Real Madrid and Barcelona's healthy standing in the most recent Deloitte Football Money League rankings only tell half the story of how Spain's big two are coping with Premier League competition.
Madrid sit top and Barcelona fourth in the money leagues but the numbers don't include levels of expenditure and so hide the fact that all is not perfect at Madrid and that Barcelona still have the water up to their necks - to the extent they and are no longer completely ruling out ending 125 years of tradition and selling half the club to private investors.
Madrid and Barcelona share plenty in common but they are also very different beasts and their numbers need to be interpreted separately. It's Barcelona's situation that continues to ring alarm bells among club members who dread the day when part control is handed over to a private owner albeit one who has a 49 per cent minority stake.
The fact that Barcelona feature at all in Deloitte's top four runs contrary to their ongoing financial struggles, best manifest in their inability to sign players this January and their concerns over being able to register players should they sign them next summer. So how did they do it?
Their numbers were inflated by a very healthy €166million (£141.8m) in match day revenue – no club performed as well in terms of ticket sales and that comes from their ability to fill the 99,000 Camp Nou so often last season.
This was, in part, because of a healthy response to playing legend Xavi's first full season in charge of the team. It ended up being a title-winning season and there was also a sizeable dose of nostalgia as fans went to their football temple knowing it would be two-thirds demolished at the season's end to be rebuilt.
But this bonus will not
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