Joan Laporta more tightrope walker

Barcelona"Everyone knows we're not financially strong, and that leaves us in a weak position when it comes to negotiating." This quote comes from a Barça executive in a conversation in which he lamented the difficulty of asserting himself in the offices. "Getting respect." "It's time to strike a balance, it's time to play politics," he added, admitting that President Joan Laporta isn't entirely comfortable because he can't lead the club the way he'd really like.

Those who know Laporta well assure us that he would prefer to lead Barça the way Florentino Pérez leads Real Madrid—although the ideological differences with the president remain the same. meringue–: being a leader who is everywhere, who is aware of everything and who makes decisions without depending on third parties. In fact, Laporta and Florentino have been working hand in hand since the Barcelona lawyer returned to the Camp Nou box, with the Super League and the changes in the sports law. repeal the obligation to guarantee in order to run a sports association, For example. Like two captains of two ocean liners determined to go straight. But reality has been different, and it's recently become more distant. While Florentino tries to continue on his own path, the Barça president has had to keep an eye on the rearview mirror and seek the complicity of those in power at the highest levels of football.

Miami confirms it.

The latest example is the match in Miami, which Barça has made clear it was happy to accept despite internal disagreements. The dressing room has made it known internally that it received the news with reluctance, and one of the captains, Frenkie de Jong, has openly stated that he completely disagrees. The schedule is very tight, and a 300-kilometer trip to Villarreal has been replaced by a 7,500-kilometer trip to the United States, which will take place on December 20, just three days after the first Copa del Rey match. To compensate, Barça has been keen to praise this match, which will mark the first time they will travel outside of Spain to play a league match. And they have, of course, highlighted the financial reward: a revenue of at least 5 million euros.

Money is always welcome, especially when it comes with little money. Although in this case, it's necessary to take into account the rapprochement between Laporta and Javier Tebas. The relationship between the Barça president and the president of La Liga was severely strained in 2021, when Barça refused to sign the agreement with CVC for the sale of a percentage of the audiovisual rights. Tebas is responsible for the fair play, and although Barça is still far from returning to the 1:1 rule—which allows for normal signings—building bridges with the club's management has allowed for a relaxation of the conditions for registering players. The question is what will happen in the future. For now, the recent past reminds us that La Liga opposed Dani Olmo's registration at Christmas: the case ended deciding at the request of the CSDAnd this summer, a guarantee was needed to register players, two of whom had to wait a couple of matchdays before being approved to compete.

From the Super League to redesigning the Champions League, a masterstroke?

The rapprochement with Tebas has run parallel to what Laporta has done with Aleksander Ceferin, president of UEFA. Tebas and Ceferin are two bitter enemies of Florentino Pérez, who is finding himself alone in the Super League project. This competition, managed directly by the clubs, had been one of Laporta's greatest dreams, something he had already worked on during his first term at Barça. After winning the 2021 elections, he rekindled the fuse by organizing a dinner at the Botafumeiro restaurant with Florentino and Andrea Agnelli, president of Juventus. They would be the leaders of a competition launched later that year with 12 teams. Between the huge uproar it generated in countries like England and a lengthy court battle with UEFA, many teams have been dropping out, and Madrid is on its way to being left alone.

By all rights, Barça is still part of the Super League, since if it withdraws it will have to pay a multi-million-pound penalty to A22, the promoter. So in the offices they are betting on a smart path: let the project die. In parallel, and this is one of his master moves, Laporta has led an approach with UEFA to reach an agreement between the Champions League and the Super League, of which he would be one of the winners, cornering Florentino Perez. He has also been seen recently participating in meetings of the European Club Association (ECA), close to UEFA and opposed to the Super League.

Reducing tensions with UEFA was imperative because Ceferin's favor was needed in key aspects such as the fair play –has reduced the amount of the fine from 60 to 15 million to break budget rules–, the Negreira case –which jeopardized Barça's participation in the Champions League– and even the Camp Nou –he needed to play the first matchday away from home, since he didn't have any stadium available, and he still dreams of playing a group stage match in the Les Corts neighborhood.

The battles that Laporta cannot win for the moment

Regarding the stadium, the forced return to Montjuïc has caused much unrest in the upper echelons of Barça, where they insist that reopening the Camp Nou is essential to generate the money needed to repay the Goldman Sachs loan. However, Laporta has not been able to win this battle despite pressuring the city council: the firefighters have not taken the bait and are determined to delay the opening until the safety requirements they consider essential are met. These minimum requirements depend on materials that take longer than expected to arrive. Furthermore, cutting licenses to the construction company Limak and outsourcing parts of the stadium's renovation to third-party companies has not served to expedite the process either.

The latest conflict is with the national team. Gavi is injured, Lamine Yamal is injured. And the latest was Dani Olmo, whom Spain recruited despite traveling with a muscle overload. In other times, this could have been avoided, but relations between the club and the Federation are not going through the best of times. Problems are piling up for Joan Laporta, a long-time expert at landing on his feet even in the toughest situations, while the opposition sharpens its knives ahead of next spring's elections.