Joan Laporta returned to his seat as President of Barça on Sunday evening after an election organized after Bartomeu's resignation at the end of October.
With his experience and his past record, the new boss has brought back a smile to the supporters in a season which has so far been very complicated from all points of view.
But has Laporta's return gone so far as to give fans hope for Wednesday's game?
20 Minutes
deepened the question.
Chance of the calendar or wink of a malicious fate supposed to give a boost to the socios blaugranas before the return match against PSG, the presidential elections at FC Barcelona, initially scheduled for January, have been postponed because of the situation Spanish sanitary four days before the shock at the Parc des Princes.
And unsurprisingly, it was former President Joan Laporta (2003-2010) who regained his throne on Sunday evening after a first unsuccessful return attempt six years ago.
At the end of a ballot in which the participation exceeded 50% (55,611 voters), Laporta was elected in an armchair, but the task that awaits the Catalan will not be easy as the club culé has never also seemed in bad shape, economically and sportingly.
It will therefore be, as he explained on Sunday evening from the prefabricated unit serving as electoral HQ for his campaign team, to “give back joy” to the Blaugrana people.
And hope, too, a little, before the trip to Paris on Wednesday following the rouste received three weeks ago at Camp Nou (1-4).
Believe and make believe that a remountada bis is possible, this is a first major mission for the Barcelona lawyer.
In the immediate future, nothing could be simpler, one would be tempted to write.
Laporta will only have to surf on the euphoria of Sunday, the presidential elections having that of great that they could give hope to the most depressive of the great romantics of the XIXth century.
It didn't drag on either.
"I think we can say that the very minute the official results were known, we felt a wind of hope around the club among the socios, through the strong personality of Laporta, testifies the economist Marc Siria I Roig, member of Laporta's candidacy in 2015. We must not forget that with Bartomeu, we had at the head of the club a fairly discreet profile and which never really managed to convey emotions, hope, but it is still the role of a president beyond the simple management of the club.
Supporters expect their president to be the club's first representative.
"
"It is the president with whom we were happy"
With his tanned complexion, his loud verb and his square face of a Hollywood actor, it is nothing to say that the personality of Laporta contrasts with that, more dull, of the resigning former president Bartomeu.
"It is difficult to do better in terms of determination and charisma, he is someone who has always known how to transmit hope and ambition", supports his former colleague Siria I Roig.
Above all, the socios have chosen to trust a person who can boast of having a record, a real one: under the first term of Laporta, Barça is twelve trophies in seven years, including two Champions Leagues and four Ligas .
It is also the choice of paying coaches, Rijkaard and Guardiola having never since found a worthy successor on the Catalan bench.
And that the supporters have not forgotten.
Laporta and Guardiola with the Joan Gamper trophy, August 25, 2010 at Cam Nou.
- JOSEP LAGO / AFP
Like Pablo Sanchez, this 33-year-old socio who voted for the first time in his life in the club elections: “At the beginning I thought I would vote for Victor Font, he was the one who convinced me the most, but when Laporta announced that he was going to introduce himself, there was no more debate.
He's the president of my childhood, the one we were happy and powerful with.
"" The members have chosen the option of experience, and given the current difficulties that the club is going through, it seems quite logical, analyzes Marc Siria I Roig.
Without making an exaggerated comparison, let us remember that in 2003 also the club knew a complicated economic situation and that Laporta had succeeded in all points of view (institutional, sporting and economic) to raise the bar.
They therefore voted for him, hoping that his good governance will be repeated.
"
More than Wednesday's match at the Parc des Princes, on which he will have little or no impact, it is especially in the case of the extension of Leo Messi's contract that Laporta will play part of his credibility, him who kept repeating (again on Sunday evening) that he thought he could convince the Argentinian to stay at home.
Confidence increased tenfold by the trip of the Pulga in person on Sunday to come and vote with his son Thiago.
Marc Siria I Roig: “The best player in the history of football [it is a Barcelona who speaks] who appears with his son to vote as a simple socio among the others, what message does that send?
A proof of love and very strong belonging to Barça.
»What about Laporta?
It is too early to tell.
Hope measured for Wednesday
What is certain is that the Walking Dead atmosphere in the aftermath of PSG's victory at Camp Nou has changed in recent days.
“Before the elections, there was a form of pessimism, almost giving up when thinking of the return match against PSG.
Since Sunday evening, even if it had already started a little with the last good results of the club, things have changed, the tide has turned, perceives the economist close to the new president.
I'm not saying that everyone believes it completely, just that we want to see what is possible.
You have to go, play and you never know.
»On a misunderstanding, yeah, we know.
To say that the return of the boss has turned the spirits in the very short term would therefore be a bit of an exaggeration.
Pablo Sanchez confirms: “Between the election of Laporta, the team's play in recent weeks and the comeback against Sevilla in the Copa del Rey [2-0 defeat in the first leg, 3-0 victory in the return], we can say that hope is reborn a little.
Well ... I say that but personally it seems infeasible to me this year.
But hey, as Neymar said before the 6-1: the remountada is 1% chance and 99% faith.
"
If he twisted at the stand on Sunday evening, showing himself to be both cautious and ambitious (“We're going to Paris to see if we can go back up!”), Joan Laporta still launched hostilities.
“Paris Saint-Germain disrespected Barça by speaking publicly about Lionel Messi, he attacked the head in the handlebars.
A player can publicly wish the coming of the best player in history [he refers to the appeals of the foot from Neymar, Di Maria and Paredes to Messi], but not a club.
Leonardo
was wrong and I think he knows it well, because he knows football well.
I'm sure PSG got the message.
“Like what, Laporta or not, there are things that will never change at Barça.
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