AMADEU GARCÍA Barcelona
Barcelona
Updated Friday, January 26, 2024-00:46
Cup The 6,000 express kilometers of Iñaki Williams and Xavi's "head held high" in another disaster: "A single match in the opposite field is difficult"
Twelve months ago,
Barcelona
had kept the
Super Cup
title in its showcase , was still alive in the
Copa del Rey and commanded the
First Division
classification
, eight points ahead of
Real Madrid
. They had won
17 games
, only had one defeat, accumulated
42 goals for
and only seven against. The only stain on his immaculate record was his umpteenth disaster in the
Champions League
, which forced him to find a way to live in the
Europa League
.
A year later, not even the sporting situation is any consolation for the deep
institutional downturn
that the Catalan team is going through, mired in a crossroads that, for now, has a less than encouraging future. He has already said goodbye to the
Super Cup
and the
Copa del Rey
, conceding 4 goals in the final in Riyadh and in the San Mamés quarterfinals against
Real Madrid and Athletic Club
. He is eight points ahead of the League and the great lifesaver seems to be be a Champions League wrapped in unknowns. More than because of the strength of the
rival in the second round
,
Naples
, because of the fragility that Xavi's team presents.
At an institutional level, little or nothing has changed compared to last year. The authorities continue to investigate the
Negreira Case
in depth
and the economy is far from being able to allow great joys in the form of signings. The culé board can only deal with signatures that arrive with the letter of freedom under their arm or in the form of a transfer.
Negreira, accused
At the judicial level, Judge
Joaquín Aguirre
, in charge of investigating the Negreira Case, has asked that the investigation be extended even to the middle managers who were part of the club's structure since 2003 and has finally decided to directly accuse
José María .
Enríquez Negreira
, former number two on the
Technical Committee of Referees
, no matter how much he claimed that Alzheimer's prevented him from participating in any type of process.
In terms of economics, the entity chaired by Joan Laporta is immersed in the
remodeling works of the Camp Nou
, something that requires it to play at home in Montjuïc for a while, and is still pending to completely clean up its battered accounts. To such an extent that Xavi himself has already considered it
impossible to sign any more players
besides Vitor Roque. The defeat in the Cup can also have important consequences on an economic level. Right now, the Barcelona team is out of the next edition of the Super Cup. If the team does not manage to be at least second in the League, next year it will not receive the five million for participating in the tournament.
Xavi, in a press conference.QGEFE
And that mission, to overcome positions, now seems very complicated at the very least. Barça
is a fragile team in defense
. In Bilbao, Athletic did not take a minute to take the lead, something that the Blaugrana have already suffered too many times this year. The analysis of the numbers, furthermore, is tremendously significant. At this point in the League, Barcelona fans had only conceded seven goals last season. At present, there are already
24, four more than those that fit in the entire
last edition. And that is the big key to its poor performance. In terms of goals scored, they are only two less (40) than last year (42).
The two faces that the team has shown have contributed to
exacerbating the intensity with which Xavi experiences the games
, no matter how much he is trying to make amends. So much so that referee warnings are the order of the day. The technician looks desperate. Also, of course, he has set the tone for some of his latest interventions before the media, in which no matter how much he assures that he strives to avoid any controversy, he does not hesitate in the slightest to enter into the fray. For now, his position at the head of the team has not been put under suspicion by the
Board
, but because the economy does not allow for too much invention. The Champions will pass sentence.