Karachi TimeBarcelona win Champions League final 3 days ago ROME (AFP) — Barcelona won the European Champions League final here on Wednesday beating holders Manchester United 2-0. Goals by Samuel Eto'o and Lionel Messi were enough to give the Spanish side a trophy treble - they also won the Spanish Cup and league title - in coach Pep Guardiola's first season in charge. At 38 Guardiola - who won it as a player with Barcelona - becomes the youngest ever coach to take European club football's greatest prize.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Friday, May 15, 2009
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Early years (1899-1908)
On 22 October 1899 Joan Gamper placed an advert in Los Deportes declaring his wish to form a football club. A positive response resulted in a meeting at the Gimnasio Solé on November 29. Eleven players attended: Walter Wild, Lluís d'Ossó, Bartomeu Terradas, Otto Kunzle, Otto Maier, Enric Ducal, Pere Cabot, Carles Pujol, Josep Llobet, John Parsons and William Parsons. As a result Foot-Ball Club Barcelona was born. Several other Spanish football clubs, most notably Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao, also had British founders, and as a result they initially adopted English-style names.
Legend says that Gamper was inspired to choose the club colours, blaugrana, by FC Basel's crest. However, the other Swiss teams Gamper played for, his home canton of Zurich, and Merchant Taylors' School in Crosby, England have all been credited with or claimed to be the inspiration. FC Barcelona quickly emerged as one of the leading clubs in Spain, competing in the Campeonato de Cataluña and the Copa del Rey. In 1902, the club won its first trophy, the Copa Macaya, and also played in the first Copa del Rey final, losing 2-1 to Club Vizcaya.
[edit]With Gamper's seal (1908-1923)
In 1908 Joan Gamper became club president for the first time. Gamper took over the presidency as the club was on the verge of folding. The club had not won anything since the Campeonato de Cataluña of 1905 and its finances suffered as a result. Gamper was subsequently club president on five separate occasions between 1908 and 1998 and spent 25 years at the helm. One of his main achievements was to help Barça acquire its own stadium.
On March 14, 1909, it moved into the Carrer Indústria, a stadium with a capacity of 8,000. Gamper also launched a campaign to recruit more club members and by 1922 the club had over 10,000. This led to the club moving again, this time to Las Cortes, which inaugurated in the same year. This stadium had an initial capacity of 22,000, later expanded to an impressive 60,000.
Gamper also recruited Jack Greenwell as manager. This saw the club's fortunes begin to improve on the field. During the Gamper era FC Barcelona won eleven Campeonato de Cataluña, six Copa del Rey and four Coupe de Pyrenées and enjoyed its first "golden age."
[edit]Rivera, Republic, Civil War (1923-1939)
On 14 June 1925, the crowd at a game in homage to the Orfeó Català jeered the Royal March, a spontaneous reaction against Primo de Rivera's dictatorship. As a reprisal the ground closed, while Gamper forced to give up the presidency of the club. In 1928, the victory in Spanish Cup was celebrated with a poem titled “Oda a Platko”, which was written by the important member of the Generation of '27 Rafael Alberti, inspired by the heroic performance of the Barça keeper. On July 30 1930, the club's founder, after a period of depression brought on by personal and money problems committed suicide.
Although they continued to have players of the standing of Josep Escolà, the club now entered a period of decline, in which political conflict overshadowed sport throughout society. Barça faced a crisis on three fronts: financial, social, with the number of members dropping constantly, and sporting, where although the team won the Campionat de Catalunya in 1930, 1931, 1932, 1934, 1936 and 1938, success at Spanish level (with the exception of the 1937 disputed title) evaded them.
A month after the civil war began, Barça's left-wing president Josep Sunyol was murdered by Francisco Franco's soldiers near to Guadarrama. In the summer of 1937, the squad was on a tour in Mexico and the United States, in which it was received as an ambassador of the fightingSecond Spanish Republic. That travel led to the financial saving of the club and also resulted in half the team seeking exile in Mexico and France. On 16 March 1938, the fascists dropped a bomb on the club's offices and caused significant destruction. A few months later, Barcelona was under fascist occupation and as a symbol of the 'undisciplined' Catalanism, the club, now down to just 3,486 members, was facing a number of serious problems.
[edit]Club de Fútbol Barcelona (1939-1974)
After the Spanish Civil War, the Catalan language and flag were banned and football clubs were prohibited from using non-Spanish names. These measures led to the club having its name forcibly changed to Club de Fútbol Barcelona and the removal of the Catalan flag from the club shield. During the Franco dictatorship one of the few places that Catalan could be spoken freely was within the club's stadium.
Despite the difficult political situation, CF Barcelona enjoyed considerable success during the 1940s and 1950s. In 1945, with Josep Samitieras coach and players like César, Ramallets and Velasco, they won La Liga for the first time since 1929. They added two more titles in 1948 and 1949. In 1949 they also won the first Copa Latina.
In June 1950, Barcelona signed László Kubala. Kubala almost signed for Real Madrid but the decisive moment to change his mind was when he had married the daughter of Ferdinand Dauchik, who was in contact with Josep Samitiers, then a scout for Barcelona. Obviously because of this relationship, Kubala chose finally to play for Barcelona.[citation needed]
On a rainy Sunday of 1951, the crowd left Les Corts stadium after a 2-1 win against Santander by foot, refusing to catch any trams and surprising the Francoist authorities. The reason was simple: at the same time a tram strike took place in Barcelona, receiving the support of blaugrana fans. Events like this have made FC Barcelona represent much more than just Catalonia and many progressive Spaniards see the club as a staunch defender of rights and freedoms.[4]
Coach Fernando Daucik and László Kubala and Nicolae Simatoc, regarded by many as the club's best ever player, inspired the team to five different trophies including La Liga, the Copa del Generalísimo, the Copa Latina, the Copa Eva Duarte and the Copa Martini Rossi in 1952. In 1953 they helped the club win La Liga and the Copa del Generalísimo again. The club also won the Copa del Generalísimo in 1957 and theFairs Cup in 1958.
With Helenio Herrera as coach, a young Luis Suárez, the European Footballer of the Year in 1960, and two influential Hungariansrecommended by Kubala, Sándor Kocsis and Zoltán Czibor, the team won another national double in 1959 and a La Liga/Fairs Cup double in 1960. In 1961 they became the first club to beat Real Madrid in a European Cup eliminatory, thus ending their monopoly of the competition. To little avail, anyway- they lost 3-2 to Benfica in the final.
The 1960s were less successful for the club, with Real Madrid monopolising La Liga. The completion of the Camp Nou, finished in 1957, meant the club had little money to spend on new players. However the decade also saw the emergence of Josep Fusté and Carles Rexach and the club winning the Copa del Generalísimo in 1963 and the Fairs Cup in 1966. Barça restored some pride by beating Real Madrid 1-0 in the 1968 Copa del Generalísimo final at the Bernabéu in front of Franco, having as coach Salvador Artigas, a republican pilot in the civil war. This match will always be mentioned for what was thrown and not for what was happening on the field. The club changed its official name back to Futbol Club Barcelona in 1974.[5]
[edit]Cruyff's first pass (1974-1978)
The 1973/74 season saw the arrival, as player, of a new Barça legend – Johan Cruyff. Already an established player with Ajax, Cruyff quickly won over the Barça fans when he told the European press he chose Barça over Real Madrid because he could not play for a club associated with Franco.[6][7] He further endeared himself when he chose a Catalan name, Jordi, for his son. Next to players of quality like Juan Manuel Asensi, Carles Rexach and the talented Hugo Sotil, he helped the club win La Liga 1973-74 for the first time since 1960, along the way defeating Real Madrid 5-0 at the Bernabéu. He was also crowned European Footballer of the Year in his first year at the club.
[edit]The stabilization years (1978-1988)
Josep Lluís Núñez was elected president of FC Barcelona in 1978. His main objectives were to establish Barça as a world-class sports club and to give the club financial stability. Besides, in 1979 and 1982 the club won two of four European Cup Winners' Cups won in the Núñez era.
In June 1982 Diego Maradona was signed for a world record fee from Boca Juniors. In the following season, under coach César Luis Menotti, Barcelona and Maradona in an unforgettable final won the Copa del Rey, beating Real Madrid. However Diego's time with Barça was short-lived and he soon left for Napoli. At the start of the 1984/85 season, Terry Venables was hired as manager and he won La Liga with stellar displays by German midfielder Bernd Schuster. The next season, he took the team to their second European Cup final, only to lose on penalties toSteaua Bucureşti during a dramatic evening in Seville.
After the 1986 World Cup, English top scorer Gary Lineker was signed along with goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta but the team could not achieve success while Schuster was excluded from the team. Terry Venables was subsequently fired at the beginning of the 1987/88 season and replaced with Luis Aragonés. That season finished with a rebellion of the players against president Núñez known as the Motín del Hesperia and the 1-0 victory at the Copa del Rey final against Real Sociedad.
[edit]From Dream Team to Centenari (1988-2000)
In 1988 Johan Cruyff returned to the club as manager and assembled the so-called Dream Team. He introduced players like Josep Guardiola,José Mari Bakero, Txiki Beguiristáin, Jon Andoni Goikoetxea, Gheorghe Hagi, Ronald Koeman, Michael Laudrup, Romário and Hristo Stoichkov.
Under Cruyff's guidance, Barcelona won four consecutive La Liga titles from 1991 to 1994. They beat Sampdoria in both the 1989 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final and the 1992 European Cup final at Wembley with a legendary free kick goal from Dutch international Ronald Koeman. They also won a Copa del Rey in 1990, the European Super Cup in 1992 and three Supercopa de España. With 11 trophies, Cruijff became the club's most successful manager to date. He also became the club's longest serving manager. However, in his final two seasons, he failed to win any trophies (not to mention the disastrous 4-0 defeat in the UEFA Champions League 1994 final against Milan) and fell out with president Núñez, resulting in Cruijff's departure.
Cruijff was briefly replaced by Bobby Robson who took charge of the club for a single season in 1996/97. He recruited Ronaldo from his previous club, PSV and delivered a cup treble winning the Copa del Rey, UEFA Cup Winners Cup and the Supercopa de España. Despite his success, Robson was only ever seen as a short-term solution while the club waited for Louis van Gaal to become available.
Like Maradona, Ronaldo only stayed a short time and he left for Internazionale. However, new heroes such as Luís Figo, Patrick Kluivert, Luis Enrique Martínez and Rivaldo emerged and the team won a Copa del Rey/La Liga double in 1998. In 1999 the club celebrated its 'centenari' winning the Primera División title and Rivaldo became the fourth Barça player to be awarded European Footballer of the Year. Despite this domestic success, the failure to emulate Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League led to van Gaal and Núñez resigning in 2000.
[edit]Gaspart's decline period (2000-2003)
The departures of Núñez and van Gaal were nothing compared to that of Luís Figo. As well as club vice-captain, Figo had become a cult hero and was considered by Catalans to be one of their own. So the Barça fans were distraught by Figo’s decision to join arch-rivals Real Madrid and during subsequent visits to the Camp Nou Figo was given an extremely hostile reception, including one occasion when a piglet's head was thrown at him from the crowd. The next three years saw the club in decline and managers came and went, including a short second spell by Louis van Gaal. President Gaspart did not inspire confidence off the field either and in 2003 he and van Gaal resigned.
[edit]Rijkaard and Ronaldinho (2003-2008)
After the disappointment of the Gaspart era, the combination of a new young president Joan Laporta and a young new manager, former Dutch and Milan star Frank Rijkaard, saw the club bounce back. On the field, an influx international players, including Ronaldinho, Deco, Henrik Larsson, Ludovic Giuly, Samuel Eto'o and Rafael Márquez, combined with a nucleus of home grown and Spanish players such as Carles Puyol, Andrés Iniesta, Xavi, and Víctor Valdés led to the club's return to success.
Barça won La Liga and the Supercopa de España in 2004–05, and stars Ronaldinho and Eto'o were voted first and third in the FIFA World Player of the Year awards.
In 2005–06 Barcelona repeated their league and Supercup successes. The pinnacle of the league season arrived at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in a 3–0 victory over Real Madrid, Frank Rijkaard's second victory at the Bernabeu, making him the first Barça manager to win there twice. Ronaldinho's performance was so impressive that after his second, and Barça's third goal the Real Madrid fans felt compelled to applaud him. In the Champions' League Barça beat English club Arsenal 2–1 in the final. Trailing 1-0 to a 10-man Arsenal and with less than 15 minutes left they came back to win 2-1, with substitute Henrik Larsson, in his final appearance for the club, setting up goals for Samuel Eto'o and fellow substitute Belletti, for the club's first European Cup victory in 14 years.
Despite being the favourites and starting strongly, Barcelona finished the 2006-07 season trophyless. A pre-season US tour was later blamed for a string of injuries to key players, including leading scorer Eto'o and rising star Lionel Messi. There was open feuding as Eto'o publicly criticized coach Frank Rijkaard and Ronaldinho. Ronaldinho also admitted that lack of fitness affected his form.[8] In La Liga Barça were in first place for much of the season, but inconsistency in the New Year saw Real Madrid overtake them to become champions. Barça advanced to the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey, winning the first leg against Getafe 5-2, with a goal from Messi bringing comparison to Maradona, but then lost the second leg 4-0. They took part in the 2006 FIFA Club World Cup, but were beaten by a late goal in the final against Internacional. In theChampions League, Barça were knocked out of the competition in the last 16 by eventual runners-up Liverpool on away goals.
Barcelona finished 2007-08 season third in La Liga and reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League and Copa del Rey, both times losing to the eventual champions: Manchester United and Valencia, respectively. A day after a 4-1 defeat by Real Madrid, Joan Laportaannounced that Barça B coach Josep Guardiola would take over Frank Rijkaard's duties after June 30.
[edit]Guardiola and Messi (2008-present)
In the pre-season of 2008-09, a motion of no confidence was raised against Joan Laporta. The no confidence motion received 60% support, just short of the 66% required to oust the president, and eight of his directors resigned. Laporta, with the assistance of Director of Football Txiki Begiristain, responded with a turnover of players, selling Gianluca Zambrotta, Deco, Edmílson and Ronaldinho. Nearly €90 million was spent rebuilding the squad, with Begiristain and Laporta purchasing Seydou Keita, Gerard Piqué, Martín Cáceres, Dani Alves and Aliaksandr Hleb. Despite this, the club retained its home-grown nucleus of players such as captain Carles Puyol, Xavi, Andrés Iniesta, Víctor Valdés and Lionel Messi.
On 17 January 2009, Barça set the record for amassing the highest points total for the first half of a season in La Liga, attaining 50 points out of a possible 57, with 18 wins, 2 draws, and just 1 loss against Numancia in the first game of the season. The club has also reached the Copa del Rey final for the first time since 1998 after defeating Mallorca in the semi-finals. Six days later on 23 January, the International organisationIFFHS ranked Barça first in their list of the greatest football clubs of the last 18 years. The All-time Club World Ranking was determined by taking into account all the results of the national championships, the national cup competitions, the club competitions of the six continental confederations and the FIFA. On 14 April, Barcelona qualified for the semi-finals of the Champions League for the second year running after defeating Bayern Munich 5-1 on aggregate over two legs; they must beat Chelsea for a spot in the final. Their first leg against Chelsea resulted in a 0-0 draw. Following their disappointing Champions League game against Chelsea, they faced Real Madrid in El Clasico, which they won 6-2, the most goals either team has ever scored in El Clasico, and the biggest margin of victory for Barça since the 70s, when Johan Cruyff-led Barça won 5-0.
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