[Locke]

Are Barcelona the only club in the world where you could explain to a neutral observer the level of chaotic, acrimonious threat from which they suffer and still predict that they're favorites to win two or three domestic trophies this season?

Probably ... yes.

Remember the Nico Williams fiasco?

Barcelona's midsummer was marked by the Spain winger pulling out of a transfer, which the club thought was done and dusted, because his agent, not unreasonably, demanded a guarantee that the 24-year-old would be registered as a Barça player by a specific date.

At the time of writing, with ten days until the season kicks off, none of Hansi Flick's new players (or Wojciech Szczęsny or Gerard Martín, who've been given new contracts) are yet eligible to feature for the champions. The new additions have been signed (or taken on loan, in Rashford's case) by Barcelona, but they don't have the certification from LaLiga that they will be allowed to play.

If that confirmation isn't earned by the time the transfer market closes, then those players would be ineligible until January. Unlikely, but a factual reality.

Next, the club has been announcing, and then embarrassingly postponing, their return to the Camp Nou for more a year now. (That's no exaggeration. Eighteen months ago they were confidently predicting celebrating their 125th anniversary, which came and went last November, in their renewed and re-constructed home.)

The UEFA Champions League begins in mid September, precisely when Barcelona are scheduled to play their first home league match, hosting Valencia. Good luck to them finishing all the final details on time while also meeting the criteria set by the city's authorities, LaLiga and UEFA for a safe, modern, well-functioning stadium.

Again, I'd emphasize, the club is giving off confident noises about having their homework properly done. But, here's the doomsday threat.

If, for any unforeseen reason, some of the criteria aren't met and Barcelona can't play their first Champions League league-phase home match at Camp Nou, then wherever else they choose, UEFA rules would mean the Blaugrana must play all their Champions League home matches at that same ground until January.

It's only a potential setback, but, were it to materialize, embarrassment, recrimination and financial losses would ensue.

https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/...-self-sabotage