Paris Saint-Germain’s elimination of FC Barcelona has cost the Spanish team a significant amount of money. The La Liga team fell 4-1 in the second leg (6-4 on aggregate) on Tuesday night at Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys.
Barcelona took an early 1-0 lead in the second leg (4-2 on aggregate), but after that, Xavi Hernandez and his team went downhill. The capital club received a lifeline from Ronald Araújo, who was sent off following a foul on Bradley Barcola.
The Parisians netted four consecutive goals, with Ousmane Dembélé striking against his former team just before halftime. Vitinha then equalized the aggregate score at 4-4 with a goal in the 54th minute, giving the Ligue 1 side a 2-1 lead in the match.
Kylian Mbappé sealed the deal with a penalty kick in the 61st minute and secured an insurance goal in the 89th minute, bringing the aggregate score to 6-4. RMC Sport detailed the significant financial blow to the Catalan side as they were knocked out of the competition by the French giants.
According to the French media outlet, qualifying for the semi-finals grants a sporting bonus of €12.5 million from UEFA. This sum, therefore, went to PSG and not to Barça. Additionally, progressing in the competition generates TV rights revenues that accumulate throughout the competition and are disbursed at the end of the season.
Barça must also forego the €50 million promised to each club participating in the new FIFA Club World Cup. The underperformance against PSG means that Atlético Madrid will be the second Spanish representative for the 2025 edition, based on their better UEFA coefficient.
As a result, Barcelona has let slip at least €62.5 million. This financial windfall would have been much needed for the club, whose accounts showed a debt of €552 million as of June 30th last year, with provisional profits (before taxes) standing at only €11 million for the current season.
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