Can Barcelona Put Their Financial Woes Behind Them?

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Can Barcelona Put Their Financial Woes Behind Them and Regain the La Liga Title?

Barcelona.
Can Barcelona Put Their Financial Woes Behind Them?

How can a business that makes $1.2 billion in annual revenue go on to record a net loss of nearly $150 million?

The parlous state of FC Barcelona's bank account, confirmed in a post at FCBarcelona.com, highlights just how poorly managed the finances of some major soccer clubs are, and while they are far from being alone on that front, you do wonder how long it will be before stiffer penalties are introduced to prevent such consistently bizarre business practices occurring.

One of the key takeaways of the debacle has been Barca's clear need to sell players, and they have started to make good on that by shipping out $40 million of talent in sales already this summer.

As well as their dire financial reporting, it was made clear that the Catalonians had to free up funds in order to re-sign their legendary talisman Lionel Messi, who could have walked away from the Nou Camp for free in July until he was offered a new and improved five-year contract.

The importance of Messi from a commercial perspective cannot be understated and, on the pitch, the 34-year-old is still coming up with the goods - he was a key figure in Argentina's Gold Cup success this summer, and last season in La Liga he blasted 30 goals to aid his side's cause.

Of course, that wasn't enough to prevent Atletico Madrid from capturing the title, but you sense that Barca - even accounting for their accounting woes - are confident they can regain the top spot in Spanish soccer this term. They have drafted in Sergio Aguero and Memphis Depay on free transfers, and it's not as if those two are strangers to putting the ball in the net.

So far, the likes of Antoine Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele have also been retained, and when you factor in the emergence of Pedri and co, it's arguable that this Barcelona squad has somehow gotten stronger in the off-season - despite the desperate need to raise capital. As a consequence, Barcelona are the narrow favourites in the La Liga betting odds from Space Casino - they're 1/20 favourites for a top-four finish.

That said, such predictions don't always come to light. In September 2020, the data company FiveThirtyEight.com gave Barca a 45% chance of winning the title last season, and Atletico Madrid just a 13% hope. The rest, as they say, is history.

It's hard to contest that Atleti were the strongest team in Spain in 2020/21, but Barcelona seem to have kicked on in the summer and, if they can keep the accountants at bay for long enough, they should mount a serious title challenge this term.

More of the Same

Antithetical to progression and forward motion is standing still and doing nothing.

But in European soccer's madcap transfer window, just doing nothing can sometimes work like a charm - especially when you have a strong squad in place already.

And that's the case at Atletico Madrid, who have hung on to all of their key players from their title-winning campaign.

They have supplemented that successful formula with the addition of Rodrigo de Paul, a talented playmaker from Udinese whose game looks perfect for the technical challenge presented by playing in La Liga.

With Luis Suarez, Koke and Yannick Carrasco also enjoying their time under head coach Diego Simeone, there is no reason not to expect more of the same from Atleti this term.

However, their 86-point tally from 2020/21 would not have been enough to win the title in each of the last eight La Liga seasons, which suggest that if Barcelona and/or Real Madrid improve to somewhere near the levels expected of them, Atleti may need to improve even further to defend their crown.

A Gap in the Market

Typically, you'd associate Real Madrid with being a buying club, rather than one that sheds their players.

But this summer has been something of an eye-opener for the Galacticos, who have lost Sergio Ramos to PSG and look likely to wave goodbye to Raphael Varane too.

That means there's a yawning chasm in the heart of their defence, and while new man David Alaba will fill half of that, he still awaits an elite-level partner to join him.

Popular head coach Zinedine Zidane has decided to walk away from the Bernabeu, and his replacement - Carlo Ancelotti - is a man that has enjoyed success wherever he has gone.

But there's no doubt that Real Madrid have taken a backward step in this transfer window, and Barcelona look well placed to take full advantage.