A Timeline of the Downfall of the Messi-Barcelona Dynasty
By Tom Gott
It's safe to say that all is not well at Barcelona.
The 2018/19 La Liga champions currently find themselves in complete disarray from top to bottom. The board room is a nightmare, the squad is ageing and expensive, results on the pitch aren't good enough and now Lionel Messi wants to leave. It's about as bad as it could be.
So, how did we get here?
August 3, 2017 - Neymar Joins PSG
The world temporarily shut down on 3rd August 2017 when it emerged that Neymar was set to leave Barcelona to join Paris Saint-Germain for a world record fee of €222m.
Not only did it see the club love a whole lot of face, but it kick-started a worrying decline on the field. Messi was left to fend for himself, and there was nobody around to fill the creative void left by Neymar's exit. They began to become one-dimensional (although when that dimension is Messi, you get by).
On the plus side, they got €222m that they spent on...Ousmane Dembélé and Philippe Coutinho. Well, they spent that and another €30m. And that...hasn't gone well at all actually, has it?
April 10, 2018 - Roma 3-0 Barcelona
Our story begins back in the 2018/19 Champions League quarter-final second leg. Barcelona had roared to a 4-1 win over Roma in the first leg at Camp Nou and were already celebrating their place in the next round.
Roma, or specifically Manolas the Greek God who helped Roma rise from the ruins, weren't playing ball and picked up a deserved 3-0 win in the second leg to complete a stunning comeback and win on away goals.
Questions were asked of then-manager Ernesto Valverde's tactics, and plenty of fingers were pointed in the dressing room. Was it a mentality thing?
May 7, 2019 - Liverpool 4-0 Barcelona
After conquering Lyon and Manchester United in the last 16 and quarter-final respectively, Barcelona were satisfied that there wouldn't be a repeat of the Roma debacle, and dominant 3-0 win in the first leg of the semis against Liverpool only reinforced that opinion.
We all know what happened next.
One quickly taken corner had Barcelona in tatters and left them needing to recover from two of the most humiliating defeats in the history of the Champions League. Something wasn't right at Camp Nou.
July 12, 2019 - Barcelona Sign Antoine Griezmann for €120m
Barcelona spent an entire year chasing Antoine Griezmann. The board wanted him and refused to listen to advice from anyone, striking a controversial €120m deal to land the Frenchman in the summer of 2019 when his release clause was cut in half. For the third best player in the world, it looked like a steal. But...
Messi and Griezmann haven't gelled on the pitch, and Messi's biggest problem was that Griezmann wasn't Neymar. He wanted a reunion with the now-PSG man, but Barcelona didn't listen and pursued their own target, despite the Frenchman preferring to operate in the exact same areas as the world's best player.
Griezmann joined Philippe Coutinho and Dembélé as another expensive mistake in the transfer market – unless Messi leaving unlocks him for his second season. But even so...
January 9, 2020 - Barcelona 2-3 Atlético Madrid
The 2019/20 Spanish Supercopa was a little weird. Instead of simply pitting the La Liga champion against the Copa del Rey holder, four of Spain's top sides jetted off to Saudi Arabia for a mid-season tournament. As you do.
Barcelona held a 2-1 lead over Atlético Madrid with nine minutes to go in the semi-final, only to concede two late goals and crash out in spectacular fashion.
January 13, 2020 - Ernesto Valverde Is Sacked
Just four days after that humiliating defeat to Atlético, manager Ernesto Valverde was shown the exit door, with many outside the club (and in the Camp Nou board room) believing that he was the reason for Barcelona's shortcomings. It can't have been the players. It must have been his tactics. They just weren't...Barcelona enough.
One person who had more faith in Valverde was Messi, who took to Instagram to describe the boss as 'a great professional and a wonderful person'.
It was supposed to be the catalyst for change, but hindsight has proved otherwise.
February 4, 2020 - Eric Abidal Criticises Players
In an interview with Sport in which he hoped to explain Valverde's departure, then-director Eric Abidal claimed that players weren't happy under the former boss and even went as far as to suggest that they had stopped trying in an attempt to get him sacked.
Messi, who usually tries to steer away from interviews, hit back at Abidal by asking the Frenchman to name names or keep his nose out of the squad's business - to put up or shut up.
The Argentine had actually playing through an injury at the time in an attempt to ease to pressure on both Valverde and his struggling teammates, so you can understand why he was more than a little peeved by Abidal's words.
March 1, 2020 - Real Madrid 2-0 Barcelona
In what had been billed as the title decider all season, Barcelona let their already-perilous lead at the top of the table slip as rivals Real Madrid moved into top spot with a 2-0 win.
It didn't actually end up deciding the title - Barcelona were top after lockdown and were five points clear at one point - but it left fans and players doubting whether Barça actually deserved to win the title.
March 30, 2020 - Messi Accuses Barcelona of Lies Over Pay Cuts
With football postponed in March, players around the world began to accept pay cuts to help their clubs cope with the financial strain, and Barcelona were no different.
The players eventually agreed to sacrifice 70% of their salaries, but Messi took to Instagram to voice his frustration towards what he felt was pressure from inside the club.
"We want to clarify that our will has always been to take a cut in the salary we receive, because we fully understand that this is an exceptional situation and we are always the first ones to help the club when asked," he wrote.
"Therefore, it does not surprise us that from within the club there were those who tried to put us under pressure to do something we always knew we would do. The agreement has been delayed for a few days because we were looking for a formula to help the club and its workers during these difficult times."
June 29, 2020 - Arthur Is Swapped for Miralem Pjanić
Barcelona's transfer strategy, which has been questioned far too often in recent years, was back in the headlines in June when it was confirmed that the club were set to swap young star Arthur Melo for declining Juventus midfielder Miralem Pjanić.
The decision to swap a 24-year-old future star for a 30-year-old who had just endured one of his worst seasons in recent memory was certainly an interesting one, and it left many fans questioning whether the Barcelona board actually had any idea what they were doing. For what it's worth, they did. What they were doing was trying to claw themselves out of the deep, deep financial hole the club's put itself in.
To make matters worse, Arthur then refused to return to training and demanded to be released from his contract early as compensation for being sold against his wish.
July 16, 2020 - Barcelona 1-2 Osasuna
Real Madrid's La Liga title was sealed on July 16 when Barcelona fell to a shock 2-1 loss to Osasuna at home, after which Messi made sure the team knew it was time for a change.
"People are losing patience after defeats to Roma and Liverpool in recent years," he said (via The Mirror). "We need a break and forget about this if we want to fight for the Champions League.
"We need to change a lot, otherwise we will also lose against Napoli. I already said before that playing like this we won't be able to fight for the Champions League and you see, we could not even fight for the league. We need to be self-critical."
August 14, 2020 - Barcelona 2-8 Bayern Munich
Here we go. The single-most damaging event in the last year. Barcelona were absolutely, comprehensively, embarrassingly mauled 8-2 at the hands of Champions League winners Bayern Munich.
The game showcased just how much Barcelona needed change in defence, midfield and attack, and it's what prompted the decision to make pretty much every member of the first team available for transfer.
August 17, 2020 - Quique Setién Is Sacked
The first major change came three days after the Bayern game as manager Quique Setién was shown the exit door, with Ronald Koeman eventually brought in as his replacement.
A day later, Abidal was given the sack to try and help usher in a new era.
August 24, 2020 - Luis Suárez's Contract Nears Termination
With Barcelona looking to cut costs and rebuild the squad, RAC1 broke the news that striker Luis Suárez was to have his contract terminated, which looked set to be the biggest decision of Barça's summer.
The main problem with that? Suárez just so happens to be close friends with a certain Lionel Messi.
August 25, 2020 - Lionel Messi Asks to Leave
That was all she wrote. Messi had had enough and made the decision to send the infamous burofax to Barcelona informing them of his desire to leave.
That sparked an emergency meeting of the club directors which saw several members of the board resign on the spot, and there were also plenty of calls for club president Josep Maria Bartomeu to walk away in an attempt to appease Messi.
It might even lead to a legal battle, with Messi eager to terminate his contract but Barcelona holding out for a cool £630m to let him go.