After two league defeats in a row
Barça wins the cup: ex-Bayern star scores twice
January 5, 2025 – 7:17 a.mReading time: 2 minutes
After two recent defeats in the league, FC Barcelona has fulfilled its duty in the cup. Man of the evening: a former Bayern goalscorer.
Thanks to ex-Bayern star Robert Lewandowski, FC Barcelona got back on track on Saturday evening and ultimately made it into the round of 16 of the Spanish Cup without much trouble. The Pole scored twice in the 4-0 away win at fourth division team UD Barbastro (31st and 47th minute). These were the 24th and 25th competitive goals for Lewandowski this season.
Eric García had already scored the first goal of the day for Barcelona (21st). Pablo Torre made the final score after a little less than an hour (56th). The success at Barbastro is Barça’s first win in their first game this year. At the end of 2024, the Catalans said goodbye to the festive season in a very unfavorable way. There was a home defeat in the domestic league against both Leganes (0:1) and Atlético Madrid (1:2).
Ex-national coach Hansi Flick’s club is currently on everyone’s lips, but not just from a sporting perspective. Dani Olmo is still particularly busy at FC Barcelona. A few hours before the cup game, the Spanish football association RFEF informed the club that the European champions would not receive a playing license. The same applies to striker Pau Víctor.
The background to the whole thing is FC Barcelona’s massive debts. Due to the club’s financial problems, the professional league blocked the registration of the two players. According to media reports, there was recently no evidence of receipt of 100 million euros. Although this problem seems to have been solved now, there is now another problem.
After the RFEF’s announcement, the league and association’s supervisory commission reviewed the regulations and made a decision against the club and players. This is based on “Articles 130.2 and 141.5 of the association regulations, which do not allow a player whose license has been canceled to be granted a license again within the same season for the same team of the same club”. Barcelona will now apparently take legal action.
Olmo, who only moved from RB Leipzig to Catalonia in the summer for 55 million euros, could now leave the club again, but at the same time claim his salary until his working paper expires in 2030. That would potentially cost FC Barcelona more than 260 million euros in the end.