When it looked like the season was going much better for Barcelona, a string of bad results has reminded them this would not be their year. Xavi Hernandez had a hard time trying to steer the ship after Ronald Koeman's exit but when it looked like he was finally doing so, the team suddenly collapsed.
Barca were in a good run until a couple of weeks ago, when they suffered two home defeats in the span of four days. A Europa League elimination at the hands of Eintracht Frankfurt was followed by a loss to Cadiz at the Camp Nou.
Even though they bounced back at Real Sociedad a few days later, on Sunday they lost their third straight home game, this time to Rayo Vallecano. That result not only left Barca practically out of the title race, but also put a potential second-place finish in danger. People may think that as long as they finish in the top-four they'll be fine, but here we'll show you why finishing second is much more important than it seems.
Barcelona: Here's why finishing 2nd in La Liga is more important than it appears
When we talk about a club like Barcelona, one of the winningest teams in Spain and Europe, you can't pretend that anything less than winning the league title will satisfy them. The goal is to finish atop the standings every year, and it's fine.
That's why, given that Real Madrid have this year's title all but secured, many think that the position in which Barca finish doesn't matter as long as it's in the top four. However, it does matter. Barcelona would much rather finish second for a number of reasons.
A place in the Spanish Supercup
First of all, not only it would give them a Champions League berth, but also a place in the Spanish Supercup. Under the new format, this tournament includes the Copa del Rey finalists and the top two teams in La Liga. Taking part in this competition is not only important because of the opportunity of winning a trophy that it provides, but also because of its monetary reward.
The reformatted Spanish Supercup has been taking place at the beginning of every year in Saudi Arabia, who are believed to pay a lot of money to host it. According to Sport, each participant team brings home around €6 million.
More revenues from TV broadcasting rights
The position in the standings is also very important to decide how much money each team receives for television broadcasting rights. Last season, Spanish journalist Roberto Bayon has made an estimate of how much money each team receives depending their position in the table, which is as follows:
- 1st: €59.5m
- 2nd: €52.5m
- 3rd: €45.5m
- 4th: €38.5m
That means that there's almost €7 millions of difference between each position. Therefore, Barcelona would miss out on €7m for every position they fall in the table. This also explains how important the position in the standings really is even if we're not talking about the first spot.
By finishing second in La Liga, Barcelona would earn nearly €60 million - besides punching a ticket to two different tournaments. So, even though it's not even close to what they'd feel by winning the league, a second-place finish would still be very important for Barcelona right now, both in sporting and financial terms.
