Without the ball, Barça puts on a show

Like Trump, FC Barcelona manages to make the news every day, a great achievement considering that the last official match was played 67 days ago and the atmosphere is so joyful it could be intoxicated. The news of the day is that FC Barcelona and the Democratic Republic of the Congo have reached a "four-year strategic agreement" under which the club assumes "a shared commitment to promoting multi-sport development within the Democratic Republic of the Congo."

Oh! And in the future Espai Barça stadium, there will be a Casa de la RD Congo (DR Congo House) to showcase the wonders of that country—aside from the war in the east and 13 million starving people—and to make it seem like this isn't just a typical commercial agreement, but rather another demonstration of social commitment, non-sporting values, and all the slick stuff advertisers employ in these cases.

Will Lumumba – Cacaolat and cognac – return to the Camp Nou bars thanks to the agreement with the Democratic Republic of the Congo?

By the way, will the bars at Lumumba Stadium serve a very 20th-century cocktail or concoction consisting of hot or cold Cacaolat with cognac? The drink paid homage—in that way—to Patrice Lumumba, a hero of the struggle for independence whom the Belgians and the CIA made disappear back in 1961.

Yesterday's news had the virtue of overshadowing the news from the day before: the goalkeeper's situation, with a panorama somewhere between circus-like and atomic. The club is trying to oust the team's starter and captain, Ter Stegen, whose contract expires in 2028, and he has undergone surgery at his own expense, perhaps to avoid certifying that he has four months of suspension (a period that would allow for the release of 80% of the German's salary). The wonderful thing about this is that FC Barcelona signed an emerging goalkeeper to give him prominence, and today Joan Garcia should already be praying for his registration (it's no surprise that Williams's agent refused to accept a contract based on faith, resurrection, and the promise of eternal life).

The news from the day before yesterday made it possible to forget the initial failures of the Asian tour, an example of the viva Cartagena that governs the club's way of working (see Serrat's Las malas compañía, in which he sings Que pa'ellos la amistad es lo primero ). Friendship is a great virtue; it's not all about signing contracts with the first ones who come through or those who know the most about their stuff.

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The current situation at FC Barcelona is very summery, like sangria, and it helps pass the time, provided you swallow it or blame Miró-Sans, who could have foreseen the obsolescence of the Nou Camp.

By the way, how would a coach who penalizes a player who arrives minutes late to a meeting take these antics, delays, and the goalkeeping mess?