Barcelona: The war for Lionel Messi lurches toward mutual destruction

column that the battle between Lionel Messi and Barça’s president, Josep Maria Bartomeu, was part of a more significant titanic struggle.</p> <p>Their fight symbolized a much larger war within the Catalan club, culture, and politics being played out throughout the world.</p> <p>The conflict centered around the greatness on the pitch of one man, Lionel Messi, the most brilliant football player of our generation, against the <em>Blaugrana’s</em> president, who has twisted the idea of “<em>Mes que un club”  </em>into an authoritarian regime designed only to feed itself.</p> <p>In the most poignant interview in the recent memory of football, the six-time <em>Ballon d’Or</em> winner outlined his decision to stay at Barça and the internal conflict of value prioritization that led to his final “choice.”</p> <p>In my latest <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/09/07/barcelona-war-lionel-messi-mutual/"https://playingfor90.com/2020/09/04/club-win-summer-transfer-market/">piece, I outlined how, if I were Bartomeu, would approach the estranged superstar.</p> <p>Leo’s comments in the interview revealed that he was the first significant casualty of the ideological war within Barcelona. He painted a picture of an individual that had been crushed and broken by the collective.</p> <p>It seems that the club dictator/president took my advice while talking with Messi’s father and agent, Jorge, but for all the wrong reasons and virtues.</p> <p>FCB president Bartomeu was not trying to make a deal. He was trying to destroy everything that Lionel Messi stood for.</p> <p>He was crushing personal achievement and greatness.</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #0" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/09/07/barcelona-war-lionel-messi-mutual/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Bartomeu has avoided reality </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_484366" class="wp-caption alignnone"> <img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-484366 size-full" src=https://playingfor90.com/2020/09/07/barcelona-war-lionel-messi-mutual/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2130,w_3200/https%3A%2F%2Fplayingfor90.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1228109235.jpeg" alt="Barcelona" width="3200" height="2130" srcset="https://playingfor90.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1228109235.jpeg 3200w, https://playingfor90.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1228109235-768x511.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><p class="wp-caption-text">Barcelona’s president Josep Maria Bartomeu (Photo by Josep LAGO / AFP) (Photo by JOSEP LAGO/AFP via Getty Images)</p> </div> <h2>Bartomeu has distorted reality for his authoritative ends.</h2> <p>One of the most important virtues that are utilized in the process of obtaining and maintaining values is honesty. This virtue means an individual does not make any attempt to obscure or deny reality in any way when they are interacting with others.</p> <p>Honesty also means that there is no attempt to make the unreal into reality in the minds of others.</p> <div class="recent-posts "> <h4>More from <b>Playing for 90</b></h4> <ul> <li> <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/09/07/barcelona-war-lionel-messi-mutual/"https://playingfor90.com/2023/11/13/leon-juarez-playoffs/"> Leon edges scrappy FC Juarez to secure spot in playoffs </a> </li><li> <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/09/07/barcelona-war-lionel-messi-mutual/"https://playingfor90.com/2023/11/12/megan-rapinoe-career-defined-more-farewell-match-injury/"> Megan Rapinoe’s career defined by more than farewell match injury </a> </li><li> <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/09/07/barcelona-war-lionel-messi-mutual/"https://playingfor90.com/2023/11/12/barcelona-manage-comeback-alaves/"> Lewandowski scores twice as Barcelona come back to beat Alaves 2-1 </a> </li><li> <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/09/07/barcelona-war-lionel-messi-mutual/"https://playingfor90.com/2023/11/12/liga-mx-leon-puebla-finales/"> León chasing play-in spot; Puebla aims for higher seeding </a> </li><li> <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/09/07/barcelona-war-lionel-messi-mutual/"https://playingfor90.com/2023/11/12/tigres-goalie-america/"> Carlos Rodríguez emerges with clean sheet vs league leaders </a> </li></ul> </div> <p>In his interview with Goal.com, Lionel Messi stated the following regarding Bartomeu:</p> <blockquote><p>“I told the president and, well, the president always said that at the end of the season I could decide if I wanted to go or if I wanted to stay and in the end he did not keep his word.”</p> <p>— Lionel Messi, via <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/09/07/barcelona-war-lionel-messi-mutual/"https://www.goal.com/en/news/messi-breaks-silence-barcelona-exit-saga-president-did-not/12u81b5iumt2d1tkqol18wpcxg">Goal.com

<p>The Argentine great believed, based on his conversations with the club’s head of state, that at the end of the season, he could move on to play elsewhere. He also interpreted his contract with Barcelona to read the same.</p> <p>Lionel Messi decided to leave his home club based on what he understood to be the truth and what was real.</p> <p>It was not reality at all.</p> <p>Bartomeu determined that Messi could not leave the team for free. He ruled that the contract was still valid, and the release clause stood at €700 million, a figure no prospective team could ever come up with.</p> <p>What is worse is the fact that Barça’s president reminded the player of all the things that he would lose by not staying in an attempt to obtain agreement by force.</p> <p>Therefore, Bartomeu used Leo’s greatness, integrity, and  productivity against him</p> <p>The purpose of emphasizing the values that another individual has prioritized in a discussion is to jump-start a free and open negotiation that is designed to create a win-win agreement.</p> <p>Bartomeu, like many authoritarian power-hungry people, decided not to make a deal that would be in the long term best interest of both the club and Lionel Messi.</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #0" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/09/07/barcelona-war-lionel-messi-mutual/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Messi's virtues were used against him </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_484367" class="wp-caption alignnone"> <img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-484367 size-full" src=https://playingfor90.com/2020/09/07/barcelona-war-lionel-messi-mutual/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2134,w_3200/https%3A%2F%2Fplayingfor90.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1269528430.jpeg" alt="Barcelona" width="3200" height="2134" srcset="https://playingfor90.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1269528430.jpeg 3200w, https://playingfor90.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1269528430-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><p class="wp-caption-text">Artwork of Lionel Messi in Barcelona (Photo by Xavi Torrent/Getty Images)</p> </div> <h2>Lionel Messi has had his ideals used against him.</h2> <p>Josep Bartomeu used Lionel Messi’s greatness, integrity, productivity, and sense of justice against him.</p> <p>The primary goal of all second-hand people who are authoritarian collectivists is to crush the individual spirit of others to make them subservient.</p> <p>The 33-year-old Argentine star, in his interview, described his own forced capitulation:</p> <blockquote><p>“Now I am going to continue in the club because the president told me that the only way to leave was to pay the €700 million clause, and that this is impossible. There was another way and it was to go to trial. I would never go to court against Barca because it is the club that I love, which gave me everything since I arrived.”</p> <p>— Lionel Messi via <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/09/07/barcelona-war-lionel-messi-mutual/"https://www.goal.com/en/news/messis-barcelona-heartbreak-revealed-from-his-sons-tears-to/1mpozogbymuza1fep1f6vv3oz2">Goal.com

<p>These words illustrate someone who is now a prisoner to a club rather than a partner by mutual agreement.</p> <p>These statements illuminate an individual who has to deal with a team president who has no morality, virtues, or rational ethics.</p> <p>In Ayn Rand’s novel, <em>Atlas Shrugged</em>, she described how people try to destroy individual achievement by turning their virtues against them in an attempt to accumulate unearned values by preaching about the common good.</p> <p>In the novel, the character Hank Reardon suffered through having his family, work, productivity, and love twisted into the weapon of his destruction.</p> <p>He had friends who implored him to see with clarity what was happening around him so that he would seek his own path.</p> <p>In the end, Reardon finally realized that his consent made him the victim by continuing to supply his enemies with the same weapons they were using against him.</p> <p>As a result of this knowledge, he walked away.</p> <p>In other words, he went on strike.</p> <p>Lionel Messi tried to do the same thing by sending the fax to FC Barcelona. He wanted to produce greatness on the pitch for himself and everything that he held dear.</p> <p>The world’s most outstanding player had his virtues and the values he cherishes the most (e.g., loyalty, family, integrity) used against him by Bartomeu, who took the club’s motto and twisted it into a dark power play.</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #0" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/09/07/barcelona-war-lionel-messi-mutual/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Barcelona has been destroyed from within </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_484368" class="wp-caption alignnone"> <img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-484368 size-full" src=https://playingfor90.com/2020/09/07/barcelona-war-lionel-messi-mutual/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2029,w_1600/https%3A%2F%2Fplayingfor90.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1266341678.jpeg" alt="Lionel Messi" width="1600" height="2029" srcset="https://playingfor90.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1266341678.jpeg 1600w, https://playingfor90.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1266341678-768x974.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><p class="wp-caption-text">Lionel Messi, Barcelona (Photo by Manu Fernandez/Pool via Getty Images)</p> </div> <h2>The battle for the soul of FC Barcelona has gone nuclear.</h2> <p>People who have had their spirit, mind, and body trapped, imprisoned, and numbed will never reach their full potential.</p> <p>Lionel Messi will not reach the height of his greatness this season.</p> <div class="recent-posts "> <h4>More from <b>FC Barcelona</b></h4> <ul> <li> <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/09/07/barcelona-war-lionel-messi-mutual/"https://playingfor90.com/2023/11/08/barcelona-superstar-stunning-fall/"> Barcelona superstar’s stunning fall: Another lackluster performance shocks fans </a> </li><li> <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/09/07/barcelona-war-lionel-messi-mutual/"https://playingfor90.com/2023/11/07/barcelona-punished-miserable-performance/"> Barcelona punished for another miserable performance </a> </li><li> <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/09/07/barcelona-war-lionel-messi-mutual/"https://playingfor90.com/2023/11/03/pedri-back-barcelona-squad/"> Pedri back in the Barcelona squad for Real Sociedad match </a> </li><li> <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/09/07/barcelona-war-lionel-messi-mutual/"https://playingfor90.com/2023/10/31/aitana-bonmati-highlights-barcelona-contingent-ballon-dor/"> Aitana Bonmati highlights Barcelona contingent at Ballon d’or awards </a> </li><li> <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/09/07/barcelona-war-lionel-messi-mutual/"https://playingfor90.com/2023/10/29/gundogan-anger-barcelona-teammates/"> Gundogan wants more anger from Barcelona teammates </a> </li></ul> </div> <p>The Argentine was coerced into “agreeing” to stay at Barça. He is genuinely unhappy playing for an organization he has been connected with for 20 years.</p> <p>In <em>Atlas Shrugged</em>, the individuals who were producing for their enemy and having their work stolen from them by force went on strike.</p> <p>I hope that Lionel Messi will go on strike in the spirit of individual achievement, productivity, and greatness.</p> <p>This move would be an act of heroism that would reverberate in football, culture, and politics.</p> <p>At best, fans of football will get a Messi that is heartbroken and shaken on many levels. It will not be his best season. He may not physically go on strike, but he will mentally.</p> <p>The six-time<em> Ballon D’Or</em> winner launched a nuclear strike in his interview by illuminating the lack of morality, ethics, and vision of Barcelona club president, Josep Bartomeu.</p> <p>The Barça president has acted immorally and has made decisions that are not in the rational best interest of his most outstanding player, his club, and himself.</p> <p>As a result, Bartomeu has hit a string of dominos that will eventually destroy him professionally and personally. For example, recent reports suggest that he will be charged with corruption in the “Barçagate” scandal.</p> <p>It appears that the new FC Barcelona president will inherit a club that has been the victim of the mutually assured destruction of each party.</p> <p>Both the team and its most outstanding player will be spiritually decimated by the cumulative effect of all the internal battles that have flared up over the years.</p> <p>This is a war where no one will win.</p> <p>Messi will walk through the next season a shell of his greatness, a zombie, a victim of radical altruism leading to morally bankrupt power. Barcelona’s moral compass and ideology will be broken almost beyond repair.</p> <div class="fs-shortcode" data-type="StoryLink" data-theme="dark" data-text="Georginio Wijnaldum set to be Koeman’s first Barcelona signing" data-url="https://playingfor90.com/2020/09/04/georginio-wijnaldum-koemans-barcelona/" data-call-to-action="Next"> <div class="story-link-next"> <a class="story-link-next-btn" style="background: #0" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="story-link-next-shortcode" href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/09/07/barcelona-war-lionel-messi-mutual/"https://playingfor90.com/2020/09/04/georginio-wijnaldum-koemans-barcelona/"> <span class="call_to_action">Next:</span> Georginio Wijnaldum set to be Koeman’s first Barcelona signing </a> </div> </div> <p>Let’s hope that the rest of the culture, sport, finance, and politics built on individual freedom survives its current ideological war.</p><!—pageview_candidate—>">