Posts Tagged ‘fc barcelona tickets’

FC Barcelona’s First Season Under Joan Laporta

Tuesday, December 6th, 2011

FC Barcelona is at present one of the best teams in the world, with a trophy cupboard that is bursting with the silverware won over the course of the last few years. While Bara could be extremely preferred at the moment, they have been through a metamorphosis of the previous few years.

In truth it might be right to say they have experienced a renaissance ever since Joan Laporta became president in 2003, and after him his former chum and now sour enemy, Sandro Rossell.

When Laporta appeared at the club they had not won a major title since 1999 and the self esteem 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, till they fell out and he resigned from the Barça board) Sandro Rossell used his contacts to sign Ronaldinho.

While the Brazilian player definitely had talent[**] he hadn't always done much with it. However , he did show plenty of flare with FC Barcelona even when they were never making the turn-around needed.

That turnabout happened when Barça signed Edgar Davids for the second half of the season. Whether it was his arrival at the club, or whether his arrival coincided with everything coming together is impossible to claim. What is 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 could have been missed, the fortunes of the club continued to improve and Barcelona won the second season under Laporta. After that the team continues to go ever upwards and unde Pep Guardiola were the first 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

Monday, November 28th, 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 – in fact 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 zero was stunned to look down at the pitch.

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

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

When I first started going to look at Barça play it was after a period of relatively inadequate performance and it is fair to say that Laporta inherited a club that had lost any faith in its capability to win trophies.

But with Frank Rijkaard as coach and stars such as Ronaldinho, the club started to win. Though they didn't win the Spanish League that year theydid the following. As significantly they revived their self-esteem and crowds started to come back to watch them play. Nowadays it’s far harder 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 26th, 2011

When you compare FC Barcelona with Real Madrid at the moment you can notice one thing that actually separates them. On one hand Real Madrid has spend many millions buying in talent from every part of the world, for example the Portuguese players Cristiano Ronaldo.

Nevertheless while Barcelona certainly does have a number of players bought in to strengthen the side, the center of the team went thru Bara’s youth academy and have been playing together for years. This is maybe one of the reason’s for Spain being so strong in the South African FIFA World Cup in 2010 as the majority of the team were FC Barcelona players.

Players such as 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 hardly regarded in the world and costs roughly 6 million a year, principally for accommodation for the boys who stay there full time. The minimum entry age is just six years old and so by the time they're prepared to play in the youth selection plenty will have been signed to Bara for a bunch of years.

The academy was advised 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 easy to see in the current day's squad. Lionel Messi was 11 years old when he signed with Barcelona; he'd been seen playing in Argentina, but suffered a problem that affected his growth and part of the bargain with FC Barcelona was that they'd pay for his treatment. Given that he is such a extraordinary goal scorer that could have 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

Sunday, September 11th, 2011

FC Barcelona made a magnificent beginning 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 instead of a fellow Champions League contender.

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

In the end the first match of the season didn't take place and for a period of time it looked like the second match also wouldn't take place either. Nevertheless the two sides reached a last minute compromise and so it was that week 2 was played. Week one has been deferred to Jan, when the second 1/2 the season was due to start, with that match now taking place in May.

Barcelona of course 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 several red cards awarded at the end of the match yet again.

At the end Barcelona took that trophy and then the Western european Supercup, against Porto, which was way more friendly. Aside from that they played Napoli in the Gamper Trophy. And one of the top items of FC Barcelona reports 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 can be sure you don't miss out in what promises 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

Monday, July 18th, 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. One look at its roster and you’ll find many of the biggest stars in the game, and it’s a power-packed lineup that might just rank among one of the finest of all-time.

For many people the team is summed up by Argentine player Leo Messi. The number 10 for the squad would also be the number 10 for the entire globe if the whole world fielded one team. A hugely exciting player to watch, he can score with either foot and can defeat single-handed the entire opposition defence at times. He can score at anytime and opponents can’t do much to slow him down.

When you have Messi on your team, it’s certainly easier for everyone else to get their own work done as well. They know that some of that attention will be spread to him, and they know that if they set themselves up in the right position, they should find themselves with great opportunities to score and make plays.

Joining the FC Barcelona squad last year was 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.

So much of what Barcelona is known for though is their majestic passing game. With the ball in their control they can make many quick passes, quickly wearing out the opposition. 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. FC Barcelona isn’t too shabby on the defensive front either. 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. With a cast of stars that starts with – but by no means ends – Leo Messi, they have some of the world’s finest players. 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