Victor Font, an opponent of Josep Maria Bartomeu in Barcelona’s 2021 election for the club presidency, fears the Catalonian giants are at risk of falling out of contention for the top domestic and continental honors.

“Competition over the last decade has become more and more professional,” Font told BBC Radio 5 Live, according to BBC Sport.

“You see in the Premier League with clubs well-managed, and even states owning clubs to put in a lot of money at a time where the finance of the club and economic model is stretched to the limit.

“Unless we do what we are trying, Barca has the risk of becoming a new AC Milan or a Manchester United.”

Milan haven’t won the Serie A title since the 2010-11 campaign, while United are still rebuilding after Sir Alex Ferguson stepped down as manager in 2013.

Font says he’s been working on his presidential “project” for seven years and believes he can arrest the slide that could see Barcelona “not able to compete for the top titles.” He described the jobs to oversee during the next few years – replacing an aging generation, renovating the Camp Nou, and dealing with the financial strain caused by the coronavirus pandemic – as the “perfect storm.”

Real Madrid ended Barcelona’s two-year La Liga reign Thursday when Zinedine Zidane’s side beat Villarreal by a 2-1 scoreline. To further underline Barcelona’s recent slump during Bartomeu’s presidential reign, Quique Setien’s throng was humbled 2-1 at home by Real Osasuna on the same day.

Lionel Messi appeared despondent for large chunks of that affair and blasted his team after the match for being “very weak” throughout the season.

“He is unhappy and doubting what to do next,” Font said of Messi’s situation. “He is probably a bit frustrated as year after year he is not able to win, especially the Champions League. That’s where the focus needs to be.

“We want to ensure he understands if we were to run the club from next summer onward, we would put all the conditions to equip him in the best possible way so the last years of his career here he can still aspire to win a couple of Champions Leagues.”

Font wants to bring Xavi back to Barcelona as head coach. Xavi, the former midfielder who won four Champions Leagues and eight La Liga titles with Barca, is currently in charge of Qatari side Al-Sadd.

Myles Garrett said Thursday that he’s ready to live up to the distinction of being the highest-paid defender in NFL history.

“Now I have to assert myself as top dog,” he said. “I feel like I’m confident and ready to do that.

“Time to prove it.”

On Wednesday, the Cleveland Browns’ star pass-rusher signed a five-year extension with the Browns containing $100 million in total guarantees, the most ever paid to a defensive player, league sources told ESPN — with $50 million guaranteed at signing. The team did not discuss financial terms, but sources told ESPN that the deal is worth $125 million with a $25 million average salary, which is also a record for a defensive player.

“They had faith in me, and now I’ve got to give [the Browns] a reason to have that faith,” said Garrett, who, with the extension, will be under contract in Cleveland through the 2026 season. “I’m going to do my best to make it worth it to them.”

Nothing riles up the football community quite like a rule change.

With five substitutes available instead of the traditional three, there’s considerable debate about the potential effects of the relief measure. The International Football Associated Board amended the rule to keep players fresh during the pandemic, but who’s to say it won’t become a permanent addition to the so-called Laws of the Game?

Some believe the exemption encourages managers to rotate their squads, while others insist it only extends the gap from the elite and encourages the world’s richest clubs to stockpile talent.

Here, theScore’s Anthony Lopopolo and Daniel Rouse make the case for both sides of the discussion.

Keep it, it’s good for the game

Lopopolo: Anything that supports players’ welfare is good for the sport. We have to remember how often these guys play. Some of them reach upwards of 60 matches per season, and that’s not even including international friendlies and fixtures, which seem to increase by the year. It’s a ridiculous workload, and, quite frankly, the reason why so many games descend into unwatchable dross.

Managers can now ease the load on these players and give chances to those who’d otherwise rot on the bench. They can even fill out their squad with youngsters from the academy and offer a legitimate route into the first team. Pep Guardiola, for example, has lamented on several occasions that he couldn’t give Phil Foden enough playing time. That’s possible with an additional two substitutes in the offing.

It’s not only the biggest clubs that benefit, either. Teams that sit lower in the table could change tactics midgame and replace players in high-energy positions more frequently. We could see more comebacks this way. No lead would be safe.

The rule would also embolden managers to swap out any concussed player. Coaches wouldn’t have to worry about losing a substitution. They could put health first for a change and make a sub they would’ve thought twice about in the past.

Ditch it, it’s another tweak that helps the elite

Rouse: The issue with overworked players lies primarily with football authorities shoehorning in as many fixtures as possible, rather than whether someone can be subbed off after 76 minutes. FIFA & Co. will be tempted to cram in more matches if the game’s biggest stars are getting more rest.

“There was not one day where FIFA, UEFA, the Premier League, (and) the Football League sit at a table and think about the players and not about their wallet,” Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said of fixture congestion in November.

One of the main problems is that it threatens to make the gap between the best and the rest even greater. Manchester City called Gabriel Jesus, Kevin De Bruyne, Aymeric Laporte, and Leroy Sane off the bench last month against Burnley – and had the luxury of leaving Raheem Sterling, Benjamin Mendy, Kyle Walker, and Ilkay Gundogan unused – while the Clarets could fill only seven of their allotted nine substitutes, two of whom were goalkeepers. That’s hardly an even playing field. City won 5-0.

Clubs with greater resources can also make in-game changes to prepare for their next fixture. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took off Paul Pogba, Bruno Fernandes, Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford, and Mason Greenwood all at once when his side was 3-0 up against Sheffield United a few weeks ago. Free-scoring Manchester United can do that, but when do the Blades have the luxury of resting that many players at the end of matches?

I’ve left the most serious issue to last: extra substitutes reduces the likelihood of an outfield player going in goal, and we all enjoy that.

The NFL responded Tuesday night to the NFLPA’s counterproposal on coronavirus-related reopening protocols, but a source told ESPN that some major issues remain unresolved, including a dispute over whether COVID-19 should be classified as a “non-football injury.”

According to sources, the NFLPA has made several requests of the league, including daily COVID-19 testing, the elimination of all preseason games, financial and other compensation for players who opt out of playing for COVID-related reasons and a provision that would keep the 2021 salary cap from going down due to lost 2020 revenue.