Former Spain goalkeeper Santi Canizares summed up Barca’s plight on Spanish radio on Tuesday night when he said: ‘If I’m sat at home and my neighbour appears at my window and tells me to look out for a flying donkey I dismiss him as an idiot and don’t take any notice.
‘But if I’m sat at the football watching my team and the person next to me says: “watch out because a donkey is going to fly past in a minute”, then I wait to see if a donkey flies past or not.’
The anecdote is originally from lower league coach Juan Antonio Anquela, and Canizares was recalling it to make the point that as impossible it seems that Barcelona will not be in the Europa League before they kick-off against Bayern Munich tonight, anything can happen in football.
Barcelona could be eliminated from the Champions League before they face Bayern Munich
Barca coach Xavi has told the players to be at the Camp Nou two hours ahead of kick-off and they will watch Inter’s earlier game against Viktoria Plzen together.
If Inter win then Barcelona will then have to face Bayern Munich knowing they have nothing but pride to play for.
If there is a miracle in Milan and Inter don’t win, Barcelona know that beating Bayern Munich would take them into the last round of group matches still with a chance of qualifying.
The Catalan giants’ Champions League fate is in Inter Milan’s hands as they face Viktoria Plzen
The local sport paper El Mundo Deportivo went with ‘We dream’ on its front page. And its rival Diaro Sport took the more brutal route with ‘Miracle or hell’.
Nobody connected with the club contemplated being back in the Europa League before November after €150m (£130m) was spent on new players in the summer. And nobody wants to think about the on and off the pitch consequences of it now.
Barcelona boss Xavi will watch the Inter Milan match with his squad prior to their kick-off
Can the Czech underdogs do Barca a huge favour? Xavi was asked what he would say to them if he could give the pre-match team talk and he joked: ‘That’s all I need! Don’t you think I’ve got enough to do already!’
It doesn’t help that Plzen have nothing to play for although they will be household names in Spain on Thursday morning if they get a result.
And their Colombian midfielder Jhon Mosquera’s late father was a Barça fan so he has extra motivation. And perhaps Plzen’s situation will make it harder for Inter.
‘We have nothing to lose, it’s them playing for qualification,’ said Plzen coach Michal Bilek.
Xavi said on Tuesday that his team was picked on Monday and will not be changed by the Inter result.
He is expected to play a fourth midfielder as he did at the weekend in the win over Athletic Bilbao and, as most Barca watchers believe, he should have done against Real Madrid the weekend before.
Barca dominated Bayern in Germany in the first half when they played them earlier in the group stage but Robert Lewandowski chose the worst game to have an off-night missing chances and the price was paid in the second half when the home side ran out 2-0 winners.
Barcelona dominated Bayern Munich in the reverse fixture, but still suffered a 2-0 defeat
Calculating how much Barcelona will lose by being jettisoned into the Europa League depends on how far you think they might have gone without falling at this hurdle.
Early elimination will cost the club at least the £8.4m given to teams that reach the last-16.
They had budgeted for at least a quarter-final place and failing to make it to that stage will cost them a further £9.3m. So it’s fair to say they will be £17.7m short on the prize money they had budgeted for.
But there was some optimism in the summer that that they could go all the way this year, earning a further £11m for the semi finals, and, if they reached the final, either £13.6m or £17.5m, depending on whether or not they won it.
Barcelona could face a £17.7million shortfall while being consigned to the Europa League
Winning the Europa League will bring in around £13m, but there are no guarantees they will claim the lesser prize as they found out last season.
The nightmare scenario, both in the financial and football sense, has already been well documented and debated since the failure to beat Inter at the Camp Nou.
The Clasico defeat turned the mood down a few more notches but two wins since then and a healthy 7-0 aggregate scoreline has changed things a little.
If it has to be the Europa League then so be it. Barca will have to try to win it, and win the league. And if they do it will have been a more than acceptable season.
And there is always Jose Mourinho to motivate them. Xavi was asked about his comment that the ‘failed sharks of the Champions League’ shouldn’t really be allowed to drop into the Europa League.
He responded with no more than: ‘If we have to play in it (Europa League) we will compete.’
If a donkey flies past the Camp Nou tonight they won’t have to, but supporters, players, the coach, and the club’s financial directors are all ready for the worst.
