Barcelona players met at a Catalan restaurant late Wednesday to celebrate Ansu Fati’s new contract and tie the knot on Sunday’s Clasico against Real Madrid.
The 18-year-old Fati, who committed himself for another six years, held special significance for Barcelona.
Despite all the problems he has faced, one of the world’s most exciting talents has promised his future, with the hope that he can become the leader of a new generation for many years to come.
And immediately, there was a desire for camaraderie before the trip to Real Madrid at the Camp Nou.
It will be Barca’s chance to regain ground lost in La Liga and wrap up an encouraging week, which has already secured them a much-needed Champions League win over Dynamo Kiev by beating Valencia.
Those two intertwined threads – navigating the present while nurturing the future – feel like the defining feature of this clasico, a meeting of two historic clubs, each of them holding their arms together to hold their head above the water. Trying to strategize, fix, and rebuild while flipping over. .
Last summer, at the same restaurant, Barcelona president Joan Laporta met with Ronald Koeman and discussed the season ahead.
Laporta told Koman that he needed two weeks to assess his position as coach, which meant he would try to find a successor.
But no one was found, or at least persuaded, and a strange, unhappy marriage continued as a result.
On Sunday Koman will be replaced by Carlo Ancelotti whose summer appointment by Real Madrid came as a surprise.
Ancelotti’s predecessor, Zinedine Zidane, was loyal to the club’s generation of highly successful, but older, players and expected Madrid to have a coach with a great vision, ready to facilitate change.
Instead, Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez turned to Ancelotti, who had already managed the club between 2013 and 2015.
That doesn’t mean Ancelotti and Koman haven’t embraced youth. Barcelona can take credit for promoting several players, including Pedri, Gavi, Nico Gonzalez, Ronald Araujo and Sergio Dest.
Ancelotti has placed faith in Miguel Gutierrez at left-back and Eduardo Camavinga in midfield. Vinicius Jr., 21, made his Real Madrid debut in 2018 but is under Ancelotti as part of his fledgling career.
Gavi could not have been given his chance if Barcelona had been able to grant Koman their desire to sign Georginio Wijnaldum, who had picked Paris Saint-Germain. Miguel has seen Madrid’s starting line-up shortened due to an injury to Ferland Mendy.
Loyalty to the old guard also remains, with a reasonable belief that Gerard Pique at 34 is still Barcelona’s most important defender or that Luka Modric at 36 is still Madrid’s finest midfield playmaker.
The result on Sunday will be two sides made from different generations.
17-year-old Gavi could play alongside 33-year-old Sergio Busquets or 20-year-old Rodrigo to support 33-year-old Karim Benzema.
With Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo gone, La Liga is trying to use Spanish football’s image as the world’s new talent factory and the Clasico – its most marketable fixture – as a window into the future.
La Liga’s official account on Twitter asked on Thursday: “Which teenage star are you most excited to see in the #ElClasico?”
And yet there is a conflict as well, with Real Madrid and Barcelona still officially linked to the European Super League, a project focused not on encouraging local talent but on pocketing financial rewards and attracting large television audiences. based on.
Barcelona brand their squad a ‘dream teen’ online, but Laporta believes the fastest route to financial stability is not Fati or Gavi, but a closed league, with Liverpool, Manchester United and PSG facing off There are more games.
This means that whoever wins the Clasico on Sunday will, for a few days, own the narrative, have confidence and momentum, and perhaps plunge their opponents into a period of distress and doubt.
But beneath the scraps for points and status and power lies a deep duality, a re-battle for relevance and assurances that better days are ahead.
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