If Barcelona beat Espanyol today they will win their first Spanish league title since Lionel Messi left the club. But the success will be tinged with ongoing financial concerns, fears that they cannot possibly afford to re-sign Messi — and the urgent need to find a new director of football after Mateu Alemany left for Aston Villa.
‘We are not in intensive care anymore but we are still in hospital,’ said Barcelona’s Economic vice-president Eduard Romeu this week. ‘If we want to bring in any player we have to sell one for the same amount.