The Madrid Champions League, the height of a bad year for Barça

They are eternal rivals.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
29 May 2022 Sunday 22:22
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The Madrid Champions League, the height of a bad year for Barça

They are eternal rivals. And as such Real Madrid and Barça need each other and give each other feedback. Success motivates and makes the champion proud and hurts the pride of the loser, with Barça being the team that has come out worst in recent years. The comparison is insufferable. Since the Blaugrana lifted their last Champions League, in the 2015 Berlin final, Madrid has managed to lift four European Cups. The last in Paris. There are white players like Marcelo, Carvajal, Kroos, Modric or Benzema who already have the same big ears as Barça itself.

Although the Blaugrana entity had been showing signs for years collecting debacles in Europe such as the 3-0 in Rome in 2018, the 4-0 in Liverpool in 2019 or the 2-8 against Bayern in Lisbon in 2020, this course has not been the of recovery, precisely. Barça said goodbye to the Champions League in the group stage, fell in the Europa League and has closed the season in blank with the minimum achievement of having secured a place in the top continental competition. Minimum service.

With this scenario, Real Madrid's fourteenth Champions League a month after winning its 35th league title has become, in a Barça key, the worst possible epilogue in the first year without Messi. “Barça is above everything. We have no salary margin, and decisions are made here, ”said President Joan Laporta on August 6 when he had to face and explain the Argentine's departure. Almost ten months later few things have changed. The barcelonismo follows without having a relief that deludes.

Instead, on the other side of the board, a week has been enough to erase Kylian Mbappé from their minds. The French player, who renewed with PSG, is already history for Real Madrid, who overcame disappointment in Paris with a blow of authority. Ici Real Madrid. And period”, Ancelotti released. "Nothing happens," said Florentino Pérez, who had been dreaming of building a project around the Frenchman for years.

Real Madrid now exploits other saving figures such as goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, whose reliability only failed in the 0-4 Barcelona and contrasts with the lack of security that Ter Stegen transmits at the Camp Nou. There are also no doubts in midfield with the veteran Modric (36), Kroos (32) or Casemiro (30). Meanwhile in Barcelona there are those who are considering selling Frenkie de Jong (25) to make money because there are no financial solutions.

The stadiums of both clubs are also two completely different worlds. On the one hand, Real Madrid took advantage of the pandemic to carry out works at the Bernabeu, which was almost finished. On the other hand, Barça had to ask at the shareholders' meeting, which was held in October, for authorization to request financing of 1,500 million euros from Goldman Sachs to undertake the works of the Espai Barça. The cranes have not entered yet.