Presidential campaign too little too late for Barcelona?

Mass change is what Barcelona needed, and change is what they voted for. After 11 years outside the club, Joan Laporta was shooed in as Barcelona’s new president on Sunday night in a significant day for the club.

Barca’s decline has been well documented, and the most iconic moment about the elections was not the winner announcement, but the voter. Leo Messi, who previously said he would never vote so as not to influence the club off the pitch, took his son to the ballots and cast his vote. It’s irrelevant who he opted for, however the fact that he did take part can help fans shelve thoughts of his potential departure. It shows he cares and Laporta echoed this sentiment, telling the press that “Leo loves Barcelona. That’s the reflection of it. The best player in the world loves Barcelona. Hopefully that will help him to stay at Barcelona. That’s what we want.”

La Remontada II

His baptism of fire will come as Barcelona travel to Paris  hoping to overturn a 4-1 first leg Champions League deficit. Four away goals is almost impossible to match, but stranger things have happened in football, and even stranger things have happened when these two teams have met. Fans will recall La Remontada in the 2016/17 season in what has to be one of the competitions most impressive stories.

Paris Saint-Germain flattened Barcelona 4-0 in France, only for the Catalans to roar back and his six at the Camp Nou. From 4-0 to 1-6 is ridiculous, and seeing as the away advantage has been flattened this season due to the absence of crowds, you just never know. 

Barcelona might get a second wind this season and you can see from recent results that Koeman is managing to turn things around. Just ask Sevilla fans who thought their team were home and dry in the Copa del Rey. They went from 2-0 and cruising in the semi final first leg, to a 3-0 defeat at Camp Nou. Anything can happen, and when you are a club as big as Barcelona, you’re never out until it’s over.

Naturally, PSG are no pushovers. A maiden Champions League trophy is what they have been craving and building towards for years and they did more than flex their muscles in the first leg. 

Domestically things can, and have been, much better for PSG. One defeat in five might do elsewhere, but in Ligue 1, PSG are almost expected to go on undefeated. This season teams have managed to come close to the Parisians and Barcelona might take some comfort with the fact that they do not tend to dominate games as much as they used to. Still, the Champions League is a different gravy and they can turn on those afterburners at will.

It is football and as Manchester United proved this weekend, anything is possible. We wrote them off in the Manchester Derby but they won… so we should learn not to write off Barcelona this week! 

La Remontada odds

It’s tough and it’s a long shot BUT here we go:

PSG 1-4 Barcelona: 36.00 or 35/1

PSG 1-6 Barcelona, seems ridiculous, right? But history can repeat itself at 276.00 or 275/1

Odds subject to change