It's incredible to think about, but there's precedent for Barcelona and Lionel Messi ending up in court over their latest battle, which escalated Tuesday when he informed the club he wanted to leave after nearly 20 years of service. That the positions adopted by both parties -- the wounded genius vs. the modern version of the Keystone Kops -- mean that unless someone blinks they'll end up back there again is, literally, astounding.
From Josep Bartomeu, through departed football "brain" and sporting director Pep Segura, plus the hapless Quique Setien, his assistant coach Edu Sarabia and now, the surviving "technical secretary," Ramon Planes, I can't quite imagine how they've got the gall to look themselves in the mirror tonight, tomorrow or in the coming months.