This is how Spanish football started to struggleThis feature on Barcelona and Real Madrid is an updated and edited version of an article that first appeared in the September 2021 issue of FourFourTwo. What happened to Barcelona and Real Madrid? How they lost Messi and Ronaldo | Sport Digest | - Uphorial - Barcelona have sacked Ronald Koeman months after losing Lionel Messi on a free, as both they and rivals Real Madrid are finally having to contend with years of overspending.