If there was an argument in favor of Barcelona's remarkable approach to their long-term financial security this summer -- selling off more than €600 million in assets to fund new signings for Xavi's squad -- it existed in the European sphere. Returning president Joan Laporta had seen firsthand the "virtuous circle" whereby onfield success drove greater interest and revenues, allowing the squad to be strengthened yet further and ultimately for Barcelona to entrench themselves at the top of European football.
Get Robert Lewandowski, Jules Kounde, Raphinha and so many others, the logic went, and there would be a team that was ready to compete with the best in Europe. Eyeballs and sponsors would follow, they might be short 25 percent of their domestic television revenue for the next 25 years but if broadcasting figures were swelling anyway because Barcelona were the team to watch then it was a gamble worth taking. To do so, however, would require a team who could at least be mentioned in similar breath to their forbearers, maybe not quite up to the standard of the Dream Team or the MSN front three of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar, but one that was at least still in the Champions League at the business end of the tournament.
Instead, Barcelona depart continental football alongside Midtjylland, Salzburg and Nantes, crashing out of the Europa League at the first knockout round after Fred and Antony delivered second-half hammer blows to Xavi's side. Being knocked out of the Champions League at the group stage had already blown a €20 million hole in the club finances, now there is not even a deep run in the second-tier competition to plug some of those gaps. A €158m spending spree was supposed to bring back the good times to the Camp Nou Spotify Camp Nou. It seems a heavy price to pay to thrash Viktoria Plzen twice.
And yet it is not as if they spent all that money poorly nor are they anything other than one of Europe's better teams. Their form in La Liga shows exactly that, they streaked out ahead of Real Madrid because of Marc-Andre ter Stegen's exceptional goalkeeping and a frontline that can win plenty of its games in third gear. More is the pity for Laporta, Xavi and this whole project that Barcelona's have continually crossed paths with some of Europe's finest clubs. In a pair of games against a tournament favorite, they gave Bayern Munich all sorts of difficulties before succumbing on the counter. One poor performance against Inter Milan created an uphill race and still at moments they looked like on the brink. There but for Robin Gosens in the 89th minute went a serious contender for the Champions League.
At home and away to Manchester United, another side who look like they could make an impact on better competitions than the Europa League, they ran Erik ten Hag's side close. It took a quite exceptional upswing in performance for the Red Devils to seal passage to the last 16 in the second half, Fred in particular offering a punch of energy that this team are simply unaccustomed to facing in La Liga. Had Robert Lewandowski hit his 89th-minute chance as sweetly as he usually does, had Antony hit his chance as unconvincingly as he occasionally does, then Barcelona might at least be favorites to pick up their consolation prize.
Then again, it was not news to Barcelona that they would be in Pot Two when the draw was made on August 25, a day when they were still scrabbling to free up space on the wage books for Hector Bellerin (now departed for Sporting) and Marcos Alonso (a starter in 12 games and arguably their third choice left-back). The previous season they had drawn Bayern and another side worthy of a last 16 place in Benfica, running into the latter too early in the campaign killed their Champions League bid inside 180 minutes.
Barcelona did not self-asset strip for glory in a league campaign where 38 games tend to constitute a sufficient sample size for performances to be reflected in results. They did so in the belief that they would be immune to the array of random chance that make the Champions League and Europa League so absorbing. It has backfired in the most abject fashion anyone could have realistically imagined.
