In what may be the ultimate Bartomeu paradox, Barça's non-revolution is about to be consummated. On August 14, after the extremely painful humiliation of 2-8 in Lisbon, the president of Barça said this: “In the next few days we will make decisions. Many of them we had already made before this Champions League began.” It was taken for granted that players like Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and Luis Suárez, sacred cows from the dressing room who had already arrived in Portugal touched, were out of Barça. That, beyond Rakitic, Vidal and Umtiti, who was directly erased from the end of the season and one day he came to the dressing room and said: “I don't play anymore.”
Days later, in the club's official media, Bartomeu announced “farewells with honors” to some of the legends and Barcelona fans fantasized about a revolution that they considered more necessary than ever. PRoasted for a month, however, it turns out that nothing has changed at Barça. Only Rakitic, a player with little specificity in the 2019-20 season, has only been fired, and Arturo Vidal is heading to Milan. But Alba (contract until 2024), Busquets (until 2023) and Suárez (2021) continue. Piqué, who offered to step aside if necessary, too (his contract expires in 2022). Ten Lisbon starters (Ter Stegen, Semedo, Piqué, Lenglet, Alba, Busquets, De Jong, Sergi Roberto, Messi and Suárez) remain in the squad and players like Todibo, Júnior, Braithwaite or Rafinha cannot find their destination. Players who were key in the reconstruction, such as Argentine Lautaro, cannot sign because there is not a euro in the box.
Messi's phrase is gaining strength. “There has been no project for a long time and there has been nothing, they are juggling and covering holes,” he criticized in the Goal interview in which he confirmed that he would continue at Barça. Time proves him right. Messi wanted to leave and must stay. The club wants to kick Suárez out and he swallows it anyway. And with Umtiti, Alba and Busquets, the president has been a slave to the long contracts he signed. To the homegrown players, afraid of what they will say. To Umtiti, ignoring even experts. The case of Suárez, perhaps, is the one in which the club has been most in evidence. He used Koeman to tell him that he didn't have him and now he still leaves it in the locker room. The Uruguayan is clear. With one more year of contract, he will not budge if he does not charge until the last euro. And Koeman is already beginning to distance himself from the club. “If he stays, he will be one of the squad”, he has warned sailors. Bartomeu's revolution has been failed. Or maybe Bartomeu already knew he couldn't do it. But a few months after leaving office, you might be thinking what difference does it make.