adminBARCELONA. — The week that began with the former president in prison will end with a new president in power as Barcelona hope tomorrow’s elections can be a turning point for a football club seemingly locked in crisis.
Joan Laporta, Victor Font and Toni Freixa were all at Camp Nou on Wednesday to see Barca stage a dramatic comeback against Sevilla, overturning a 2-0 deficit in extra-time to reach the final of the Copa del Rey.
But whoever is voted in by Barcelona’s 110 000 members has a much tougher “remontada” to pull off, faced with a club in crippling debt, whose greatest player could be about to leave and whose reputation has been repeatedly dragged through the mud.
Rock bottom perhaps came on Monday when the club’s former president Josep Maria Bartomeu, forced to resign in October, was arrested, spending the night behind bars after Catalan police raided offices at Camp Nou as part of an investigation into corruption and misuse of funds.
Spanish La Liga Fixtures
Today: Real Valladolid v Getafe (3pm); Elche v Sevilla (5:15pm); Cádiz v Eibar (7:30pm); Osasuna v Barcelona (10pm).
Tomorrow: Huesca v Celta de Vigo (3pm); Atlético Madrid v Real Madrid (5:15pm); Real Sociedad v Levante (7:30pm); Athletic Club v Granada (10pm).
Monday: Real Betis v Deportivo Alavés (10pm). — AFP.
Online Reporter