BARCELONA, Spain: Barcelona can clinch the Spanish league title this weekend and finally start moving past the exit of Lionel Messi three years ago.
The club need only two of the remaining 15 points in play to win their first domestic league since 2019. Their first chance at securing the title is on Sunday when they visit Espanyol.
Barcelona are 13 points ahead of Atletico Madrid, and Xavi Hernández’s team hold the head-to-head tiebreaker. Real Madrid, last year’s champion, are 14 points back in third and solely focused on their Champions League semifinal with Manchester City.
The last time Barcelona lifted the Liga trophy Messi was still the leader of a feared European powerhouse then coached by Ernesto Valverde. That capped a run of eight league titles in 11 seasons, among other trophies including three European Cups.
Since then, Barcelona have suffered a crippling financial crisis that led to the loss of the world’s best player and a subsequent decline on the field.
Barcelona managed to win the 2021 Copa del Rey – Messi’s last title before leaving for Paris Saint-Germain – under Ronald Koeman, but the 2019-20 and the 2021-22 campaigns ended with no silverware.
To turn this around this season, the club leadership made the controversial decision to sell off part of their future television revenues, as well as other assets, in order to inject new talent such as star striker Robert Lewandowski, winger Raphinha, and defenders Jules Koundé and Andreas Christensen.
Sergio Busquets is set to add to his 32 titles with Barcelona, including eight Spanish leagues, before he ends his career at his boyhood club come season’s end. The 34-year-old midfielder announced on Wednesday he will leave Camp Nou this summer.
LIKE A FINAL
Barcelona face a derby at a rival in desperate need of pulling off an upset.
Espanyol are in danger of joining the already relegated Elche in the second division next season. In second-to-last place, Espanyol are three points behind Getafe, also in danger, and Valencia, which are clinging to safety.
“We know that this is a life-or-death game,” Espanyol midfielder Nico Melamed said. “We will treat this like a final.”
The game will feature a duel between Lewandowski, who leads the league with 19 goals, and the competition’s third-top scorer in Espanyol striker Joselu Mato with 14.
A second-half penalty earned and converted by Joselu snatched Espanyol a 1-1 draw at Barcelona in December.
But Espanyol’s last win over Barcelona in any competition came in the 2018 Copa del Rey. Their last win over their mightier opponent in the league was in 2009.
Barcelona have been in control of the title race for almost two months, since beating Madrid 2-1.
If it slips against Espanyol, it will have four more chances starting against Real Sociedad in the following round.
Barcelona have 26 Spanish league titles, second to Real Madrid’s 35.
Barcelona can clinch first Spanish league title since Messi adiós
https://arab.news/vrq8b
Barcelona can clinch first Spanish league title since Messi adiós
- The club need only two of the remaining 15 points in play to win their first domestic league since 2019
- Their first chance at securing the title is on Sunday when they visit Espanyol
Champions League winner PSG’s $168m payment top UEFA prize money list for last season
- The figures were confirmed in UEFA’s financial report published Tuesday for the 2024-25 season
- Seven teams got at least $116.5m in prize money compared to five that got a nine-figure payment the previous season
GENEVA: Champions League winner Paris Saint-Germain topped the UEFA prize money table getting 144.4 million euros ($168 million) last season as the competition paid an extra 400 million euros ($466 million) among Europe’s elite clubs in the expanded new format.
The figures were confirmed in UEFA’s financial report published Tuesday for the 2024-25 season, ahead of its annual congress next month in Brussels.
Inter Milan, the beaten finalist, also were second on the money list earning 136.6 million euros ($159 million) from the UEFA prize fund that shared 2.47 billion euros ($2.9 billion) among the 36 teams which each first played eight games in a single-standings league.
Seven teams got at least 100 million euros ($116.5 million) in prize money compared to five that got a nine-figure payment the previous season, when the total fund had been 2.08 billion euros ($2.42 billion) in the last year of the 32-team, group-stage format.
Aston Villa were the only quarterfinalist last season to get less than 100 million euros, earning a UEFA payment of 83.7 million euros ($97.5 million). That was partly explained by Villa’s lower UEFA ranking returning to the competition after a 41-year gap.
Real Madrid’s quarterfinal loss to Arsenal meant they earned less than 102 million euros ($119 million) from UEFA in the Champions League, which was a drop of 37 million euros ($43 million) from winning the title in 2024.
Madrid got an extra 5 million euros for winning the UEFA Super Cup against Atalanta, which got 4 million euros from that season-opening game.
Inter earned at least twice as much from the Champions League as each of the other four Italian teams in the competition.
Manchester City were the lowest earner of the four English clubs. The reigning English champion got 76 million euros ($88.5 million) after being eliminated in the knockout playoffs round in February by Real Madrid.
The smallest payment to a Champions League team was Slovan Bratislava getting less than 22 million euros ($25.6 million). The champion of Slovakia lost all eight league-phase games.
Europa and Conference money
The steep drop in payments from the Champions League to the second-tier Europa League was shown in title-winner Tottenham getting 41 million euros ($47.8 million).
Beaten finalist Manchester United were paid 36 million euros ($41.9 million) by UEFA last season and will get nothing this time after failing to qualify for any European competition.
The third-tier Conference League paid Chelsea 21.8 million euros ($25.4 million) for winning the title. Chelsea are now in the Champions League.
Presidential salary freeze
UEFA’s financial report shows its president Aleksander Ceferin took no pay rise last season.
The Slovenian lawyer earned “fixed compensation of 3,250,000 Swiss francs gross” with no bonus, the UEFA document said. That was the same as the previous year and equates to $4 million.
UEFA general secretary Theodore Theodoridis got raises in both his salary and bonus for a total of 2.05 million Swiss francs ($2.56 million).
