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Thread. The banter years? It& #39;s been the banter 100 days at Barcelona in what is proving an absolutely bonkers 2020...
They began the year dropping points at local rivals Espanyol before travelling to Supercopa in Saudi Arabia as tensions rose in Middle East due to U.S/Iran conflict. Beaten by Atletico in semifinal despite playing quite well.
Following the defeat, they openly courted Xavi Hernandez to replace Ernesto Valverde. Meanwhile, Luis Suarez was ruled out for four months after a knee operation.
Valverde then officially sacked, leaving the training ground with a big smile (relief?) on his face. Quique Setien named new coach after club make public mess in appointing Valverde& #39;s successor, failing to land their first targets.
Barca require stoppage-time goal to beat third division Ibiza in the cup. They are then beaten by Valencia in La Liga. They are then knocked out of cup by Athletic Bilbao.
Barca end January without any signings. However, they did lose decent, young squad options, with Aleña, Todibo and Perez among those allowed to leave.
Ousmane Dembele ruled out for six months after breaking down in training on comeback from previous injury.
Lionel Messi rages at Eric Abidal on Instagram after sporting director hints players to blame for Valverde& #39;s sacking.
Leaks in local media reveal Barca worked with third-party company that ran social media accounts that smeared players, club legends and presidential candidates, among others.
President Josep Maria Bartomeu rescinds contract with the company, claims ignorance, and orders an external audit into what happened
Club exploit rules to sign Martin Braithwaite outside the transfer window as Dembele replacement. Leganes helpless to stop deal as Barca pay €18m release clause
Travelled to face Napoli in the Champions League just as coronavirus was beginning to shut down parts of Italy. Drew 1-1 despite only mustering one shot in target in whole 90 minutes. Then beaten 2-0 by Real Madrid in the Clasico.
Football shuts down due to coronavirus, just days after large crowd filled Camp Nou to watch 1-0 win vs. Real Sociedad.
Leaks in local media claim players are reluctant to take pay cut due to coronavirus financial implications.
Players respond in joint statement, announcing desire to take 70 percent reduction & contribute to non-sporting staff& #39;s salaries during pandemic. Say they were "surprised some people at the club wanted to put us under pressure."
Bartomeu asks four board members to resign due to internal sparring. Six board members resign, citing lack of faith in the club& #39;s management and the social media scandal as the main reasons.
One of those to resign, Emili Rousaud, suggests someone has been taking money out of the club as part of the social media scandal. Says three other board members considering resigning.
Slipping under the radar, Messi takes to Instagram again, this time to deny reports linking him with move to Inter Milan. His contract expires in 2021.
And despite all this, the club remain top of La Liga and on course to reach Champions League last eight if they can beat Napoli at home (if/when football is able to resume).
