Napoleon Bonaparte, the French emperor who wanted to rule the world, once said "I would rather have a lucky general than a good general." In this case, I wonder what he would think of FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta.

Sunday's Super Cup final victory over Real Madrid was perfectly timed to mark Laporta's fourth anniversary of officially being handed a second spell in charge of the club he left in 2010 - and the timing was excellent. As any lucky general would have, while lifting the trophy in front of Barcelona's frustrated and humiliating opponents, Laporta's critics have been circling, with reports of their intention to launch a vote of no confidence.

Still better time, right? But the lucky story doesn't end there for the 62-year-old lawyer, who I think could easily be described as a gangster and a gangster. Whatever your opinion of him and his club, you'd be wise to never underestimate them.

When Laporta first took over 21 years ago, he visited the club's world-famous youth academy with a revolutionary, energetic and rebellious spirit and was delighted to discover that he had inherited the young Lionel Messi. Lionel Messi). . Josep Minghella, the agent who brought Romario, Maradona and Messi to FC Barcelona, ​​once said: "I believe that Leo comes from a wonderful planet - a planet that gave birth to violinists, architects Distinguished talents such as teachers and doctors—the chosen ones.”

Considering Barcelona's finances are in shambles and they've gone six years without any trophies - these days, if they go 12 months without lifting any trophies it's considered apocalyptic - - Stumble upon a A young recruit who would go on to become the greatest footballer of all time and win 34 trophies wearing the colors of the Red and Blue, arguably the greatest blessing any general could wish for.

Is it time to thank your lucky stars and accept the good fortune you’ve been blessed with? Not so President Joan - known to his friends as "Jan."
All those who attack him need to admit that Laporta is a cunning dodger, full of love for the Catalan club, full of personal ego and ambition, cunning, aggressive, ruthless and street smart. Somehow, he kept facing the storm and, albeit bruised, came out the other side! That's one way to look at his recent tenure as president of the Camp Nou club, which has helped keep this storied club going.

After a long absence from Camp Nou, Laporta returned to power in the March 2021 elections, more than a year after seeing Barcelona legend-turned-head coach Xavi Hernand Xavi Hernandez made his debut for 15-year-old Lamine Yamal. How exactly this club rediscovered the route to that sacred planet and plundered its natural resources for a second time to extract Lamine Yamal, only God knows. But they do.

At that debut moment, Laporta could not have known what would happen next, but Corporal Lamin produced an outstanding performance against Madrid to help Hansi Flick win his first trophy as manager - — Coincidentally, it was also the 17-year-old's second goal in Madrid. one classiche achieved this goal faster than Messi, and also faster than Cristiano Ronaldo, who took three years (!) and eight games to achieve it - underlining the fact that this lucky general is still Digging for a four-leaf clover.

During the on-field celebrations in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, after the award ceremony, Madrid stood dutifully waiting agonizingly for the trophy to be lifted before leaving - with Laporta front and center, captain or coach present It should be. Spanish media were flooded with photos of him on Monday, his eyes bulging and his face filled with joy, sweating profusely in the evening heat, trophy clutched at his side, surrounded by people who had actually been out there playing against Spain. Hand-to-hand combatant, European champion.

Laporta held the trophy in his hands, the feeling of victory was beyond words, and the faces of the players were bathed in ecstasy after enjoying themselves. The battle has been won, the war may be turning in their direction - all seems well with their world. But like Laporta, don’t judge this book by its cover.

A few days ago, in the words of Hollywood tycoon Sam Godwin, it seemed that all the verbal promises he had made to Dani Olmo and Paulo Victor were not worth the paper they were written on: in view of Barcelona's violation of La Liga Under Financial Fair Play rules, the two players were deregistered by the league and faced six months of full pay, sitting on the sidelines and being unable to participate in games. Until Laporta persuaded the Spanish government to intervene, he had already failed to convince La Liga several times before.

I would like to remind you that this cunning, rogue man is Laporta.

There are countless stories about his misadventures in his youth. My book about Barcelona's most extraordinary era chronicles how Laporta was educated at a priest's college, but in protest of a stern physics teacher, the young Laporta pinched some test answers and shared them with the rest of his class , and was fired.

When he was young, military service was still mandatory in Spain. (Perhaps the "lucky general" thing started then?) So when it was his turn, Laporta was duly punished with military imprisonment, in order: resisting the supply of camel meat; sneaking home to rest for a few days God; and, worst of all, as far as the army was concerned, he went on vacation to Egypt with his girlfriend without asking for leave, while his fellow soldiers shuffled around during roll call, shouting "Get in!" When the tower's name was called.

As a young lawyer, Laporta remarkably began representing his hero, Dutch and Barca legend Johan Cruyff, who was furious when the great man was sacked by Barcelona. So much so that he began a seven-year journey to seize power; This came to a head in 2003 when he swept the presidential election in a landslide. As is often the case with Laporta, there was trickery involved.

Laporta's campaign failed to secure the necessary votes until he used his friends and influence to announce, and received confirmation from Manchester United, that he would
They agreed to pay a fee to sign David Beckham if he was declared president at the upcoming election. The fact is that Manchester United has previously reached the same price with Real Madrid, and the player has clearly decided to join Real Madrid. galactic battleship Revolution weeks ago. Still: Voters believe they were distracted by smoke and mirrors and elected their lucky general the first time around.

The rest of the story is a series of setbacks, rows, votes of no confidence and trophies galore. In 2005, Laporta rudely removed his pants after Civil Guard police insisted he was trying to smuggle something through Barcelona airport security. His support for the ill-fated 'Superliga' engineered by Florentino Perez was unpopular, or his desire to join forces with Frank in 2008 when the Dutchman's hold on the team had been torn to shreds. Rijkaard renewed his contract, but Begiristain, then in charge of football, persuaded Laporta to appoint the young Guardiola. (The resignation of eight board members in 2008 following an emergency meeting and a vote of no confidence only set in motion a trend that has continued into Laporta's latest regime.) There have been court cases, and the heinous act of ousting Messi from the board. Clubs Against Their Will: In short, Laporta's anecdotes touch on all aspects of the football world, from the good, bad and ugly to the funny, triumphant and downright outrageous.

Four years ago, when Laporta's re-election campaign was in full swing, he paid to have a giant poster plastered across the entire side of a Madrid skyscraper, with the Santiago Bernabeu in full view. “Can’t wait to see you again!” was Laporta’s slogan, alongside a photo of Laporta with a jutted chin and a lightly airbrushed head and shoulders. It was a declaration of war...and voters loved it.

Along the way, Laporta and his Catalan troops suffered repeated defeats in skirmishes, and at times even looked like they were losing the battle. But, now I'm pretty sure Napoleon would agree, his luck has suddenly improved again, meaning we onlookers dare not look away as the battle for La Liga, Copa America and Champions League resumes. Unregister them at your own risk.