Barcelona ‘can’t afford £18m Champions League KO after ambitiously budgeting for quarters as group stage exit looms’

BARCELONA are set to be plunged into an even deeper financial crisis as they stand on the brink of exiting the Champions League in the group stage.

The Catalan giants could only muster a 3-3 draw at home to Inter Milan on Wednesday night, a result which leaves them on the verge of being eliminated.

It means a win for Inter at home to Viktoria Plzen on October 26 would see them qualify as runners-up in the group behind Bayern Munich.

And that could have a crippling economic consequence for Barcelona.

According to Mundo Deportivo, Barca face an £18m cash shortage if they exit in the group stage.

This is because their £132m investment in the team over the summer was reportedly under the provision that they would reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

Clubs receive around £8.3m for qualifying for the last 16 and a further £9.3m for getting through to the last eight.

Barca are set to miss out on that windfall and it could have a major impact on their ability to pay for their spending in the transfer window.

Even if they drop down to the Europa League, winning the competition would only bring in £13m.

Barca’s financial crisis has rumbled on for more than a year, with the Spanish side struggling to register players in recent seasons.

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But they have continued to spend big in the transfer market, with the likes of Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, Franck Kessie, Jules Kounde and Andreas Christensen all coming in during the summer.

And they do currently sit top of LaLiga, ahead of Real Madrid on goal difference.

But in Europe they haven’t been able to make their investment count.

And while Lewandowski did score a stoppage-time equaliser against Inter to keep their slim hopes of qualification for the last 16 alive, it only appears to have delayed the inevitable.

Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk