It’s a storyline with echoes: a brilliant Argentinian, the heart and soul of his club, drops a bombshell. His relationship with the management has deteriorated so far, he says, he feels he must leave. It seems unimaginable. For other clubs, he looks like a wonderful opportunity.
No, this is not the tale of Lionel Messi and Barcelona, which is an ongoing story of rancour with the boardroom and, at this stage, a temporary truce, with the player still dazzling on the pitch. This story is of a rift that led to one of the more significant moves of a quiet January transfer window – Papu Gomez's transfer from Atalanta to Sevilla.
Gomez, 32, is not Messi. Indeed, were it not for Messi owning Argentina’s number 10 jersey for the best part of 15 years, Papu might have won more than his mere five international caps.
On his day, the impish Papu is one of the game’s genuinely magical playmakers. Since 2014 he has been inspiring Atalanta, driving the Italian club’s rise from lower-half-of-the-table Serie A to breath-of-fresh-air in Europe.
He wore the captain’s armband as Atalanta came within minutes of a semi-final in the Champions League last August, in their first ever adventure in the competition.
But as they wrapped up the group phase of their second Champions League campaign, back in December, a schism emerged, with skipper Papu – he is usually known by his nickname – on one side, and head coach Gian Piero Gasperini on the other.
There were tactical disagreements. They developed into angry confrontations. Papu saw an exit as the only solution. He is not Messi, but, like Messi, he had high status at his club, and felt it had been diminished.
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Barcelona ratings v Real Betis
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BARCELONA RATINGS: Marc-Andre ter Stegen 6. Couldn’t do much as Borja side-footed a cross past him from six yards out. Conceded two, but made decent saves in an enjoyable game as Barça made it six league wins in a row to move up to joint second with Real Madrid. EPA -
Oscar Mingueza 6. Had first Barça shot of the night - in the second half - but had been way up field as Betis countered on the left to go ahead after 38 minutes. Reuters -
Ronald Araujo NA. Impressive this season at centre defence, but went down in agony after eight minutes after spraining an ankle. He’ll undergo tests on Monday. A shame. EPA -
Clement Lenglet 6. Started ahead of Umtiti who’d struggled midweek. Barça are waiting for Gerard Pique to return. Lenglet missed a sitter when he had a free header after 28 minutes - he tried to head the ball into the corner but headed well wide. A starter last season, his stock had dropped this. EPA -
Jordi Alba 7. Like his team, he came to life when Messi came on and crossed Messi’s superb ball towards Griezmann. Best Barça defender. AFP -
Sergio Busquets 7. Tried to cover for out of position Mingueza for Betis’ opening goal. Out jumped by Victor Ruiz (who’d scored an own goal) for Betis’ 74th minute equaliser, but so much of Barça’s play still goes through the 32-year-old. EPA -
Miralem Pjanic 5. Struggled to find space to attack in the first half. Over hit a pass for Alba and the television camera cut to Messi’s pained expression in the stand. Brought off after 57 minutes. Best thing he did was nearly get a shot on target. EPA -
Riqui Puig 5. Uncustomary advanced pressing role and often the most forward Barça player. Quick feet but almost no effect on the game as Barça faltered in the first half. AFP -
Ousmane Dembele 7. Lively if ineffective, but came alive when Messi came on and set him up to equalise. Had a 65th minute one-on-one chance to put his team ahead which was saved. Booked. Reuters -
Martin Braithwaite 6. The first Barça player to come off for tactical reasons at half time, a striker who doesn’t strike. Works hard but looks shorn of Barça class. EPA -
Antoine Griezmann 7. Got little against a Betis team who’d been unbeaten in nine, but while he couldn’t connect properly with Alba’s cross, he pushed the ball against Ruiz who put the ball in his own net to make it 2-1. Awkward collision with a pitch side camera. EPA -
SUB: Frenkie De Jong 7. Barça’s most used player this season, he thought he might be rested but was brought on to play in an uncustomary defensive role after 10 minutes – despite other central defenders on the bench. Booked. Moved forward when Umtiti came on. AFP -
SUB: Pedri 7. Rested after midweek Copa del Rey heroics when Barça were 2-0 down v Granada after 88 minutes but won in extra time. Busy against Betis with twice as many touches as the man he replaced, Braithwaite. EPA -
SUB: Lionel Messi 9. On for Puig after 56. Took two minutes 22 seconds to finish a ball from Dembele with a left foot shot just inside the near post. You do not give Messi that time to shoot so close to goal. Extraordinary through ball to Alba before Barça’s second. Reuters -
SUB: Francisco Trincao 7. Amazing winner after 86 minutes – his first goal in La Liga. He won the ball and curled a left foot shot which went in off the crossbar. Reuters -
SUB: Samuel Umtiti 6. Natural central defender who came on for Busquets after 77. AFP
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There were several suitors, but Sevilla, masters of recruitment, know a gift when they see one in the market and how to persuade a footballer to join them.
They had snapped up 32-year-old Ivan Rakitic, in the previous transfer window when Barcelona wanted the Croatian off their wage-bill; top scorer Youssef En-Nesyri came in the window before that.
The club’s series of Europa League titles are the yield of their agility in the marketplace. Buying Papu looks outstanding business: they paid Atalanta an initial €6m.
Fortune has smiled on him in Spain already. He made his Liga debut at the weekend, in an ill-tempered 3-0 win over Getafe and thanks to a deflection, scored his first Sevilla goal.
He had come on for Lucas Ocampos, injured and now absent for some weeks. Papu now looks forward to a run in the starting XI, and, by the end of the match on Wednesday, perhaps the glimpse of a major trophy. Sevilla host Messi’s Barcelona in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final.
Messi also came off the bench at the weekend, and, in a storyline told hundreds of times, he inspired Barcelona back from the brink. He had been left out of head coach Ronald Koeman’s starting line-up with the imminent Cup semi-final in mind.
His absence simply reminded how indispensable is Barca’s captain, record-breaker and restless superhero. Messi came on with Betis 1-0 up. Two minutes later, he equalised. Nine minutes after that, a uniquely visionary Messi through-ball put Barcelona ahead. Via a stumble, they won 3-2.
It kept Barcelona in second, now with one defeat from their last 16 matches across competitions. Sevilla are fourth, with a single loss in 17. Whoever progresses over the two legs of the Cup – they meet in Catalonia on March 3 – will likely go into the final, against Athletic Bilbao or Levante, as favourites.
It is a priority competition for Koeman. “The quickest route to a trophy is a Cup,” said Koeman, who feels acutely that a trophy is needed at Barcelona after no silverware last season those clear signals from Messi, who asked to quit last summer, that the club’s symptoms of decline are pushing him towards the exit when his contract expires in June.
