Barcelona pay a LIFETIME salary to all of their European title winners
REVEALED: Barcelona pay a LIFETIME salary to every one of their European champions due to a promise made by former president Joan Laporta that was inspired by Lionel Messi
- Barcelona reward players who won a European trophy with a lifetime salary
- The promise was made by former president Joan Laporta and was stuck to
- Laporta was inspired by Lionel Messi’s goal in the 2009 Champions League final
- The recipients of the reward could total close to 300 players from 12 squads
Barcelona players past, present and future have another reason to thank Lionel Messi – as it has been revealed that he inspired former club president Joan Laporta to award every single winner of a European title at the Catalan club a lifetime salary.
More than 290 players could be benefiting – with the Nou Camp side having amassed five Champions League tiles, four Cup Winners’ Cups and three Fairs Cups.
Juan Carlos Heredia – who was victorious in the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1979 alongside Johan Cruyff – is one of the recipients, and explained how the reward was inspired.
Barcelona pay European champions a lifetime salary after a promise from a former president
Joan Laporta made the pledge after the 2009 Champions League final which Barca won
Lionel Messi’s goal in the 2009 Champions League final over Man United inspired the reward
‘When Barcelona won the Champions League final in Rome against Manchester United with a goal from Messi, the club president declared that all those who were European champions with Barcelona were going to receive a salary for life. And he fulfilled it,’ Heredia explained to The Tactical Room.
Messi’s goal came in the 70th minute of the 2009 final, sealing the win over Sir Alex Ferguson’s side after an early Sameul Eto’o strike.
Since then, the Catalans have won two more European titles in 2011 and 2015, with names fro Neymar to Marc Bartra added to the list of Barcelona’s European champions.
Left to right: Johan Cruyff, Michael Laudrup and Hristo Stoichkov lift the 1992 Champions League trophy
Luis Suarez, Messi and Neymar lifted their last title in 2015 after a 3-1 win over Juventus, their 12th major European crown
Former Spanish politician Laporta was Barcelona president from 2003 to 2010, and oversaw the club as they won six trophies in one season under Pep Guardiola in 2009.
The 26-time La Liga victors are leading their Champions League group and on track to put another squad in contention for the lifetime salary.
Becoming champions of Europe again in 2019-20 would be the fifth time in 15 years, and send a response to the three straight titles rivals Real Madrid have managed since the Catalans were last crowned.
CHAMPIONS OF EUROPE
Barcelona’s 12 European titles:
1957-58 Fairs Cup
1959-60 Fairs Cup
1965-66 Fairs Cup
1978-79 Cup Winners Cup
1981-82 Cup Winners Cup
1988-89 Cup Winners Cup
1991-92 Champions League
1996-97 Cup Winners Cup
2005-06 Champions League
2008-09 Champions League
2010-11 Champions League
2014-15 Champions League
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