BarcelonaIn 2003, a young Joan Laporta was already talking about the possibility of the big European clubs breaking away from UEFA and creating a league of their own. The president of Barça, who had just won his first election, had an ambitious project in mind where the Blaugrana team had to fight arm to arm with the first swords of the Old Continent. Football at the highest level and income far above what had been achieved until then. Two decades later, the European Super League has taken shape and is awaiting a court ruling, due in the first quarter of 2023, to confirm whether it has the green light to launch.
Barça is working hand in hand with Real Madrid in this ambitious project where, they say, as soon as it is activated, it will receive the support of the other major European clubs that once backed away. But while at the Camp Nou they dream of an exciting future, the present remains turbulent. Another European failure was consummated on Wednesday. For the second consecutive year, the club says goodbye to the Champions League in the group stage. You have to go back two decades, precisely before Laporta entered his first term (2000 and 2001) to find two premature eliminations. With the aggravating fact that this year’s has arrived after a multi-million dollar investment in signings and the sale of numerous club assets.
Barça has only collected four points out of a possible fifteen in the Champions League
“A difficult group with Bayern and Inter.” “The arbitrations”. “Bad luck.” “A team under construction.” These are some of the arguments that have been used from the bowels of Camp Nou to try to justify the disappointment in the Champions League. But not everyone buys this victim talk, and even less after investing 210 million in signings during this year, including the winter and summer markets. The fans have returned to the stadium eager to cheer, but on Wednesday, against the Bavarians, the first whistles escaped. Four points from a possible fifteen in the Champions League is the worst ever record for a team that is being strong against the weak and weak against the strong – they have not won a game against the big ones, with two defeats against Bayern, a draw and a defeat against Inter and a defeat against Real Madrid.
The offices do not breathe the atmosphere of optimism that everyone thought would be experienced in March 2021, when Laporta returned to the club. The president won the elections with the slogan “we will do it again”, appealing to the successes of his first term. And, above all, in the great Barça of 2009, that of the ‘sextet’, led by Leo Messi on the pitch, by Pep Guardiola on the bench and with the ill-fated Johan Cruyff as main football advisor. Today, there are no longer any of these figures who supported the sports project and Xavi Hernández, second captain in that glorious era, is the coach who has been entrusted with patching up a dressing room where young promises, old glories and a couple of exciting signings. Xavi was not Laporta’s first choice, as he accused him of not having enough experience, but now he is the only lifeline he has to refloat the team’s game.
Laporta has not yet been able to set in motion the “virtuous circle”, the model that involves investing in the team, for the team to win and for this to grow the club’s economy. To then keep investing, keep winning and keep growing. Many obstacles came from before, such as the inherited contracts with the captains that he has not been able to renegotiate. The wage bill continues to skyrocket and the club is warned that there are still two years to go, until 2024, so that a situation of sustainability can be reached. The problem is that until that happens, the team cannot be strengthened as quickly as the president would like. This affects the bottom line, which in turn affects the economy. Barça, just to say goodbye to the Champions League in the group stage, will stop paying 21 million budgeted – although it also saves about 9 million in player bonuses. And this decline in income is accompanied by a loss for the brand. No matter how many Lewandowskis are signed, playing two years in the Europa League makes the Barcelona team a much less attractive entity in the eyes of sponsors and, also, of future signings.
Laporta’s current project is not what he had announced during the election
An entity that, when Laporta returned, was on the verge of financial bankruptcy, with all the obstacles to sign – the famous fair play of the League – and with internal discrepancies on the way forward to regain balance without putting Barça’s future at risk. It is no coincidence that two key pieces of the financial framework fell prematurely. Jaume Giró, who was supposed to be the economic vice-president, resigned before even taking office. And Ferran Reverter, the CEO who had signed on from Mediamarkt, left the ship before completing the first year of his mandate.
The strong man in numbers is Eduard Romeu, the economic vice-president who joined the board after the elections, and person whom Laporta embraced when he urgently needed the endorsement. But now, which is no longer required by law, it has ceased to be essential and in the noble area they explain that their advice is not always accepted by the president. In fact, the offices are alerted that two blocks are showing up again. The hard core of the president, the one who has already accompanied him in previous stages and who is of the utmost confidence of Laporta, and the people who have been added afterwards.
Without money you can’t sign and without signing you can’t compete, Laporta summarized to his managers to justify the “leverage”, the sale of assets to get extraordinary money. The president obtained the unanimous support of the board despite opposing points of view. And he knows that more will be needed: in the immediate future there will continue to be excessive wages and income will fall due to the momentary transfer to Montjuïc while works are carried out at Camp Nou.
From the offices they believe that the big problem is expectations, fueled by a Laporta who talked about titles from the first moment. Maybe that’s why, aware of the reality, he has lowered his tone in recent statements. At Camp Nou they are asking for time and patience. But the question is whether the partners will have it. And until when
