Hoeness: I can’t understand that Barcelona can still be in La Liga with a debt of 1.3 billion, but it would have been relegated in another country.

Bayern Honorary Chairman Hoeness recently talked about Barcelona's operating model again in an OMR podcast. He admitted that Barcelona's model should be used as a negative teaching material for modern top football operations.

Hoeness: "Barcelona... this is obviously not the model I want. In any other country, they would have been relegated long ago."

"Really, owed 1.3 billion euros in debt - how can this be possible? I can't understand how they can still play in the top league."

Hoeness specifically compared Barcelona's financial model with Bayern. Barcelona relies on various economic levers and short-term financial means to barely maintain the competitiveness of the lineup, while Bayern is taking a path that does not rely on debt at all and only relies on stable support.

When he talks about teams that inspire or influence Bayern, he explicitly mentions other clubs: Liverpool, Manchester United in the past, and, at some point, Real Madrid. But Barcelona is not on his list.