Following the highly publicised fallout between Barcelona and their star player Lionel Messi back in August, club president Josep Maria Bartomeu, who took over at Barcelona from Sandro Rosell in 2014, resigned from his post on Tuesday along with the rest of the board members in what was a "thought-out, serene, informed decision" to resign, as per Bartomeu.
In light of the club's deteriorating financial situation as well as their struggles on the football field, the overall resentment against 57-year-old had been building amongst the club faithful. It hit a boiling point following their humiliating 8-2 defeat to Bayern Munich in their Champions League quarter-final back in August, following which Messi requested a transfer that was denied by the club and the Argentine great eventually decided against pursuing a legal battle and stay on for another season.
Finally, a vote of no confidence was passed against Bartomeu by the club earlier this month, leading to his resignation.
"The easiest thing after the Champions (League defeat) was to resign, but one had to take decisions amid an unprecedented global crisis," Bartomeu said, also stating that he could not let the club be run by "external, temporary figures."
"Who would have ensured that Messi stayed? Who would have hired a new coach?" said Bartomeu.
Barcelona's woes continued unabated on the field, however, finishing the 2019-20 season without a trophy and winning just two of their five games in the ongoing season with new manager Ronald Koeman at the helm, with their losses including a 3-1 defeat at home to arch-rivals Real Madrid last Saturday.
Feature image courtesy: AFP / Josep Lago
