Barcelona Face Bayern Again, Without Messi, after Year of Upheaval and Change

Barcelona lost 8-2 to Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals last year. Rafael Marchante POOL/AFP/File
Barcelona lost 8-2 to Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals last year. Rafael Marchante POOL/AFP/File
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Barcelona Face Bayern Again, Without Messi, after Year of Upheaval and Change

Barcelona lost 8-2 to Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals last year. Rafael Marchante POOL/AFP/File
Barcelona lost 8-2 to Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals last year. Rafael Marchante POOL/AFP/File

"We need change from top to bottom," Gerard Pique said but even he could not have predicted what followed as Barcelona, without Lionel Messi, reunite with Bayern Munich on Tuesday, a year on from the defeat that changed everything.

After the 8-2 loss by Bayern in the Champions League quarter-finals, Pique said Barca needed change of all kinds, "not just players and coaches, but structurally", insisting "new blood" was needed. "We are not able to compete in Europe," he said.

The humiliation felt like rock bottom, a brutal confirmation of mediocrity delivered by a club about to reach the summit of Europe against one no longer anywhere near it.

Pique demanded revolution but little has improved in the year since, the club's financial horrors laid bare by Messi's departure to Paris Saint-Germain, which has been harder to stomach for the fans than any thrashing on the pitch.

Ten days after the loss in Lisbon, Messi sent Barcelona the burofax stating his desire to leave and while he insisted it had nothing to do with the Bayern defeat, he also said they "had given off a very bad image. It was wrong."

And so for the first time in almost two decades, Barca begin a Champions League campaign this week without their best ever player, who registered his first Champions League goal in 2005 and went on to score 120 in 149 games for them, against 41 different opponents, including seven hat-tricks.

Messi won four Champions Leagues in 10 years at Camp Nou but none in his last six and while he was far from blameless, every failure enhanced the sense of a historic career being wasted.

Whether the theory Messi's absence will liberate others has merit remains to be seen but there is certainly less pressure now to succeed, even less than last season, when a gallant draw with PSG in the second leg came as something of a relief after a 4-1 loss in the first.

- Memphis face of new era? -
Dampened expectations could at least offer a more forgiving platform for Barca's youngsters to thrive and others, like Memphis Depay and Ousmane Dembele, to step forward.

"Memphis can mark a new era at Barca," said Koeman this week. "He has the things you need to be a success here: personality and character."

If new blood was needed, Koeman has helped accelerate the transition as the likes of Pedri, Frenkie de Jong, Sergino Dest and Ronald Araujo have risen in prominence, ready perhaps to lead themselves.

There have been departures too, 20 of them since the final whistle blew in Lisbon, not to mention the coach, with Quique Setien being swiftly replaced by Koeman. Five of those that played against Bayern in 2020 have gone.

It was the board Pique was targeting most and there has been wholesale change there as well, with Joan Laporta taking over as president and installing Mateu Alemany as the new director of football.

But Laporta's first six months has been so consumed by keeping the club afloat, there have been precious few decisions aimed at taking it forward.

Last month, Laporta indicated the club's total debts amounted to 1.35 billion euros, with player salaries 103 per cent of income, a figure now closer to 80 per cent after the transfer window. Saving, not improving, has been the priority.

The result is perhaps a club with better hopes for the future but a team that looks even worse than the one before and it would be a huge surprise if Barcelona troubled either the Champions League's latter stages or primary contenders.

When Pique said they were "no longer able to compete in Europe" last year, there was anger in his voice but there is more of an acceptance now, an awareness that for now the pinnacle is almost certainly out of reach.

For Barcelona, the worst may be over but it could be a while before the good times return.



Katie Ledecky Remains Unbeatable in the 1,500 Freestyle Taking the Title Again at the Worlds

 Swimming - World Aquatics Championships - Women 1500m Freestyle Final - World Aquatics Championships Arena, Singapore - July 29, 2025 Katie Ledecky of the US in action during the final. (Reuters)
Swimming - World Aquatics Championships - Women 1500m Freestyle Final - World Aquatics Championships Arena, Singapore - July 29, 2025 Katie Ledecky of the US in action during the final. (Reuters)
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Katie Ledecky Remains Unbeatable in the 1,500 Freestyle Taking the Title Again at the Worlds

 Swimming - World Aquatics Championships - Women 1500m Freestyle Final - World Aquatics Championships Arena, Singapore - July 29, 2025 Katie Ledecky of the US in action during the final. (Reuters)
Swimming - World Aquatics Championships - Women 1500m Freestyle Final - World Aquatics Championships Arena, Singapore - July 29, 2025 Katie Ledecky of the US in action during the final. (Reuters)

Katie Ledecky has ceded a tiny bit of ground in other events, but she’s still unbeatable in the 1,500-meter freestyle.

She won it again Tuesday in the swimming world championships in Singapore, finishing in 15 minutes, 26.44 seconds. Simona Quadarella of Italy took silver in 15:31.79 – a European record – with bronze for Lani Pallister of Australia in 15:41.18 in a very quick-paced race.

“I was just trying to get out fast, but comfortable enough that I could go from there,” Ledecky said. “I’m happy with the time and happy with the swim.”

“I love this race,” she added. “It was the race I broke my first world record in 2013. Lots of great races over the years.”

Ledecky was ahead of her world-record pace through 1,250 meters, pushed early by Pallister. It was Ledecky’s second medal in these games after taking bronze in the 400 free behind Canadian Summer McIntosh.

The numbers speak to Ledecky’s dominance, the most decorated female swimmer in history who has been on top for more than a decade.

With Tuesday’s swim she now owns 25 the top 26 times in history in the 1,500. Her time Tuesday was the fifth fastest, not far off her world record of 15:20.48 set in 2018.

It was her 22nd gold medal in a world championships and her 28th overall. Add to that nine Olympic gold medals and 14 overall. If you’re not counting, that's 42 Olympic and world medals – 31 gold.

Watching from the stands was new International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry. She was joined by former president Thomas Bach. Coventry was an Olympic gold-medal winner for Zimbabwe in 2004 and 2008 in the 200-meter backstroke.

The Americans had the top qualifying times going into four finals and won one gold and three silver medals with very close finishes in all three.

The United States team have been battling what officials called “acute gastroenteritis” picked up at a training camp in Thailand before arriving in Singapore.

American head coach Greg Meehan said much of team had turned the corner.

“We’re taking it a day at a time,” he said in an interview with American network NBC. “Obviously, this is not how we thought the first few days of this competition would go. But I’m really proud of our team, our medical staff working overtime. You don’t want your medical staff working overtime.”

“If you were in our team area you would never know that the overall majority of the team has gone through something over the last few days,” Meehan added, saying the team “vibe” was good.

McIntosh, who won two gold medals the first two days, did not race on Tuesday, Day 3 of the competition. She will face Ledecky in the 800, maybe the most anticipated race of the worlds.

Paris Olympic champion David Popovici of Romania won the 200-meter freestyle, overtaking American Luke Hobson in the last 50 meters for the victory. Popovici swam 1:43.53 with Hobson across in 1:43.84. Tatsuya Murasa of Japan was third in 1:44.54.

“I think it was better than the Olympics to be honest,” Popovici said of the victory. “You know why? Because I trained a lot for the Olympics. But this coming for a more relaxed year, easygoing year after the Olympics. I don’t know. I feel very proud of myself.”

Kaylee McKeown of Australia took the women’s 100-meter backstroke, closing over the last 50 to beat American Regan Smith. McKeown finished in 57.16 – just .03 off the world record held by Smith. Smith finished in 57.35 with bronze for American Katharine Berkoff in 58.15.

McKeown is the two-time defending Olympic champion in this race and also in the 200 backstroke. She also beat Smith a year ago in Paris with Smith taking silver.