MADRID —
Joan Laporta claimed Barcelona are
“back as big players” but Thursday will mark another checkpoint in the club’s
decline as they face Napoli in the knock-out stage of the Europa League.
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After failing to make it out of their
Champions League group, Barca will play in Europe’s second-tier tournament for the first
time since losing to Celtic at the last-16 stage in March 2004.
Laporta was in the opening season of his first spell
as president that year and while
Barcelona’s fortunes would soon improve
exponentially as Pep Guardiola and Lionel Messi got to work, nobody can be
optimistic a similar transformation is close now.
Barcelona’s players were likely watching on
television on Tuesday as
Messi played — and missed a penalty — for Paris
Saint-Germain against Real Madrid in Paris, the kind of heavyweight European
tie to which the Catalans would be normally more accustomed.
There are some positive signs that head coach Xavi
Hernandez is steering the team in the right direction, even if erratic results
and performances are a reminder of the work still to be done.
Barca defeated
Atletico Madrid 4–2 earlier this
month in one of the most encouraging displays under Xavi, but a 2-2 draw away
at city rivals Espanyol last weekend saw doubts resurface ahead of the visit of
Napoli to the Camp Nou.
The youthful Barca side’s attempt to rebuild their
reputation in the
Europa League will come under a severe examination against
opponents who sit third in Serie A and have conceded only 17 goals in 25
matches.
“Napoli are a Champions League-level opponent, one
of the most difficult teams we could have drawn,” said Xavi.
Luciano Spalletti’s side are fighting to win their
third Serie A title — after Diego Maradona left Barcelona and inspired Napoli
to become champions in 1987 and 1990.
“The game will be a tribute to Maradona,” said Xavi.
‘Big players’
Europa League success is now
a priority for Barcelona, something that would have been unthinkable until
recently for a club who won the Champions League three times in seven years
midway through the last decade.
But the reality is that Barca managed just two goals
in six Champions League group matches, sit 15 points behind Real Madrid in La
Liga and lost in the quarter-finals of the
Copa del Rey last month.
There are just three points separating the four
teams battling for fourth place in La Liga and the final Champions League place
— Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Real Sociedad and Villarreal.
Barcelona know that if they can make it to the
Europa League final in Seville in May, there will be an alternative route to
Champions League qualification, so crucial to Laporta’s hopes of financial
recovery.
To earn the same prize money as for reaching the
Champions League last 16, Xavi’s team are likely to have to win the Europa
League, with around 60 million euros available to the champions.
It would be a welcome financial injection, given
Barcelona’s total debts amount to more than a billion euros, and early vindication
of Xavi’s project, to which
Laporta wants to add a stellar signing in the
summer such as Borussia Dortmund’s prolific young striker Erling Haaland.
“We’re definitely recovering our status,” said a
bullish Laporta last month.
“Everybody in the world should get ready, as we are
back as big players in the market.”
Even if they overcome
Napoli, there are plenty of
teams that could stand in Barca’s way, not least the two Seville teams,
Sevilla, and Real Betis, who both sit above Barcelona in La Liga.
Haaland’s Dortmund, Atlanta, West Ham and Porto are other
strong contenders.
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