Two years ago, Chelsea keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga refused to be taken off in the closing minutes of a Carabao Cup match when coach Mauricio Sarri wanted to bring on Willy Caballero for penalty kicks before losing to Manchester City. On Wednesday, it was Kepa brought on in the closing minutes, and this time he came off as a winner.
While Lionel Messi's departure marks the end of an era for Barcelona, there is plenty more to be resolved at the Nou Camp before the season gets under way:
MONEY ISSUES
Barcelona has a gross debt of over one billion euros ($1.17 billion) and years of profligate spending meant they flew too close to the sun once too often.
Even without the Argentine, their salary mass accounts for 95 percent of all income — in football, it is considered viable and healthy to have your wages to income at a maximum ratio of 70 percent.
Lionel Messi waved to the Parisian crowds on Tuesday after the news officially broke that he will be joining Paris Saint-Germain on a two-year deal with an option for a third. Messi landed at Le Bourget airport to finalize the greatest transfer in European soccer history. For those asking, “what did Messi’s shirt say?” his t-shirt read: This is Paris.
Messi waving to fans from Paris @ESPNFC
El efecto de Lionel Messi en la historia del Barcelona es y será imborrable. El club era grande antes de su aparición en La Masia, pero en sus 17 años junto al plantel de honor se convirtió en un coloso. A modo de ejemplo, varios en internet muestran el palmarés de los catalanes antes y después de la era Messi:
Brutal. Pero no es todo.
Estos últimos días han sido bastante complicados para el Barcelona. De partida, Lionel Messi no pudo renovar su contrato debido a los problemas financieros que atraviesa el club y debió dejar la institución luego de 17 temporadas construyendo su leyenda. Y ahora, por si no fuera poco, el gigante de LaLiga se quedará sin otra figura clave durante los próximos dos meses: Sergio Agüero.
BARCELONA - Barcelona striker Sergio Agüero has been ruled out of action for 10 weeks, the club said on Monday, deepening the Catalans' troubles ahead of the new season following Lionel Messi's shock departure.
Agüero, a close friend of Messi and his international teammate with Argentina, joined Barça as a free agent in June after 10 years with Manchester City.
BARCELONA/PARIS - Barcelona fans gathered outside Lionel Messi's house on Monday and spoke of their sadness at the club's greatest player leaving after 21 years, while Paris Saint-Germain fans eagerly awaited his arrival in the French capital.
One Barça member filed complaints with a French court and with the European Commission to try to block any move by PSG to sign Messi, according to documents seen by Reuters on Monday.
After all the tearful farewells to Lionel Messi in the morning, Barcelona still had a match to play on Sunday evening. And in the 10th minute, the limited fans in attendance gave a preview of how they’ll honor the club legend throughout the upcoming campaign.
BARCELONA — From posing for selfies to enjoying seafront meals and taking his children to bouncy castles, Lionel Messi's down-to-earth existence won him the admiration of many locals in his longtime hometown Barcelona.
Messi bade a tearful farewell to FC Barcelona on Sunday, preparing to find a new life away from the Castelldefels suburb where he lived a peaceful, homely existence.
BARCELONA — Lionel Messi wept on Sunday as he bade farewell to his boyhood team FC Barcelona and confirmed he was talking with French club Paris St. Germain over a possible move.
The 34-year-old Argentine's emotional news conference followed Barca's announcement last week that it could no longer afford him after a glittering two decades.
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