On a Sunday afternoon when half the football world wistfully remembered past Clásicos, David Alaba remembered himself. Alaba has been the central defender at Real Madrid since this summer, until then he had mostly been left-back at Bayern Munich, and this past shimmered through when, after a good half hour, he was preparing the ground for the 2 : 1 victory to prepare his team.
It was only in the seventh minute of stoppage time that Barcelona’s Kun Agüero cut short – five minutes after Madrid’s Lucas Vázquez had made the interim 2-0. But the scene of the game belonged to Alaba. The Austrian captured the ball in a duel in his own penalty area, played it to the left to the Brazilian striker Vinícius, who in turn passed it to the right, where Rodrygo had enough time to see Alaba charging down the left flank. Like in old times. Like in a flashback.
For the first time in 16 years, the duel took place without Lionel Messi and Sergio Ramos
Rodrygo alluded to Alaba. And this loaded, as soon as he had entered the penalty area, the left firing leg. The ball hit the right post and Barça goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen stretched in vain. And Camp Nou, which was sold out for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, fell into a paralyzing silence.
Up until then it had been a low-caffeine Clásico that only allowed the elegy to grow in the Camp Nou. Above all, it had to do with the fact that it was the first duel between Barça and Real in 16 years that neither Lionel Messi nor Sergio Ramos took part. Messi, formerly an icon at Barcelona, and Ramos, who was the same for Real Madrid, are now under contract with Paris Saint-Germain.
Despite the drama at the end: It was a copy of old battles in which the nerves caught the imagination. Especially at FC Barcelona, where coach Ronald Koeman should expect not to see many Clásicos as Barça coach despite two recent wins. His club is now five points behind Real in the table. It was telling that Barça’s right-back Dest missed the empty goal from ten yards when he was cleared by striker Memphis Depay after 25 minutes. On the other hand, there was basically just one really nice move to marvel at when Luka Modric lifted the ball over his own head and Barcelona defender Piqué at striker Karim Benzema. But the Frenchman found his master in goalkeeper ter Stegen.
Barcelona want to take out another mega loan: Millions for the ailing Camp Nou
Regardless of that, Barcelona set important course for the future at the weekend. The club’s electors gave President Joan Laporta permission to pump up to 1.5 billion euros.
In contrast to the latest mega-loan, 595 million euros via the US investment bank Goldman Sachs, the new loan is not intended to be used to restructure the debt. But the financing of a project known as “Espai Barça”. It includes the modernization of the in many ways ailing Camp Nou stadium (900 million euros); the construction of a new sports palace for basketball and handball players (420 million euros); in addition, a number of urban development measures around the stadium and on the grounds of the club in Sant Joan Despí (120 million euros). There, at the gates of the city, is the club’s training ground. The borrowing has yet to be confirmed by referendum among the approximately 140,000 members. A date has not yet been set, the place in the referendum is considered certain.
“The modernization of our facilities is necessary in order not to lose competitiveness against our rivals,” said President Joan Laporta. That was aimed at Real Madrid, among other things. Spain’s record champions are currently completely rebuilding the Bernabéu Stadium. The “Espai Barça” project was promoted under Laporta’s predecessor José Maria Bartomeu and has already devoured an insane sum, explained Laporta. Without the billion-euro loan, “we would throw away 145 million euros, of which we also have to give back 90,” shouted the president. A loan of 90 million euros is due in February.
Laporta won another important vote. This involved the suspension of Article 67 of the association’s statutes, which would have sentenced Laporta and his presidium to resign in the medium term. The article states that the board must resign if losses are incurred for two consecutive seasons. That is considered safe. It is “impossible,” said Vice President Elena Fort, to bring down the debt in the short term.
Akut is also expected to sell almost half of “Barça Studios”, the company that bundles the club’s audiovisual activities, including Barça TV. One hopes for income of 40 to 50 million euros, it said. “Our business is not filmmaking,” said Laporta, explaining the decision, which was also approved. Whereby: For an economic thriller soap, what Barça has offered in the last few months is definitely enough. It would definitely be more exciting than football under Koeman.