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It was not a catastrophe, but a crisis cannot be denied – and that applies not only to the second leg of the second leg of FC Barcelona against Paris Saint-Germain, in which they were 1-1 after a 4-1 defeat in the first leg the departure was sealed, but for the location of the once so proud club as a whole. Last year, the changing theater around superstar Lionel Messi had colored the blue-garnet-red world dark, now it is the financial and legal turmoil into which the club has slipped. Only at the weekend, Joan Laporta, already president of the club from 2003 to 2010, was elected as the new, old boss after the era of Josep Maria Bartomeu had ended rather ingloriously – along with allegations that he had lost it with Messi and Co. , as well as an arrest on suspicion of mismanagement and corruption.
Meanwhile, Messi was also Laporta’s big seller. Already after his election, the 58-year-old lawyer, politician and ardent supporter of the Catalan independence movement said: “Twenty years ago a little boy named Leo Messi made his debut for the Barca youth team. To see the best player in the world come to the vote , is a clear sign of what we keep saying: Leo loves Barca. The best player in the world loves Barca and I hope this is a sign that he will stay at Barcelona, which is what we all want. “
Champions League,
Round of 16, second legs
Liverpool – Leipzig2:0 (HS 2:0)
Paris SG – Barcelona 1:1 (4:1)
Juventus – Porto 3: 2 nV (1: 2)
Dortmund – Sevilla2:2 (3:2)
March 16:
Manchester City – M’gladbachHS 2:0
Real Madrid – Atalanta1: 0
17. March:
Bayern – Lazio4: 1
Chelsea – Atletico Madrid1: 0
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In addition, Laporta is already fishing in the international player pool, meetings with Austria’s soccer star David Alaba or his advisors are said to have already taken place. Messi, too, had repeatedly suggested that he wanted the team to be strengthened, only then – so you can hear – the Argentine will probably extend his contract, which will expire in the summer. But that is exactly what could be difficult. Although Barcelona are still at the top of the list of clubs with the highest turnover in the world – 715 million according to the Football Money Report by auditor Deloitte in the 2019/20 financial year – the liabilities are enormous. Most recently, Barca had a gross debt of more than 1.4 billion euros (1.67 billion US dollars) and a net debt of 488 million euros, a bankruptcy is still in the room. The fact that, apart from the income from ticketing and the losses in marketing, those from the European Cup are now also omitted, does not make things any easier – and an exit Messi, who can move to another club in the summer for free, is more and more likely.
And that in turn would exacerbate the current crisis. Because it is still Messi who most reliably provides the accents, he scored a goal on Wednesday (Kylian Mbappe had previously scored for PSG) and also had the chance to win on foot. Of course, that wouldn’t have been enough either, as it doesn’t seem to be enough in the national league this year either. After 26 rounds, Barca are six points short of leaders Atletico; It is no consolation that arch-rivals Real are two more points behind. A disaster? Well, given that Barca were further behind this season, not. A crisis, though.
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