F.C Barcelona – you likely know the name. After all, the club has established itself as
a dominant force – winning the La Liga 10 times and the Champions League 4 in the last
twenty years.

Unfortunately, their days of glory past seem to be, well…. days of the past. Things
began to go horribly wrong for Barcelona after the 8-2 thrashing they received from F.C
Bayern last year, with fans around the world realizing that they, the mighty Barcelona, were
not impervious to decline. Things haven’t got much better since then, with Barcelona sitting
9th in the La Liga and struggling in Europe.

With all of these frankly abysmal results, it begs the question: What went wrong?
The answer is many (if not most) things, with one of the most notable issues being
Barcelona’s ballooning financial troubles.

In recent years, three major Barcelona signings have been: Liverpool star Philippe Coutinho,
Ousmane Dembele and Athletico’s Antoinne Griezzman. These three players cost the
Spanish club over an astounding 400 million euros but have yet to make a significant impact.
They also all sport huge weekly wages, playing a large role in Lionel Messi’s departure from
Barcelona this season.

Aside from the obvious negatives of accruing debt, another key issue here is the
amount of money that Barcelona has invested and the little results that such investments
have reaped. The 400 million euros invested almost doubles the funds they received from
the sale of Neymar Jr to Paris St Germain, and yet all three players combined are yet to
have made the same impact as Neymar alone. The right choices were just not made –
hinting at yet another issue at Barcelona: Managerial/Leadership incompetence.
In the summer of 2020, Lionel Messi, widely known as one of if not the best players
of all time made headlines for his surprising desire to leave the club. The rumours first began
after Messi clashed with the clubs’ managerial board, who had cast doubts on the player’s
work rates and commitment, effectively blaming them for the club’s bad streak of games.
However, the rumours really began to take flight after Barcelona’s 8-2 thrashing by the
hands of F.C Bayern. It seemed that Messi was sick of the treatment he and other players
were receiving, along with the team’s lack of success.

And lastly, one of F.C Barcelona’s biggest issues has been finding a consistent
Coach. After Luis Enrique, the 3 subsequent managers have been poorly received by fans,
players, and the media, with the only one achieving any success so far has been Quique
Setien.

With Ronald Koeman having taken the helm as the current manager, fans around the
world can only hope that he proves to be a catalyst, propelling the club’s return to glory in the near future.

Unfortunately for F.C Barcelona, it seems like their glorious days of hoisting trophies are yet
to return, with their last game ending in a 2-0 defeat to Atlético Madrid.