Barcelona angry as the club could lose £18 million if they end up in the UEFA Europa League.
If Barcelona doesn’t advance to the next round of the Champions League, they risk suffering financially.
The Camp Nou club will lose £18.4 million if they don’t advance to the tournament’s quarterfinals, claims Spanish news portal Mundo Deportivo.
In an effort to restock the team, Barcelona spent out £132 million during the summer transfer window. However, in order for them to cover the costs, they have budgeted for the club to at least advance to the Champions League’s round of eight.
Barcelona is anticipated to earn about £8.4 million if they make it to the round of 16, and an additional £9.3 million if they advance to the quarterfinals.
A run to the semifinals will increase the prize money by £11 million, and if they win the competition or place second, they would receive an additional £13.6 or 17.5 million.
However, after losing to Inter Milan at the Camp Nou on Wednesday night, Barcelona can no longer control whether or not they advance to the next round.
Ousmane Dembele’s goal after 40 minutes gave Xavi’s team the lead.
Despite a promising first half, the game turned on its head in the second half thanks to goals from Lautaro Martinez and Nicolo Barella.
In the 82nd minute, Robert Lewandowski scored to tie the game at 2-2 as elimination approached.
With a minute left to play, Inter was once again ahead thanks to Robin Gosens. Lewandowski saved a point to keep his side’s tenuous hopes alive when it appeared that Barcelona would be dropped to the Europa League.
Barcelona will therefore need to win their final two games and hope Inter lose to Bayern Munich and Viktoria Plzen.
If the Italian team defeats Plzen, it will be confirmed that Barcelona will leave the Champions League after two consecutive group stages.
In his post-game interview, Xavi gave his team a harsh review. I’m terribly dissatisfied, upset, frustrated, and enraged, he declared. We don’t deserve to participate in the Champions League, therefore I have to be harsh with ourselves. Although it stings, it is the reality.
“I apologize to the fans. We made the mistakes, we had made up our minds not to fail, and now that we have, we must apologize to the beautiful supporters.
I want to assure them that we will make every effort to improve the situation and achieve success.
