The connection between Lionel Messi and FC Barcelona, which has degenerated into a purpose, also loses its sporting glory. Will the final line follow in the summer?
They averted the big bang that seemed to end everything. Does a viscous glow threaten instead, which is at least as unworthy?
The special relationship between superstar Lionel Messi and FC Barcelona, only scarcely cemented after the spectacular turmoil in the summer: it still faces an uncertain future.
In Barcelona, too, the question is being asked more and more whether an earlier closing line would not have been better for everyone involved.
“Financially speaking, I would have sold Messi,” admitted Carles Tusquets, the transitional president of the Catalans, openly last week in a radio interview with RAC 1: “It would have been desirable in view of the money received and saved.”
What is even more bitter from the point of view of the six-time world footballer: On another level, too, there seems to be no blessing on the continuation of the decayed commitment.
Barca does not currently live up to the club motto
Barca currently does not live up to the club’s motto “More than one club”, the disappointment that culminated in last season’s 2-8 against Bavaria continued this season: On the weekend, against surprisingly strong promoter Cadiz, it was the fourth defeat in the twelfth game of the season.
In the table, the Andalusians were ahead of the five-time Champions League winner, who now ranks eighth, behind FC Sevilla and FC Granada. The reconstruction that coach Ronald Koeman, who was installed at the beginning of the season, should initiate, is not getting under way.
Barca presents herself in exactly the state from which Messi wanted to escape in the summer. The now 33-year-old can’t fix him, the sporting splendour of bygone days is also peeled off at him.