LaLiga's glimpse of a wider world after Messi 

Lionel Messi arriving at the team's hotel after being defeated in the UEFA Champions League quarter-final by Bayern Munich at the Luz stadium in Lisbon 

Nine months ago, LaLigaTV launched in a different world. Journalists from across the UK and Ireland were jetted to Barcelona on unessential travel. They crowded around tables in packed restaurants, scoffing substantial meals of tapas without any statutory obligation. Strangers greeted one another with kisses on both cheeks. And Messi’s picture was everywhere.

What will this whole operation do when he’s gone, LaLigaTV pundit Guillem Balague was asked, at one point.