PSG’s current break with Mbapp rewinds history towards other legendary conflicts. In the divorce seismograph, the one from Barcelona with schuster I broke the needle. Jos Luis Nez, president of Bara, played Al-Khelaifi, while the German footballer paid for his distancing with a year in the stands. It all ended in 1988 in the Bernabu offices. But first there is a lot to remember. A case with mirrors, trips and many syllables.
Bernd Schuster arrived at the Camp Nou at the age of 20in the summer of 1980 after a European Championship in Italy in which he had astonished with his precision passing, his shot, his presence, his elegance and his organizational skills. A Bara was waiting for him who had paid 175 million for him to Cologne, a high and reasonable amount because the entity had not touched hair in the League since the departure of Johan Cruyff.
an idol
A footballer like that entered through the eyes of the Barça fan, delighted to have a thermometer in the field that I had not seen since the days of the recently deceased Luisito Suárez. Schuster one to his quality a special temperament. The idolatry of which, still under the blow of Maradona’s march, arrived at Everest with the conquest of the League 84-85 under the command of the British Terry Venables. Schuster, as the team’s commander in chief, seized the championship.
The rupture
The following season the Bara advanced in the European Cup until the final against Steaua Bucharest. It is the cursed date, the day the wine and the roses were blown up. It happened on May 7, 1986 at the Sánchez Pizjun. In the 85th minute, on the brink of extra time, Venables replaced Schuster with Moratalla, a change that is still fueling debates.
The fateful batch that left Bara without the 86 European Cup
The German arrives indignantly at the guts of the Pizjun and decides to leave the stadium. He goes out into the street, takes a taxi and witnesses in the hotel room how Bara have lost one of the most important games in their history on penalties. It’s time to find guilty. President José Luis Néz is clear: “Schuster will not wear the Bara shirt again”, although the German has a contract until June 30, 1988 with 60 million pesetas per year.
The summer of 86 is loaded. Venables continues as coach and Bara opens a file on Schuster for his behavior. Only two foreigners per team are allowed to play and the club enlists Lineker and Mark Hughes to find goals. The plan is not to sign up Schuster. The footballer and the club begin a ‘loving’ exchange of messages that never ends.
Accusations and reproaches
Nez accuses in a big way: “Schuster has blackmailed, threatened and coerced the Bara. He has followed the advice of Bara’s number one enemy”, a supposed mixed reference to Real Madrid and José María García. Barca public opinion is currently opting for the club in this fight. Maradona, Already in Naples, he does not use diplomacy: “Let Nez put on his shirt to see if he kicks a ball.”
Schuster has blackmailed, coerced and threatened the Bara. Don’t play with our shirt again
Schuster, who glimpses what awaits him, He does not hang up his gloves: “If I have to play in Manresa, Mollerusa or any town in matches during the week, I will.” The Bara complies, enrolls the do Lineker-Hughes, park Schuster, who only trains while waiting for festive games, and the season begins.
Given the situation, there is not a day that a possible destination for a transfer of the German does not arise. Atlético, Sevilla, Zaragoza, Benfica, Milan, Sabadell appear. Schuster does not want to leave Barcelona, city where he feels well treated despite the problems with the management.
The German soccer player decides to denounce Bara. He asks for the termination of his contract to go wherever he wants and compensation because he understands that his labor rights are violated. The results on the pitch are choking for a Bara without an architect. In September, Bara plays a friendly in Tarragona against Nastic (1-7) during the week. Schuster scores three goals and is acclaimed by the fans. Meanwhile, the oral hearing of the trial is set for March.
In the same month of March Bara is eliminated in the quarterfinals of the UEFA Cup by Dundee United, one more earthquake in a club in capsizing. When the trial arrives, Nez declares that when he said that Schuster would not play for Bara anymore, he was doing it as a fan, not as president. A striking personality split.
the trial
In June, the judicial decision agreed with the Bara. Schuster is advised that he should have gone to sports court. José Luis Núñez offers the German to renew the contract until 1991, an offer rejected by the footballer who fears that it will be a move to keep him in the stands for three more years.
If I have to play for the towns in matches during the week, I will
El Bara, who suffers to see how the League is targeted again by Real Madrid, and loses the Copa del Rey against Zaragoza, is preparing to play a World Cup of clubs in Milan. He counts on Schuster for the trip, although he does not see it clearly: “I am not ‘Snowflake’ to be exhibited around.” There is no conflict because the soccer player suffers a muscle injury before the trip. The 86-87 season without Schuster is disastrous and public opinion has turned.
In May 1987, MARCA announced that Real Madrid had Schuster tied up while waiting for him to be released. that same summer if Justice gives him the reason. Nez always remembers that he may offer the renewal to the footballer until 1991. There is no positive response. I know about the others. The footballer recalls: “He is incredible. He wants us to go have a drink as if nothing had happened. What has happened to me is something amazing.” And he warns, in the style of 2023: “Nez not earn millions with me. In a year I will be free.”
In June the parties meet. Schuster and Nez They agree to stay together until the contract is fulfilled. The footballer recalls in an interview the past months: “On Saturdays I went home and I had free until Monday. On Sundays at 7 I put on the radio to find out the results. I preferred not to go to the stadium.”
Special guests attend the plot. One of them is Jess Gil, who, irritated because Bara have signed Lorenzo Rico and Cecilio Alonso, the stars of his handball team, loudly announces the following: “I’m going to ‘touch’ Schuster and all of Barcelona”. The German has little desire to start another conflict when he sees on the horizon that he can choose his future the following summer without any chains.
return to the grass
Bara faces the 87-88 season with Venables back on the bench. The presentation of the template is symptomatic. More than 20,000 fans acclaim Schuster at the Camp Nou. The results are discouraging at the start of the League. Venables is fired. Nez throws taunts: “They said that we didn’t have a game director and now that we have it, we’re going worse.” The president, whipped from various fronts, threatened to resign, but they did not accept it.
Núñez will not earn millions of pesetas with me, in a year he will be free; What I’ve been through has been amazing, incredible
With the departure of the Englishman, Luis Aragons came to the bench, a coach who is not afraid of challenges. He tries to straighten out the season, although Real Madrid plays with its eyes closed. During the campaign there is talk at various times of the future of Schuster. “Nez can offer me whatever he wants, and I’m leaving. IF someone fails me, be it the Pope or the Queen of England, I get angry,” the German asserted.
The Barcelona season floats as it can. In the sporting aspect, the team is eliminated in the UEFA quarterfinals by Bayer Leverkusen. On some occasions it is speculated that the board does not want Schuster to play. Luis Aragons does not accept impositions. In the League, they finished sixth, 23 points behind Real Madrid, champions again. The conquest of the Copa del Rey against Real at the Bernabu (1-0) with a goal from Alexanko saves the campaign and European participation.
In the institutional aspect, the staff mounts ‘El riot del Hesperia’, a confrontation between the players and the board from which Schuster distances himself. On May 21, 1988, the footballer did his last training session as a Barcelona player. He does not announce his fate, though it is clear.
Real Madrid presentation
On June 6, 1988, Real Madrid presented Bernd Schuster, who arrived free from Barcelona with the letter of freedom. Ramón Mendoza speaks on the spot to ensure that the signing “is not a provocation”.
The footballer does not make a lot of blood: “You can tell that I am in a serious club, but I am not here to punish Nez. If my family hadn’t wanted to, I wouldn’t be here”. Mendoza does remember that Barcelona has touched all its figures. Gaspart believes that Schuster’s departure “has not been traumatic”.
