Barcelona's loss to Man United, early exit from Europa League sees club's financial plans brutally backfire
CBSN
The Spanish club have had to get creative to assemble such a squad, but it hasn't met expectations internationally
If there was an argument in favor of Barcelona's remarkable approach to their long-term financial security this summer -- selling off more than €600 million in assets to fund new signings for Xavi's squad -- it existed in the European sphere. Returning president Joan Laporta had seen firsthand the "virtuous circle" whereby onfield success drove greater interest and revenues, allowing the squad to be strengthened yet further and ultimately for Barcelona to entrench themselves at the top of European football.
Get Robert Lewandowski, Jules Kounde, Raphinha and so many others, the logic went, and there would be a team that was ready to compete with the best in Europe. Eyeballs and sponsors would follow, they might be short 25 percent of their domestic television revenue for the next 25 years but if broadcasting figures were swelling anyway because Barcelona were the team to watch then it was a gamble worth taking. To do so, however, would require a team who could at least be mentioned in similar breath to their forbearers, maybe not quite up to the standard of the Dream Team or the MSN front three of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar, but one that was at least still in the Champions League at the business end of the tournament.
Instead, Barcelona depart continental football alongside Midtjylland, Salzburg and Nantes, crashing out of the Europa League at the first knockout round after Fred and Antony delivered second-half hammer blows to Xavi's side. Being knocked out of the Champions League at the group stage had already blown a €20 million hole in the club finances, now there is not even a deep run in the second-tier competition to plug some of those gaps. A €158m spending spree was supposed to bring back the good times to the Camp Nou Spotify Camp Nou. It seems a heavy price to pay to thrash Viktoria Plzen twice.
