FC Barcelona

Barca have picked up just 15 points from 10 games in La Liga and have already lost twice in the group stage of this season's Champions League.

They are ninth in the table, six points adrift of the joint leaders after losing at Rayo Vallecano on Wednesday.

The loss was Barca's third in their last four games and it followed defeat in Sunday's Clasico to Real Madrid.

The Spanish giant’s financial woes were laid bare in August when they were forced to allow Lionel Messi to join Paris Saint-Germain after admitting they could no longer afford to keep the six-time world player of the year.

The new board inherited debts of 1.35 billion euros ($2.14 billion) and a bloated first-team payroll as Laporta returned for a second spell as president following the resignation of Josep Maria Bartomeu.

Years of mismanagement left Barca forced to offload as many players as they could during the transfer window and saw them unable to re-sign Lionel Messi.

And part of the club’s penny-pinching tactics is to save electricity at the training ground and restricting the players’ use of the facilities.

Now Aguero, who moved to the Nou Camp on a two-year deal from Manchester City in May, has explained how players are required to turn up exactly 30 minutes before training begins, with all lights and electricity turned off until that point.

Barcelona was adamant its league game against Las Palmas should not go ahead amid protests against the Spanish Government's attempt to halt Catalonia's independence vote.

La Liga disagreed. In the Spanish capital, hated rivals Real Madrid handed out cards with Spanish flag colours to its supporters as Los Blancos fans sang songs in support of their nation.