The endless anguish of Barcelona in Europe

Sergio Busquets laments in the match between Barcelona and Bayern. JOSEP LAGO (AFP)

The past knocks on the door of the present at the Camp Nou.

After 24 years, Barcelona is once again out of the Champions League for the second consecutive season in the group stage.

In the 1997-1998 campaign, the Barça team, at that time with Louis Van Gaal on the bench, finished last in the group that they shared with Dinamo kyiv, PSV and Newcastle.

The following campaign, also with the Dutchman at the head of the squad, Barça quickly said goodbye to the fight for Orejona.

This time, he was fighting for a place in the round of 16 against Manchester United, Bayern Munich and Brondby.

In both courses, in any case, Van Gaal's team won the title in Spain.

Today Barça is second in the League, three points behind the leader, Real Madrid.

When he returned to Barcelona, ​​Joan Laporta left a message that left no room for doubt: "With me, losing has consequences."

By then, in March 2021, the Barça coach was Ronald Koeman.

He was not the president's favorite coach.

In fact, he even asked for time to find another coach.

And, as he did not find it, the Dutchman continued on the bench at the Camp Nou.

The economic context did not help Koeman.

In the summer market of the 2021-2022 campaign, Barça practically did not invest in signings.

However, they caught players like Depay, Agüero and Luuk de Jong.

The priority, at that time, was to solve the financial problems, since lightening the wage bill prevailed.

No departure was as traumatic as Lionel Messi's departure to PSG,

Koeman's team sank in the Champions League, also in a group they shared with Bayern, and Xavi took over the squad in November, when continuity in the Champions League was already a pipe dream.

The Catalan coach, in any case, had accepted Laporta's challenge.

“It's not worth drawing or losing here”, Xavi stressed.

Of course, he called for reinforcements.

And, from the outset, in the winter market of 2022, Barça invested 55 million in Ferran Torres and added Aubameyang and Eric García.

The economic bet did not start: the team fell in the quarterfinals of the Europa League.

The Catalan coach had his diagnosis: "We need seven or eight players."

This time, the one who accepted the challenge was Laporta.

But the president, first, had to get money.

The club sold assets to finance transfers.

An operation that Laporta baptized as "the levers".

Barça transferred 49% of Barça Studios for 200 million and 25% of the television rights for 527.5 million.

An economic injection that gave free rein to the football management led by Mateu Alemany.

Barça signed seven players (Lewandowski, Raphinha, Kessié, Christensen, Koundé,

But in the Champions League, Barcelona doesn't take advantage of the pitch.

Against the strong teams in the group, Barça did not carburete.

“After the game against Inter here we already knew how things were going.

Everything has turned out the other way around in the Champions League.

We have dedicated a lot of time to the analysis and we are clear about what has happened”, explained Mateu Alemany.

“Which one is it?” he added: “In Munich we didn't deserve to lose.

In Milan there was an incomprehensible refereeing circumstance.

I don't understand why a referee at this level doesn't see that move that was a penalty, it doesn't make sense”.

At Barça, at least publicly, self-criticism was not appealed to.

Barcelona lifted their last Champions League in 2015. The glory of the team led by Messi, Neymar and Luis Suárez has traumatically disappeared in Europe, no defeat was as painful as the 2-8 against Bayern in Lisbon.

But the costly restructuring of the squad does not wake up Barça.

Lewandowski did not make a difference in the big games in Europe, Raphinha has started the last three games as a substitute, Koundé did not bring defensive solidity in the Champions League and the role of the signings that arrived at zero cost, such as Kessié, Christensen, Marcos Alonso and Bellerín , has not solved Xavi's problems.

A sporty setback, but also economical.

The Barça brand will lose value and 20.6 million will no longer be entered (the budget planned to reach the quarterfinals).

From the defeat in Rome in 2018 (3-0) to the setback against Liverpool in 2019 (4-0), going through the smack against Bayern in 2020 (the aforementioned 2-8) and after two consecutive falls in the phase of groups (2021 and 2022), Barça jumps from disappointment to disappointment in the Champions League, an endless anguish that Laporta's levers cannot save.

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