Barcelona’s Champions League Odds Still 16-1 After Messi Announces He’s Staying; Barca +175 for La Liga Title

• Lionel Messi has broke the news again, this time announcing he will stay at Barcelona for another year after being shunned from a transfer by Josep Bartomeu
• Barcelona’s odds to win the Champions League and La Liga have not changed much since the announcement on Friday afternoon
• With a lost dressing room, and an outspoken legend, what can Barcelona realistically achieve this season?

Lionel Messi and Barcelona have made it their mission to become the greatest transfer saga of all time, and this morning the saga took a wild turn. After demanding out of the Catalan club, Messi was denied a transfer by President Bartomeu due to a $700 million release clause in the Argentinean’s contract. After a sit-down meeting with Jorge Messi, Leo’s father and agent, Bartomeu reassured his strong position that Messi was going nowhere despite heavy interest from Man City and PSG.

Barcelona has achieved just that as Messi announced on Friday he will be staying in Spain for at least another year. He went on to criticize the club and its management, which leaves the question, how will this squad have any chemistry as they quickly march into a new season? Their odds to win the Champions League and La Liga have remained relatively stagnant which reiterates this point.

2020/21 Champions League Odds

Odds taken Sept 4

Champions League Out of Sight in Barcelona

While Messi and company will have a legit shot at winning La Liga against a mediocre Real Madrid side, they can kiss goodbye to the Champions League. They last won it five years ago with a front three of Messi, Suarez and Neymar, all in prime form. Nowadays, Barcelona is dealing with an out-of-place Antoinne Griezmann, the failed signings of Dembele and Coutinho and an aging group of core starters.

🚨 WORLD EXCLUSIVE 🚨

Lionel Messi will NOT be leaving Barcelona, we can confirm.

We sat down with the man himself to clear up a few things 🐐

Here's what he had to say: pic.twitter.com/NfnhGpZpXc

— Goal (@goal) September 4, 2020

Suarez is off to Juventus, and the club has made no major signing this summer. Barcelona have done everything in their power to progress their club’s fall from grace, and keeping an unhappy Messi will not help. Their defense is a shambles, and to be frank, Ronald Koeman was sacked from Everton. To think he will win the Champions League with this squad is a disaster waiting to happen.

With that being said, the favorites should be Liverpool or Bayern Munich. Both of these sides have the composure to win in Europe and nobody else has strengthened as much during the summer. Man City have the best odds, but without Messi do not expect Guardiola to lift a European Cup unless it’s the Europa League. Liverpool missed out last season, but with Thiago possibly in the mix, they could be deadly for any side.

My Pick: Liverpool (+650)

2020/21 La Liga Odds

Odds taken Sept 4

Can Messi Win La Liga One Last Time?

Finally, the other question at hand is, if Barcelona are not good enough to win in Europe, can they still win in Spain? Unfortunately for Messi and Barcelona, the answer is no. Despite being extremely average for a Real Madrid side, they are still miles ahead of Barcelona, and have a world-class manager in Zinedine Zidane. Aside from the second leg against Man City, Real Madrid had not lost a game since March. Better yet, they had only conceded 0.54 goals per game.

Real Madrid have cleaned things up a little bit and they have some young talent that is a breath of fresh air at the Bernabeu. Vinicius, Militao, Odegaard, Brahim and the list goes on. On the other side, Barcelona are full of underwhelming talent. It is safe to say that their 8-2 loss at the hands of Bayern might just be the start of a page turn for Barcelona.

Atletico Madrid are the next favorites under Barcelona, but Simeone’s style of play has proven itself inconsistent as of late. Real Madrid are an easy pick to win La Liga, as it will be an equally easy season for them on the pitch. Barcelona will write another chapter of their book. One without Messi, but sadly, this season is going to be the brutal ending nobody wanted to read.

My Pick: Real Madrid (-150)