Founded as Foot-Ball Club Barcelona in 1899 by a group of Swiss, English, and Spanish footballers led by Joan Gamper, the club has become a symbol of Catalan culture and Catalanism, hence the motto "Més que un club" (English: More than a club). The official Barça anthem is the "Cant del Barça" written by Jaume Picas and Josep Maria Espinàs. Unlike many other football clubs, the supporters own and operate Barcelona. It is the world's second richest football club in terms of revenue, with an annual turn-over of €366 million. The club holds a long-standing rivalry with Real Madrid, and matches between the two teams are referred to as "El Clásico".
FC Barcelona is the most successful club in Spanish football in terms of overall trophies, having won twenty La Liga titles, a record twenty-five Spanish Cups, nine Spanish Super Cups, and two League Cups. It is also one of most successful clubs in European football, having won ten UEFA competitions.[2] It is the only European club to have played continental football every season since 1955. In 2009, Barcelona became the first club in Spain to win the treble consisting of La Liga, Copa del Rey, and the Champions League. That same year, it also became the first football club ever to win six out of six competitions in a single year, thus completing the sextuple, comprising the aforementioned treble and the Spanish Super Cup, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup.
fc barcelona team 2010
fc barcelona team 2010On 11 September, Barcelona were stunned at the Camp Nou by newly promoted side Hércules CF with a 0–2 defeat. Titled the Boqueronazo[13] by the Spanish press, it saw Hércules forward Nelson Valdez score two goals to seal the victory for the Alicante club and gave Barça its first home lost in more than a year-and-a-half in league play. Even though Barcelona dominated in all categories, excluding goals scored, it could not break through an inspired Hércules defense lead by goalkeeper Juan Calatayud, who had a superb game in front of goal to assure his team's famous win at the Camp Nou. Coach Guardiola stated, "It will cost us a lot. We expect a difficult year in which things have to be won by ourselves. Right now, the team is not at full strength at this point in the season."[14]
On 19 September, Lionel Messi suffered an ankle injury due to an ill-advised tackle[15] by Atlético Madrid defender Tomáš Ujfaluši in the 92nd minute of their Round Three match at the Vicente Calderón Stadium. At first sight, it was feared that Messi suffered a broken ankle that could have kept the star player away from the pitch for a minimum of six months, but MRIs performed the next day in Barcelona showed he suffered a sprain in the internal and external ligaments of his right ankle.[16] Teammate David Villa stated "the tackle on Messi was brutal" after watching the video of the play and also added that he believed the Atlético defender "didn't go into the tackle to hurt."[17] The incident caused widespread media attention because of Messi's high profile in the football world and brought up the debate of equality in protecting all players in the game. Debates whether the fact that Messi's status prompted the intensive media and fans scrutiny of Ujfaluši and subsequent two match ban by the Competition Committee[18] appeared all over the internet, television, and print in the days following the incident.[19][20][21][22]
fc barcelona team 2010On 13 August, due to the proximity of schedule for the first leg of the Supercopa de España against Sevilla FC and a friendly match for the Spanish national team in México where seven Barcelona first team players were called up, nine players from Barcelona B were promoted to the first team. All nine travelled to Seville for the match, three of whom (Rubén Miño, Sergi Gómez, and Oriol Romeu) debuted in the game, playing all 90 minutes.[8][9]
On 27 August, Barcelona reached an agreement with English club Liverpool for the services of Argentine international Javier Mascherano. The deal was worth €24 million and was reached "after considerable effort from the club (Barcelona) over the last few hours and the willingness and desire of the player to make the move."[10] On the same day, the executive committee of the FC Barcelona board of directors publicly "denounced the conduct over the last few days of the agent of our player Zlatan Ibrahimović, Mino Raiola, whose declarations have put into question the honour and moral integrity of our coach Josep Guardiola." The club's legal department considered the possibility of rescinding the contract and the cessation of the annual payment Mr. Raiola's company receives from the club as part of their agreement.[11] The next day, Barcelona and Italian club AC Milan agreed to a one-year loan for the Swedish international with Milan paying all his earnings for the 2010-11 season and including in the agreement is the option for Milan to make the move permanent next summer for a fee of €24 million.[12]
fc barcelona team 2010On 6 July, new president Rosell revealed that the Club will be asking for a syndicated credit of €150 million "to improve our cash flow to meet our short-term commitments". Rosell stated, "we found the Club in debt and with cash flow tensions but we're sorting that out." He assured to the Barcelona membership that there will not be a rise in membership fee due to the application for credit by stating, "knowing that there were not sufficient resources but with the difference that our business plan does not contemplate an annual rise in the price of the membership fee, a clause which does figure in the previous negotiation."[4] Rosell improved the cash flow by selling Dmytro Chygrynskiy back to Shakhtar Donetsk for a fee of €15 million and Yaya Touré to Manchester City for €30 million.
Coach Pep Guardiola later expressed disapproval of the transfer of Chygrynskiy indicating he was pressed to let him go. Speaking at a press-conference Guardiola said: "My opinion counts, but the needs of the club go above that and that's why he was sold, I would like to have kept him." Speaking on Touré, Guardiola said he would have preferred him to stay, but the player was set on moving.[5]
On 14 July, Thierry Henry and Barcelona agreed to rescind his contract in order for Henry to become a free agent, where he subsequently signed a new four-and-a-half year contract with Major League Soccer's New York Red Bulls. He stated, "This is a new and exciting chapter in my career."[6] The club also agreed with Josep Guardiola on a one-year extension to stay as coach of the first team, along with long-time assistant Tito Vilanova.[7]
fc barcelona team 2010 CBarcelonaBarcelona started their transfer window only three days after the finish of the 2009-10 season, by reaching an agreement with Valencia for Spanish international David Villa worth €40 million.[2]
On 30 June, Xavier Sala-i-Martin, treasurer and director in charge of the economic area, announced that Barcelona reached a record €445.5 million in revenues in the 2009-10 season. According to Xavier, "that's the highest revenues achieved by any club, in any sport including the U.S.", meaning Barcelona are the richest club in the world in terms of revenues.[3]
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