There are no winners after the Argentinian superstar was bluntly honest in saying he is only staying to avoid courtNo smile, no handshake and no reconciliation. Lionel Messi is staying at Barcelona but this was no happy ending. It is over, for now, yet there is no real closure and no one truly got what they wanted, maybe not even Josep Maria Bartomeu. A survivor clinging to power, he will no longer preside over the departure of the best player in the club’s history but nor will he evade responsibility for it. His victory, if that is what this was, is hollow one. Messi made sure of that.The prospect of his leaving after 20 years at Barcelona was sad and...
A possible Pep and Leo show at the Etihad is a mouthwatering prospect but a defensive rejig is more pressing for the club’s title ambitions than the addition of a strolling goalscoring geniusA fortnight ago, two key storylines emerged from Lisbon. There was the collapse of Barcelona and another premature Manchester City exit. From a narrative point of view, the reunion of Lionel Messi and Pep Guardiola makes perfect sense, a fusion of two current storylines, the rekindling of one of football’s great romances. Related: The end of the affair: after Messi, Barcelona will never be the same | Sid Lowe Messi is not the solution to a glass jaw, just a finer grade of crystal Related: Messi to Manchester...
Barcelona should accept the Argentinian’s wishes and let him leave with Pep Guardiola the manager best placed to sign himSuddenly and unexpectedly there is the very real prospect Lionel Messi, perhaps the greatest player in the world now or ever, will be playing in the Premier League. There are a lot of hurdles still to overcome if it is to happen, including a legal battle between two sides who believe he should be allowed to leave Barcelona either for nothing or for €700m but it seems clear he wants a move and that in Pep Guardiola Manchester City have the manager best placed to sign him. Related: The end of the affair: after Messi, Barcelona will never be the same...
Dutch manager has a big task to move out some massive names and must be quick to stamp his authority on the club“If nothing goes awry, the new manager will be Ronald Koeman,” Barcelona’s president, Josep Maria Bartomeu, said, and this time at least nothing did go awry. That was Tuesday night; on Wednesday morning it was confirmed, two days after the sacking of Quique Setién, one after the departure of Eric Abidal as sporting director. “Welcome home!” cheered the announcement, the club’s website calling him “one of us”.This was “the return of a blaugrana legend”, whose first task is to get rid of many others. Men even more successful than him. “It is time to offer an honourable farewell...
The humiliation by Bayern was a capitulation of a major side on a level not seen since the World Cup semi-final in 2014Barcelona cannot say they were not warned. Since 2017, their exits from the Champions League have been becoming increasingly embarrassing. Humiliation has followed humiliation. Perhaps finally now, after their 8-2 humbling against Bayern, their worst defeat since 1946, a performance that became shameful in its ineptitude, action will be taken.Occasionally matches take place that are the meeting of two historical trends. Here, on the one hand, there was the tactical dominance of Germany, the high line and the hard press, the slick muscularity, the rapid exchanges of a well-structured attack, that have become increasingly familiar at the highest...