FC Barcelona playing in the UEFA Europa League is an extremely strange sight, but La Blaugrana must go all out to capture glory in Europe’s secondary club competition. Since the appointment of Xavi as manager in November, Barca have looked almost unrecognisable from Ronald Koeman’s side in the opening months of the season.
Club legend Xavi was announced as the new manager to guide his former club back to winning ways, and their resurgence under the 42-year-old has been sensational. Since Xavi made a return to the Camp Nou, Barcelona have gradually started to look like their former selves.
Barça were 9th in La Liga when Koeman was shown the door in October, and qualification for the Champions League knockouts was already looking unlikely for the four-time UCL winners. Barça currently occupy third place in La Liga, however it is all but improbable for them to mount a late title challenge on El Clásico rivals Real Madrid.
Barça are the current holders of the Copa del Rey, but were knocked by Athletic Bilbao – whom they beat in the Final last year – in the Round of 16 this season. This means that their only realistic chance of celebrating silverware at the end of this season comes with triumphing in the Europa League. After finishing behind Bayern Munich and Benfica in Group E of the Champions League, Barcelona were demoted to the Europa League Round of 16 playoffs.
Barça overcame Napoli in the Round of 16 playoffs, 5-3 on aggregate, and next take on Turkish outfit Galatasaray in the Round of 16. The Catalans welcome Gala to the Camp Nou on Thursday evening, before traveling to Istanbul for the return leg seven days later. The Europa League Final takes place on 18 May at the Estadio Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán in the Spanish city of Seville.
Barça are desperate for trophy success not only for footballing purposes, but also to rake in as much revenue as they possibly can. Following several years of mismanagement by the club’s hierarchy, particularly under the jurisdiction of former President Josep Maria Bartomeu, Barcelona have found themselves plagued by an existential financial crisis. Bartomeu left his role in October 2020 and was replaced by the current incumbent Joan Laporta, who previously served as the club’s President from 2003-2010. Last year Laporta revealed Barça was over €1bn in debt, citing poor financial decisions made under his predecessor’s presidency.
Barça were dealt another hammer blow last summer as they lost their greatest ever player. Lionel Messi left the Catalan club after La Liga financial regulations did not allow for the Argentine to renew his contract at a cash-strapped Barça. After selling Neymar for an eye-watering €220m fee in 2017, Barça then forked out a combined fee upwards of €270m to acquire Ousmane Dembélé and Philippe Coutinho in the same summer. Two years later they splashed out a further €120m on signing Antoine Griezmann from Atlético Madrid.
After they were restricted to mainly free transfers last summer, the financially ailing Barça had a considerably emphatic January transfer window in which several key players were brought in. Dani Alves returned to the club on a free transfer, nearly six years after departing Catalonia. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang also joined on a free, and Adama Traoré – a former La Masia graduate – returned to the club on an initial loan deal from Premier League side Wolves. Spanish forward Ferran Torres joined from Manchester City for a €55m fee.
Xavi and his men will be hoping that their new additions can steer the club to success in the Europa League, and to also cement their spot in the top four of La Liga.
Barça all the way back for Glory⚽️💥