Bartomeu, at least let Messi leave with honour - 7M sport

Bartomeu, at least let Messi leave with honour



Posted Wednesday, August 26, 2020 by Marca.com

Bartomeu, at least let Messi leave with honour

The day of Lionel Messi saying goodbye had to come. All Barcelona fans awaited with anguish that moment that seems to have come with the now famous fax. The problem is that Barcelona fans imagined this glorious era ending with fireworks, under the shelter of a new title - perhaps a Champions League - and surrounded by success and happiness.

The end, however, could come after a horrible trophyless year, an 8-2 defeat and a hostile farewell out the back door.

Yes, only Josep Maria Bartomeu could achieve something like that. The situation also points to an ugly and long conflict, to the delight of the Real Madrid fans. People will look for similarities between Cristiano Ronaldo's goodbye (100 million euros in cash after his last Champions League trophy) and Messi's (potentially free and without any title). But the difference is not between the Portuguese and the Argentine. The key factor is that Florentino Perez is on one team and Bartomeu on the other.

It remains to be seen if this is a move by Messi to force the departure of the current board - I doubt it - or if he has truly reached the limits of his patience. There is an expired release clause in his contract, if the COVID-19 situation does not say otherwise, but there is less than a year before Messi can leave for free. There is another clause, the 700m euro release clause, which in this game is a simple ornament to give the matter, if possible, greater notoriety.

Bartomeu and his board of directors will be marked for life if Messi leaves. Not for the fact of presiding over the moment itself, which sooner or later was going to come, but for making it happen this way. With crossfire, without anaesthesia or a trophy or a well-deserved tribute to cushion the blow.

What I am sure of is that the one who is hurting the most is Messi himself. Nothing is as he had imagined. This is not his Barcelona and that is why he wants to leave. At least let him do it with all possible honour. Barcelona fans are asking for that.



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