Ahead of the duel with Brest in the Champions League on Tuesday, FC Barcelona has three problems. The first one is ongoing, financial problem for which there is no quick cure and the club continues to live with it. The second one is the team‘s form. After starting the season in fantastic form under Hansi Filick, the Catalans are in a mini-crisis, mainly in La Liga. They lost to Real Sociedad (1-0) and only drew with Celta Vigo (they were leading 2-0), and now they are looking behind as Real Madrid has a chance to close the gap to only one point. The third problem was not so obvious, but it was under the radar of the most media for months, until the club decided to take action and acknowledge the problem with it‘s fans by closing one stand for today‘s game.One billion release clause for Yamal!The Catalans officially announced that the ‘Animation stand‘ at the Montjuïc stadium is closed indefinitely, due to failed negotiations with the fans. Last season, the club was punished several times for the incidents which happened at that stand (‘Espai d’Animació’) and the executives tried to force supporting groups which are on that stand to pay the fines, which have accumulated from last season up to 21,000 euros. The club tried to negotiate with them and even extended the deadline several times, but the fan groups didn‘t pay a single cent.”FC Barcelona informs that as of today the ‘Espai d’Animació’ (EDA) at the ‘Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc’ is closed due to the failure of the Groups that form part of it to comply with the obligations they have assumed with the Club. Given the content of the agreements accepted and signed between the Club and the animation groups, FC Barcelona, after repeated warnings, began the process to recover the amount of the sanctions imposed on the Club for its behaviour in the stands during last season. During this process, the Groups have been granted up to three different periods for compliance with their obligations; the last one expired at midnight yesterday without any result” reads the statement from the Catalans.Lewa to get a contact extension?Albert Yarza, president of the Penya Almogàvers, has acted as a spokesperson in various media in recent days and today he explained.”We did want to meet with the club to discuss the situation and the club was willing to do so, but we had to pay the 21,000 euros they are demanding first, which we couldn’t do because it meant assuming a group responsibility. We are calling our people’s attention so that they do not follow the chants that may come from outside. We do not have to act as police officers, the club has the tools to locate and sanction people who have reprehensible and punishable behaviour. You cannot criminalise a group for individual actions. There are 572 of us in the animation stand and there are 14 cases” he explained.Barca needs to leave Montjuic but Nou Camp is not finished yetOn the other side, Hansi Flick has other problems, as he needs to prepare well for an opponent which sits as fourth in the Champions League, without a single defeat. Sure, their opponents (Sturm Graz, Red Bull Salzburg and Sparta Prague) are not amongst European elite, but still, they managed to defeat them all, allowing only three goals. On the other and, Barcelona will be without Lamine Yamal, and needs to show the world that they are not dependable on the 17-year old kid. In the two games he hasn‘t played, Barca failed to win. Apart from him, other absentees are long-term injured players Marc ter Stegen and Marc Bernal as well as Ronald Araujo, Andreas Christensen, Ansu Fati and Ferran Torres.UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE ROUND 5Tuesday19:45: (14.0) Slovan B. (8.00) Milan (1.20)19:45: (5.70) Sparta Praha (3.80) Atl.Madrid (1.63)23:00: (1.17) Barcelona (9.50) Brest (15.0)23:00: (1.62) Bayern (4.50) PSG (5.30)23:00: (1.43) Inter (4.60) RB Leipzig (7.25)23:00: (1.20) Leverkusen (8.00) Salzburg (14.0)23:00: (1.20) Man.City (8.00) Feyenoord (14.0)23:00: (3.40) Sporting (3.50) Arsenal (2.25)23:00: (7.75) Young Boys (4.80) Atalanta (1.40)Wednesday19:45: (4.80) Crvena Zvezda (4.10) Stuttgart (1.75)19:45: (3.70) Sturm (3.50) Girona (2.00)23:00: (2.45) Aston Villa (3.40) Juventus (3.10)23:00: (2.45) Bologna (3.35) Lille (3.15)23:00: (2.05) Celtic (3.50) Club Brugge (3.60)23:00: (4.80) Dinamo Zagreb (3.70) Dortmund (1.73)23:00: (1.90) Liverpool (3.95) Real Madrid (4.00)23:00: (2.30) Monaco (3.50) Benfica (3.25)23:00: (1.42) PSV (4.60) Shakhtar (7.50)***odds are subject to change***
