Football
Barcelona have big problems due to the failure in the Champions League. Can you forget about the return of Messi?
Relegation to the Europa League will put the Catalans on the brink of a financial crisis.
After a draw with Inter in the match of the 4th round of the Champions League group stage, Barcelona’s chances of reaching the playoffs of the tournament were minimal. In the next round, Bayern will come to the blue garnets, and the Italians will meet with the modest Victoria, whose defeat will deprive the Catalans of the chances of reaching the ⅛ finals. Such an outcome will certainly cause dissatisfaction among the fans of Barca, but for the club this is only half the trouble.
The new president of Barcelona, Joan Laporta, did everything to pull the club out of the financial crisis and get new quality players for him. However, without reaching the Champions League playoffs, all his efforts could go to waste.
Barça will miss out on a huge profit!
The budget is bursting at the seams
In the summer, Barcelona had perhaps the most high-profile and successful transfer company in the world, signing seven high-class players at once. Moreover, four (Frank Kess, Andreas Christensen, Hector Bellerin and Marcos Alonso) were acquired for free – as free agents. For the other three, Robert Lewandowski, Jules Kunde and Rafinha, the Blue Garnet shelled out a total of more than 150 million euros.
Such spending surprised not only fans, but also football experts. The fact is that the total debt of Barca at the moment has exceeded two billion euros – a crazy figure, because of which, theoretically, the club should have declared bankruptcy long ago. However, the commercial vein of Laporta, who has taken out a bunch of loans, is still keeping the Blaugrana afloat.
During the summer, Joan sold, among other things, the naming rights to the Camp Nou stadium and gave some of the club’s TV rights to an investment firm, but it takes many years, coupled with big victories, to pay off the debt. Player salaries alone, despite all the cuts, create huge losses. At the same time, the club has planned for the next season the repair of the home stadium, because of which the debt will exceed three billion. Victories in the main tournaments of Barça are needed more than ever: the budget was laid with the expectation of reaching not even a ⅛ final of the Champions League, but at least a quarter-final. If Inter don’t allow a sensational misfire in the match with the Czechs, the Catalans will miss almost 20 million euros, which they could have earned by reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
Barcelona will fall?
If Xavi’s team wins the Europa League, Copa del Rey and La Liga, they still won’t be able to fully make up for the Champions League fiasco, earning a total of just 18 million euros. Yes, this team has character, but it would be too optimistic to count on maximum success this season with such dismal results in the Champions League.
What to do? Sell players. Already in the winter, Barça may put up for sale Frenkie de Jong, Ferran Torres, Memphis Depay and Serginho Dest. In the summer, the departures of Jordi Alba, Gerard Pique and Sergio Busquets, whose expensive contracts expire, will help. However, having freed up a couple of hundred million euros, you will immediately have to look for worthy newcomers for these positions, which means spending a lot of money. In this case, the club will definitely not be able to afford the return of Lionel Messi, which was recently rumored.
By and large, everything goes to the fact that in the absence of amazing sports and commercial success of Barcelona in the coming seasons, the club risks losing its independence, mired in debt and selling all sorts of rights to dozens of companies.
This summer, Laporta went for broke, trying to get out of a difficult situation without significant losses in the form of a total sale of players. So far, Joan’s plan is bursting at the seams, forcing fans to rely not on their own team, but on misfires of rivals.
Source: Sportbox
Thomas Astudillo is a sports journalist and author who writes for Sportish. He has a deep love and knowledge of sports, and is known for his engaging and informative writing on the latest sports news and events.