Do or keep dying in Barcelona's Olympic Stadium
“This next match is a final”. A phrase we hear managers and players assert too often, when in reality they’re just getting ready for another league game. Well, I’m sorry to say that this annoying statement applies to Barça’s second leg Champions League encounter against Napoli this Tuesday. The only difference is that it relates from a financial perspective, rather than a sportive one.
F.C. Barcelona getting knocked out would be far from surprising… if, like me, you follow the club and its weekly performances. On paper, read by your standard Slovenian football fan, I guess it would be quite a shock. But their elimination, I insist, from a sporting perspective, wouldn’t be dramatic taking into account the serious injury problems and how unreliable Xavi’s men have been all throughout the season.
However, Barça are in a bind if we talk about money, with a debt of around 1.2 billion euros, without taking into account the ‘Espai Barça’. Which means that every penny counts, and the Champions League provides generously when clubs do well. If the home team defeats Napoli, then that will guarantee another 10.6 million euros to add to the 36.44 million euros they’ve collected so far this campaign. In fact, in Barça’s budgeted revenue for the 23/24 season, they counted on reaching the UCL quarter finals, at the very least. So, it’s basically a must for them to qualify to the next round or the club’s critical situation will only get worse.
Especially if we introduce the new FIFA Club World Cup for 2025 into the equation, which will guarantee 50 million euros to each of the participating clubs. Only two Spanish teams will take part, one being Real Madrid. The other spot is currently for Atlético de Madrid, given Barça have a poorer coefficient than them. To turn the situation around, culers need to make it to the UCL semifinal and for Atleti to get knocked out by Inter Milan.
An extremely complicated outcome which, first of all, requires a win versus Napoli regardless of the previously mentioned injury issues the team is facing. Pedri and Frenkie de Jong now join Gavi in the infirmary, three essential midfielders capable of making a difference in big games. And to that, we have to add the absences of Ferran Torres, Alejandro Balde and Marcos Alonso. Some big names out of the picture, but Xavi has to do whatever it takes to qualify… for his own sake, for the players, for the fans, but most importantly, for the club’s future which is constantly at stake.