With the Spanish league title in hand, Barcelona fans quickly moved on to what they wanted next: the return of their all-time favorite player.
“Messi! Messi! Messi!” 10 minutes in for Lionel Messi’s old number 10 shirt at the Camp Nou – during Saturday’s game against Real Sociedad which ended in a rare 2-1 defeat for the Basque visitor.
The defeat did not dampen the celebratory atmosphere after the final whistle when team captain Sergio Busquets received the Spanish league trophy from federation president Luis Rubiales and presented it to the crowd with his teammates. It was Busquets’ 32nd and last title before the midfielder left Barcelona this summer.
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Last week, Barcelona won their first major title since Messi had to leave two years ago to join Paris Saint-Germain due to the club’s poor financial condition.
But with Messi leaving Paris this summer, Barcelona fans are hoping – perhaps naively considering the potential blockbuster offer he could be dangling from Saudi Arabia – that the superstar will look to return to the club he was 13 years old at. Who was
Messi has a business contract with Saudi Arabia to promote tourism. He recently traveled to the energy-rich state where his former Liga rival Cristiano Ronaldo is playing on a lucrative contract that media reports is worth a world-record $200 million a year.
Barcelona president Joan Laporta has contributed to the rising expectations of the club’s supporters, even insisting that the debt-ridden Spanish club cannot compete when it comes to wages.
Instead, he hopes to live up to the legacy of the 35 titles, including four European Cups, that Messi won with Barcelona.
“With all due respect to Saudi Arabia, which is doing a good job, Barca is Barca,” Laporta said this week. “And Barcelona is (Messi’s) home. This club can compete with the whole world. Our history and our 40 crore followers are our strength. We want Leo, but we won’t be able to pay a lot of money to get him here. Our club is under austerity plan.
Barcelona need to reduce their wage burden of around 650 million euros by at least 200 million euros this summer to meet the Spanish league’s strict financial rules, according to Spanish league president Javier Tebas.
Nevertheless, Tebas has also said that he is hopeful that Barcelona can work to bring Messi back.
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Alexander Sorloth helped Sociedad to their first win at Barcelona in the league since 1991.
The Norway striker stole possession from Jules Kunde and set up Mikel Merino for the fifth-minute opener. Sorloth scored the second goal in the 71st minute.
Robert Lewandowski headed in a cross from Ferran Torres in the 90th for the striker’s league-leading 22nd goal.
Barcelona had conceded only two goals at home in the league before suffering their first home defeat this season.
The win put Sociedad on pace to finish fourth and earn the final Champions League berth.
“We can benefit from having already won the title,” said Sociedad coach Emanol Algucil. “(But) I believe we won because we played a great game against a good Barcelona team. Even if he is already in celebration mode, he can still beat anyone.”
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girona 1-2 villarreal
Fifth-placed Villarreal won 2-1 at Girona to stay within five points of Sociedad.
Nicolas Jackson continued his fine form with goals for Villarreal through Yeremey Pino and Gerard Moreno. The Senegal striker scored six goals in four games before becoming a playmaker at Girona.
Athletic Bilbao took advantage of Girona’s first defeat in round five to beat Celta Vigo 2-1 to go ahead of the Catalan side.
Bilbao finished seventh, a place rewarded with a Conference League berth.
Almeria 3-0 Mallorca
Brazilian forward Lazaro Vinicius scored his first career hat-trick to help Almeria beat Mallorca 3-0 and move a step closer to avoiding relegation. Almeria climbed up four places from the fall to 13th place.
Getafe managed to get out of the drop zone after drawing 1-1 at home with already relegated Elche. This pushed Valladolid into the danger zone, level on points with Getafe.
Espanyol were second to last, four points behind Valladolid and Getafe, before visiting Rayo Vallecano on Sunday.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – associated Press,