Posts Tagged ‘fc barcelona tickets’

FC Barcelona’s First Season Under Joan Laporta

Monday, December 5th, 2011

FC Barcelona is at present one of the greatest groups in the world, with a trophy cabinet that is bursting with the silverware won over the course of the previous couple of years. While Bara might be extremely popular at the moment, they have been through kind of a metamorphosis of the previous couple of years.

In truth it would be correct to say they have experienced a renaissance ever since Joan Laporta became president in 2003, and after him his former friend and now bitter enemy, Sandro Rossell.

When Laporta turned up at the club they had not won a major title since 1999 and the self-confidence of the squad had plummeted. He brought on board Frank Rijkaard as team coach, who after a slow start started winning matches; and his right hand man (at the time, until they fell out and he resigned from the Barça board) Sandro Rossell used his contacts to sign Ronaldinho.

While the Brazilian player certainly had talent [*COMMA] he had not necessarily done much with it. However , he probably did show plenty of flare with FC Barcelona even when they were never making the turnabout needed.

That turn-about occurred when Barça signed Edgar Davids for the second half the season. Whether it was his arrival at the club, or whether his arrival coincided with everything coming together is most unlikely to say. What's certain though is that the club started winning game after game. And at last the beaten down Barcelona rose up again and started to become the team it is today.

The club went from strength to strength after that, although Davids decided to come back to his old club after the half season loan. While he may have been missed, the fortunes of the club continued to boost and Barcelona won the second season under Laporta. After that the team continues to go ever upwards and unde Pep Guardiola were the 1st tea, to win the treble – la liga, Champions League and Copa del Rey.

To buy Barcelona tickets for forthcoming matches check out Simply Barcelona Tickets, or check out availability of FC Barcelona tickets for La Liga matches at the Nou Camp.

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • NewsVine
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Yahoo! Buzz
  • Twitter
  • Technorati
  • Live
  • LinkedIn
  • MySpace

FC Barcelona’s Renaissance

Friday, December 2nd, 2011

I can remember the first time I went to the Nou Camp to see FC Barcelona it was early 2004 and Ronaldinho was playing in those days – actually it was actually the first season that Joan Laporta was the president of Bara. When I walked into the stadium I was struck by its sheer scale and walking in at ground level was surprised to look down at the pitch.

It seems that the pitch is 2 metres or so below ground level and done so as to increase the stadium’s capacity at some specific point in its history. The Nou Camp was opened in 1957 and though it's been extended and expanded since that time, at 1 time it might hold more than 100,000 spectators. But there days out because the stadium is all-seater it can only hold 98,000 – that is still a lot of folk.

With such a massive crowd you might think it takes forever to empty the stadium after a match. But it is very surprising that it empties so fast and in fact the club claims to can empty in just 5 minutes. The streets round the stadium get pretty packed though and transport it difficult. The roads get blocked by folks, buses full and the metro is log jammed with people – luckily I was within walking distance.

When I first started going to watch Barça play it was after a period of relatively unacceptable performance and it's reasonable to say that Laporta inherited a club that had lost any trust in its ability to win prizes.

However , with Frank Rijkaard as coach and stars such as Ronaldinho, the club started to win. Although they didn't win the Spanish League that year they did the following. More importantly they revived their self-confidence and crowds started to revisit watch them play. These days it’s much more difficult to get good seats at all but matches against the lowliest of teams as season tick holders and club members have the pick of what’s available.

You can buy FC Barcelona tickets for La Liga Simply Barcelona Tickets website. Check out availability of Barcelona tickets for forthcoming matches for La Liga, Champions League and Copa del Rey now!

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • NewsVine
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Yahoo! Buzz
  • Twitter
  • Technorati
  • Live
  • LinkedIn
  • MySpace

FC Barcelona’s Success Comes From Its Youth Acadamy

Wednesday, October 19th, 2011

When you compare FC Barcelona with Real Madrid at the moment you may notice one thing that really separates them. On one hand Real Madrid has spend many millions buying in talent from all areas of the world, e.g. the Portuguese players Cristiano Ronaldo.

But while Barcelona actually does have a bunch of players purchased in to strengthen the side, the center of the team went through Bara’s youth academy and have been playing together for ages. This is maybe one of the reason’s for Spain being so powerful in the South African FIFA World Cup in 2010 as the bulk of the team were FC Barcelona players.

Players like Lionel Messi, originally from Argentinia, Xavi Hernandez, Carlos Puyol, Cesc Fabregas, Andres Iniesta, Carles Puyol, Victor Valdes and Gerard Pique were all talent spotted by Bara’s agents when they were young and joined up for the “masia” as it is known. Even Pep Guardiola attended the masia when he was younger.

The youth academy is one of the most barely regarded in the world and costs roughly 6 million per year, mainly for accommodation for the boys who stay there full time. The minimum entry age is just 6 years old and so when they're ready to play in the youth selection plenty will have been signed to Bara for a considerable number of years.

The academy was recommended by Johan Cruyff when he was Barcelona’s chief as he had profited from the youth academy of Ajax in Holland.

The success of the academy is straightforward to see in the present day's squad. Lionel Messi was 11 years old when he signed with Barcelona; he'd been seen playing in Argentina, but suffered a difficulty that influenced his expansion and part of the bargain with FC Barcelona was that they might pay for his treatment. Given that he is a prodigious goal scorer that must've been one of their best investments ever!

If you want to see Barça play make sure you buy FC Barcelona tickets in advance. You can buy Barcelona tickets for all matches at the Nou Camp from Simply Barcelona Tickets.

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • NewsVine
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Yahoo! Buzz
  • Twitter
  • Technorati
  • Live
  • LinkedIn
  • MySpace

FC Barcelona makes great start to the 2011-2012 Season

Saturday, September 10th, 2011

FC Barcelona made a magnificent start to the 2011-2012 season with a 5-0 win over Villarreal. While Real Madrid are top of the table after their own 6-0 win, it was against Zaragoza rather than a fellow Champions League contender.

The Spanish League got off to a late start after the 1st round was postponed due to a strike by the players’ organisation. A considerable number of clubs in the top 2 divisions are in administration and dozens of players have not received wages as a result. The action against the league was to make them put into place measures that would guarantee payment or permit the players to terminate their contracts and move to a club that could afford to pay them.

In the end the 1st match of the season did not occur and for some time it looked like the second match also would not occur either. However , the 2 sides reached an impulsive compromise and so it was that week 2 was played. Week one has been postponed to Jan, when the second half of the season was scheduled to start, with that match now taking place in May.

Barcelona naturally played for 2 more major prizes. First there had been the Spanish Supercup, this year against Real Madrid. Madrid’s coach managed to be as petulant as usual and bad feelings spilled over onto the pitch with 1 or 2 red cards awarded at the end of the match yet again.

In the end Barcelona took that prize and then the Western european Supercup, against Porto, which was more friendly. Aside from that they played Napoli in the Gamper Trophy. And one of the top items of FC Barcelona news is that Cesc Fabregas is now on board, who has quickly fallen into place and added to the goal total.

If you'd like to see FC Barcelona play this year check out Simply Barcelona Tickets. With FC Barcelona tickets for La Liga and Champions League you may be sure you don't miss out in what guarantees to be another great year.

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • NewsVine
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Yahoo! Buzz
  • Twitter
  • Technorati
  • Live
  • LinkedIn
  • MySpace

How FC Barcelona’s Star Players Keep On Winning

Tuesday, July 19th, 2011

Not many football teams across the world can provide the kind of excitement offered by FC Barcelona, especially considering high consistency to which they have reached. That simply fact ensures that FC Barcelona tickets are always in such high demand with visitors to Barcelona flocking to see this great team in action. If you take a look at the current lineup it’s not hard to see why, with one of the greatest ever lineups to grace the football fields.

When you think about the team and its talent, you have to start with Lionel Messi. The current incumbent of Barcelona’s number 10 shirt is easily one of the best players in the world, despite his modesty off pitch. He’s basically a unanimous choice as the best player right now in the game, and he’s a dynamic scoring threat with either foot, with amazing play making, speed, passing, footwork and more. He can score at anytime and opponents can’t do much to slow him down.

When Messi is playing the other players who they need to do less, as he always seems to find himself in the right spot. And they are also aware that with the other team focused on what he is up to if they get into position they have a good chance of making an attempt on the goal too.

One of the newer additions to the FC Barcelona roster is another great striker, David Villa. He’s a great shot and an excellent addition to Barcelona attack. Part of the winning Spanish World Cup squad he’s always keen to make a break for the ball and knock it into the back of the net.

Much of Barcelona’s strength comes from the quality of passing, which allows them to dominate possession. They control the possession, they keep the ball, and they make myriad quick, fast, accurate passes. The two maestros in the middle of the field are Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta. The pair of them help to frustrate the opposition while dictating the speed of the game to suit their own team.

Nevertheless, however good they are the opposition team is sometimes going to get a lucky break. Luckily FC Barcelona has a strong defence too. There they have team captain Carles Puyol, Gerard Pique and Brazilian Dani Alves. Then in net, one of the most respected members of the team keeps things solid, Victor Valdes.

That’s the reason FC Barcelona goes on winning, again, again and again. They have a huge range of stars, starting with the world’s best, Messi, and going from there. If you ever have the opportunity to get FC Barcelona tickets, you don’t want to miss out, because this kind of collection of players doesn’t always come around.

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • NewsVine
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Yahoo! Buzz
  • Twitter
  • Technorati
  • Live
  • LinkedIn
  • MySpace