A year ago, the Russian tanks were just a stone's throw from Kyiv, a European capital, with the same modernities, shops and supermarkets as Barcelona. There we were, convinced that the invaders would break the siege and take the city, silent and absent. Meanwhile, the lives of the few who remained in Kyiv fell into a great black hole: the certainty that anything was possible. The end of the security of a peaceful, bourgeois, Western life...
Keeping the distance, of course, many Barcelona fans began to understand the dimension of the problem when all of San Mamés – who have never had much affection for Barça – chanted “a Segona!” which has been heard so many times at the Camp Nou. There is a day when the bells ring and it's for you, as a Planeta finalist would say.
For the first time in history - or the second since 1942 -, FC Barcelona will hear, match after match, a song dedicated to the outcasts. Like the war in Ukraine: Europe thought it was safe from repeating its history. And the worst thing, for Barça, is that it is not an insult but a plausible hypothesis.
The only good news about the Enríquez Negreira affair – a man of affairs and affairs, in the old sense of the word – is that the first football team is encouraging itself due to an adverse climate and an environment that it will be more hostile every day, especially if this ruin of the board of directors of FC Barcelona continues to evade the obligation to give explanations - whatever they may be - and present apologies - whatever they touch - to their fans.
Helpless by the club, Xavi and the squad are defending, in earnest, not in words, this shield. I know that there is a purist current – anchored in the glorious past that will never return – that finds objections to this streak of victories for the minimum. To me, it is rewarding and meritorious.
The victories at the Bernabéu and San Mamés are extraordinary. With losses in weight and in stadiums where the final matches have knocked down many big teams, the first team of FC Barcelona has been able to resist thanks to the virtues that allow them to survive in a war. Solidarity, eagerness to move forward and the conviction to defend something worthy.
This is worth more than nothing: the footballers – whose whims destabilized the club's economy after Neymar's escape – now uphold the club's honour. In times of shame and discouragement, at last, well-paid professionals do not behave like mercenaries. The roles have been reversed. Shame on the management, pride for those who sweat the shirt.
