The 72 months of penance for Barcelona fans

BarcelonaThis May marks six years since one of the saddest nights in Barça's recent history. The team was on the brink of the Champions League final and was defending three goals away at Liverpool. But their fuses blew. grid came back with a 4-0 Which can be summed up by Origi's goal, who was left alone to finish off a corner kick delivered by Alexander-Arnold while the entire Barça defense was left reeling. Ter Stegen couldn't do anything. The goalkeeper is the only survivor in the Barça dressing room. That day he was joined in the starting lineup by Sergi Roberto, Piqué, Lenglet, Jordi Alba, Arturo Vidal, Busquets, Rakitic, Coutinho, Messi, and Suárez. On the bench were Cillessen, Semedo, Arthur, Malcom, Umtiti, Vermaelen, and Aleñá. The other first-team players who didn't travel were Todibo, Murillo, Rafinha Alcántara, Dembélé, and Kevin-Prince Boateng.

On the return flight, the board, then chaired by Josep Maria Bartomeu, began talking about the end of the cycle and the need to profoundly and urgently overhaul the squad. But that was 2019. Although they had long since ceased to reign in Europe, they were still winning leagues with authority and Madrid were often defeated in the Clásicos. With the only asterisk being Messi, who is the footballer no one wanted to do without, it took six years, a pandemic, an economic crisis of cosmic proportions, a change of president, three changes of coach and several conflicts with the sacred cows. It has been difficult to carry out the necessary cleaning, to get the signings right after many failed attempts, to distinguish the wheat from the chaff at La Masia and, finally, to have a team capable of to reach the European semi-finals again.

The revolution that Bartomeu was unable to make

In 2019, it was clear that the real revolution would take a long time. That summer, only a few tweaks were made, partly because Bartomeu faced opposition from a dressing room that had accumulated too much power—and which, for example, managed to keep Ernesto Valverde on the bench. The other choice: money. The salaries were so high that no one could offer the discarded players the same as they were earning at Barcelona. That's why Coutinho couldn't be transferred, but was loaned to Bayern. The others who left weren't starters: Malcom, Cillessen, Rafinha, Todibo, Vermaelen, Murillo, and Aleñá.

In 2020, with the pandemic and after the 2-8 against Bayern In the Champions League quarterfinals, the revolution was also half-hearted. Coutinho returned to a dressing room that had seen regulars Arturo Vidal, Rakitic, and Suárez leave at a bargain price. Semedo and Arthur followed suit. A few months later, stifled by the vote of no confidence, Bartomeu's board resigned en masse, and Joan Laporta took over the reins of the club. He promised major changes, which also came in dribs and drabs.

A list of Barça signings that will make you fall flat on your face

Laporta allied himself with Mateu Alemany, who as Barça's sporting director had a major objective: to oust the discarded players. "Presi, I'm not the best person to create a new Dream Team, but I am to clean up the locker room," he told him in one of the initial meetings. Thus, Emmerson, Junior Firpo, Griezmann, Trincão, and Pjanic, players signed by Bartomeu starting in 2019 but who never quite gelled, were all brought in. At the same time, he was looking for imaginative ways to get rid of Umtiti and Lenglet, who would leave in 2022, a year after Messi left through the back door, as financial constraints and pressure from auditors prevented the Rosario native from retiring to the club of his life. There were still unaffordable salaries, and the exit process would be completed over the following seasons. Piqué decided to hang up his boots at the end of 2022, and Jordi Alba and Busquets' contracts were up in the summer of 2023, the year in which Dembélé was sold to PSG. The last veteran, Sergi Roberto, remained, whose contract was up and he had not received any renewal offers in the summer of 2024.

The list of Bartomeu's latest signings is a bit overwhelming, as only De Jong, Pedri and Araujo – the latter two initially signed for the reserve team – make up the list. But Laporta's first few years weren't exactly a walk in the park either, as the bulk of the zero-cost bets, either for free or on loan – Memphis, Kessie, Marcos Alonso, Gündogan, Aubameyang, Cancelo and João Félix – have ended up leaving without much fanfare. The players for whom money has been paid through the levers, activated despite the reluctance in the economic area. But Laporta is Laporta and Everyone who works with him explains that he cannot be contradicted.. From a sporting perspective, time has proven him right. Economically, we'll have to wait a few years to see the medium- and long-term consequences.

What would have happened to La Masia if Barça's coffers had been fully stocked?

Either way, the team wins, and that's what Barcelona fans truly value. low cost like Íñigo; and footballers who return to their country of birth after leaving to seek the carob beans like Olmo and Eric. But the future lies in new generation players recently brought up through the youth academy: Lamine Yamal, Pau Cubarsí, Fermín, Gavi, Balde, Casadó, Gerard Martín, Héctor Fort or Marc Bernal. It is impossible to know if so much confidence would have been placed in La Masía if Barça had had deep pockets and could have spent millions on world stars. The fact is that Koeman and Xavi opened the door to the first team for them and Hansi Flick has just polished them up..

It's a different Barça, capable of re-engaging fans, commanding respect in Europe, and winning three Clásicos in a row against Real Madrid: 4-0 at the Bernabéu, 5-2 in the Super Cup final, and 2-3 in the Copa del Rey final. They have two titles under their belt, a four-point lead in La Liga with five matches remaining, and await Inter in the Champions League semi-finals. Their penance is over, 72 months later.