Barcelona have leapfrogged Spanish rivals Real Madrid to become the world’s most valuable football club with a valuation of $4.76 billion, according to a list published by business magazine Forbes on Monday.
Real Madrid, who have topped the list five times in the past, edged Barcelona 2-1 in El Clásico on Saturday but find themselves second best off the pitch with a valuation of $4.75B.
Here are the world’s most valuable soccer teams: https://t.co/aBvApVUsR0 pic.twitter.com/WzwCZ32jUU
— Forbes (@Forbes) April 12, 2021
Forbes said the average worth of the top 20 clubs has increased by 30% from two years ago to $2.28 billion despite the pandemic impacting matchday revenue which fell down 9.6% from 2017-2019.
“The pain is far from over, with a worsening decline in matchday revenue during the current season, as most of the teams in Europe’s top leagues still permit few fans to attend games.” wrote Forbes’ assistant managing editor Mike Ozanian.
European champions Bayern Munich ($4.215B) are third on the list while the Premier League’s ‘Big Six’ – Man United, Liverpool, Man City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur – are in the top 10.
French champions and last year’s Champions League runners-up Paris Saint-Germain moved up to ninth after being valued at $2.5B with a 129% increase in two years — the biggest increase among the top 10 clubs.
Real Madrid vs Barcelona: Koeman blames referees for 2-1 defeat in El Clasico
Madrid – Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman raged against the referee for not awarding them a penalty in their 1-2 defeat to Real Madrid in Saturday’s ‘Clasico’, which knocked them off course in La Liga’s three-way title race.
“If you’re a Barcelona fan and you saw this game you’d be very annoyed with two of the referee’s decisions. It was a clear, clear penalty and then he only gave four minutes of stoppage time,” the Dutch coach told Spanish network Movistar.
Koeman, who was also angry when his side were beaten 3-1 by Real last October with the help of a contentious penalty, ended his post-match interview early after asking the Movistar reporter his thoughts on the second challenge.
We had the upper hand during the game and had the opportunities for a better result. Unlucky in the end with a wrong decision by the referee and VAR. #ForçaBarça pic.twitter.com/wIg22YvbL2
— Ronald Koeman (@RonaldKoeman) April 11, 2021
When asked about Koeman’s comments, Zidane said: “They’re the feelings of each person.
“The referee did not give a penalty because it wasn’t a penalty. As for the time added on, he is the one that decides. The important thing for us is what we did on the pitch.
“We had a lot of chances to score. Barcelona are a really good team, they were ahead of us before the game, we can be happy. We can’t say it was only the referee, it was our victory on the pitch.”
