrated that nothing is done until it is done.

It was quite a situation to walk into, almost impossible. There were so many factors against him.

If the Barcelona job is “an oven”, as many of those with direct knowledge describe it, then here it was turned up to maximum temperature. And yet Valverde just proceeded with the minimum of fuss.

And just kept on going, and going... to the point his side are 14 points clear at the top, having just thrashed the repeat European champions 3-0 at their own stadium.

Given the pressure, and given how good Barcelona now look – maybe even European champions again – it may well be the managerial job of 2017.

Valverde wouldn’t come close to making such claims himself, but that type of attitude has been part of it. He just went into that infamously difficult dressing room and immediately commanded the respect of the squad due to his self-belief and the evident trust of his own ideas, as well as the clarity of them.

Barca saw off Real Madrid in last weekend's Clasico to take an iron grip on La Liga (Getty)

Barca had already been on the course of a much-debated drift from their famous philosophy, but Valverde at least gave a proper focus to it. He also did the fundamentals of any good managerial job. He instantly gave the available squad a playing approach that fitted them, bringing out the best in them. Messi was made the centre of a more calculated Barca. They were still capable of flamboyance, as one brilliant passage of football against Deportivo La Coruna displayed, but they were more calculated about it.

That calculation and sense of certainty about what they are doing has of course given the confidence to occasionally go on such surges. They may have been willing to cede possession to Real in the first half of the Clasico, but the second showed that the real point is they can still use it to devastating effect at the right moment.

This has perhaps been Valverde’s best piece of work. He has restored a resolve and focus to a club that can often be too bloated, too distracted by everything going on around it.

Luis Suarez pointed on the more specific on-pitch effects of this after the game at the Bernabeu.

Valverde has turned Barcelona around spectacularly (Getty)

"What we have been doing so far this season, together, compact, pressing and taking advantage of the opportunities... this [win] is a result of that.”

It was also a result that nobody would have expected in August. That alone reflects the brilliance of Valverde’s work, the progressive pragmatism.

It may be the managerial job of 2017, although he would just insist on keeping focus so that the big trophies are actually won in 2018.