Saturday, April 6, 2013
Tito Vilanova (2012-present)
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It was announced in summer of 2012 that Tito Vilanova, assistant manager at Barcelona, would take over from Pep Guardiola as manager. Following his appointment, Barcelona went on an incredible run that saw them hold the top spot on the league table for the first 26 weeks, recording only 1 loss in 23 games. Lionel Messi scored 34 goals in this time period alone, and in mid-February they were 12 points clear of second placed Atlético Madrid.
Guardiola era (2008–2012)
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FC Barcelona B youth manager Pep Guardiola took over Frank Rijkaard's duties at the conclusion of the season.[50] Guardiola brought with him the now famous tiki-taka style of play he had been taught during his time in the Barcelona youth teams. In the process Guardiola sold Ronaldinho and Deco, and started building the Barcelona team around Xavi, Iniesta and Messi.Barça beat Athletic Bilbao 4–1 in the 2009 Copa del Rey Final, winning the competition for a record-breaking 25th time. A historic 2–6 victory against Real Madrid followed three days later and ensured that Barcelona became La Liga champions for the 2008–09 season. Barça finished the season by beating the previous year's Champions League winners Manchester United 2–0 at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome to win their third Champions League title and completed the first ever treble won by a Spanish side.[52][53][54] The team went on to win the2009 Supercopa de España against Athletic Bilbao[55] and the 2009 UEFA Super Cupagainst Shakhtar Donetsk,[56] becoming the first European club to win both domestic and European Super Cups following a treble. In December 2009, Barcelona won the 2009 FIFA Club World Cup,[57] and became the first football club ever to accomplish the sextuple.[58]Barcelona accomplished two new records in Spanish football in 2010 as they retained the La Liga trophy with 99 points and won the Spanish Super Cup trophy for a ninth time.[59][60]
After Laporta's departure from the club in June 2010, Sandro Rosell was soon elected as the new president. The elections were held on 13 June, where he got 61.35% (57,088 votes, a record) of total votes.[61] Rosell signed David Villa from Valencia for €40 million.[62] andJavier Mascherano from Liverpool for €19 million.[63] In November 2010, Barcelona defeated their main rival, Real Madrid 5–0 in El Clásico. In the 2010–11 season, Barcelona retained the La Liga trophy, their third title in succession, finishing with 96 points.[64] In April 2011, the club reached the Copa del Rey final, losing 1–0 to Real Madrid at the Mestalla in Valencia.[65] In May, Barcelona defeated Manchester United in the 2011 Champions League Final 3–1 held at Wembley Stadium, a repeat of the 2009 final, winning their fourth European Cup.[66] In August 2011, the La Masia graduate Cesc Fàbregas was bought from Arsenal and who would help Barcelona defend the Spanish Supercup against Real Madrid. The Supercup victory brought the total amount of official trophies to 73, matching the number of titles won by Real Madrid.[67]
Later the same month, Barcelona won the UEFA Super Cup after defeating Porto 2–0 thanks to goals from Lionel Messi and Cesc Fábregas. This extended the club's overall amount of official trophies to 74, surpassing Real Madrid's total amount of official trophies.[68]The UEFA Super Cup victory also marked another impressive achievement as Josep Guardiola won his 12th trophy out of 15 possible in only three years at the helm of the club, becoming the all-time record holder of most titles won as a coach at FC Barcelona.[69]In December, Barcelona won the FIFA Club World Cup for a record second time since its establishment, by beating the Brazilian 2011 Copa Libertadores holders, Santos, 4–0 in the final thanks to two goals from Lionel Messi and goals from Xavi and Fábregas.[70] As a result, the overall trophy haul during the reign of Guardiola was further extended and saw Barcelona win their 13th trophy out of 24 possible in 4 years, continuing their high-quality performance in recent world football competitions.[71][72]
In the 2011–12 season, Barcelona lost the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League against Chelsea. Right afterward, coach Pep Guardiola, who had been on a rolling contract and had faced criticism over his recent tactics and squad selections,[73][74] announced that he would step down as manager on 30 June and be succeeded by assistant Tito Vilanova.[75][76] Guardiola finished his tenure with Barça winning the Copa del Rey final 3–0, bringing the tally to 14 trophies that Barça had won under his stewardship.
Guardiola's four trophy-laden years has inspired British director Paul Greengrass to make a documentary about the Catalan giants. Entitled Barça, the film will examine the process and legacy of one of the world's most famous sports franchises, focusing primarily on the four years in which Guardiola guided the club to 14 trophies. The movie is expected to be finished ahead of the 2014 World Cup, when public attention will begin focusing on the international event in Rio de Janeiro.[77]
Dream Team
In 1988, Johan Cruyff returned to the club as manager and he assembled the so-calledDream Team. He used a mix of Spanish players like Pep Guardiola, José Mari Bakero, andTxiki Begiristain while signing international stars such as Ronald Koeman, Michael Laudrup, Romário, and Hristo Stoichkov.[38] Under his guidance, Barcelona won four consecutive La Liga titles from 1991 to 1994. They beat Sampdoria in both the 1989 Cup Winners' Cup final and the 1992 European Cup final at Wembley. They also won a Copa del Rey in 1990, theEuropean Super Cup in 1992, and three Supercopa de España. With 11 trophies, Cruyff became the club's most successful manager, until being overtaken by Guardiola in 2011.[39]He also became the club's longest consecutive serving manager, serving 8 years.[40] Cruyff's fortune changed in his final two seasons, when he failed to win any trophies and fell out with president Núñez, resulting in his departure.[35]
Cruyff was briefly replaced by Bobby Robson, who took charge of the club for a single season in 1996–97. The club signed Ronaldo and delivered a cup treble, winning the Copa del Rey, 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.[41] The club won the UEFA Super Cup against Borussia Dortmund and won a Copa del Rey and La Liga double in 1998. In 1999 the club celebrated its 'centenari', winning the Primera División title. Rivaldo became the fourth Barça player to be awarded European Footballer of the Year. Despite this domestic success, the failure to extend that success to the Champions League led to van Gaal and Núñez resigning in 2000.[41]
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Club de Fútbol Barcelona (1957–1978)
With Helenio Herrera as manager, a young Luis Suárez, the European Footballer of the Year in 1960, and two influential Hungarians recommended by Kubala, Sándor Kocsis andZoltán Czibor, the team won another national double in 1959 and a La Liga and Inter-Cities Fairs Cup double in 1960. In 1961 they became the first club to beat Real Madrid inEuropean Cup competition, but lost 3–2 to Benfica in the final.[26][27][28]
The 1960s were less successful for the club, with Real Madrid monopolising La Liga. The building of the Camp Nou, completed in 1957, meant the club had little money to spend on new players.[28] On the positive side, the decade saw the emergence of Josep Maria Fustéand Carles Rexach, and the club won the Copa del Generalísimo in 1963 and the Fairs Cup in 1966. Barça restored some of its former pride by beating Real Madrid 1–0 in the 1968 Copa del Generalísimo final at the Bernabéu, in front of Franco, with formerrepublican pilot Salvador Artigas as manager. The end of Franco's dictatorship in 1974 saw the club changing its official name back to Futbol Club Barcelona and reverting the crest to its original design, again including the original letters.[29]
The 1973–74 season saw the arrival of Johan Cruyff, who was bought for a world record £920,000 from Ajax.[30] Already an established player in Holland, 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. He further endeared himself when he chose the Catalan name Jordi, after the local saint, for his son.[31] Next to players of quality like Juan Manuel Asensi, Carles Rexach, and Hugo Sotil, he helped the club win the La Liga title in 1973–74 for the first time since 1960,[8] defeating Real Madrid 5–0 at the Bernabéu along the way.[32] He was crownedEuropean Footballer of the Year in 1973 during his first season with Barcelona (his second Ballon d'Or win; he won his first while playing for Ajax in 1971). Cruyff received this prestigious award a third time (the first player ever to do so) in 1974 while he was still with Barcelona.[33]
Birth of FC Barcelona (1899–1922)
On 22 October 1899, Hans Kamper placed an advertisement in Los Deportes declaring his wish to form a football club; a positive response resulted in a meeting at the Gimnasio Solé on 29 November. Eleven players attended—Walter Wild (the first director of the club), Lluís d'Ossó, Bartomeu Terradas, Otto Kunzle, Otto Maier, Enric Ducal, Pere Cabot, Carles Pujol, Josep Llobet, John Parsons, and William Parsons—and Foot-Ball Club Barcelona was born.[7]
FC Barcelona had a successful start in regional and national cups, competing in the Campionat de Catalunya and the Copa del Rey. In 1902, the club won its first trophy, the Copa Macaya, and participated in the first Copa del Rey, losing 1–2 to Bizcaya in the final.[8]Kamper—now known as Joan Gamper—became club president in 1908, finding the club in financial difficulty after not winning a competition since the Campionat de Catalunya in 1905. Club president on five separate occasions between 1908 and 1925, he spent 25 years in total at the helm. One of his main achievements was ensuring Barça acquire its own stadium and thus generate a stable income.[9]
On 14 March 1909, the team moved into the Camp de la Indústria, a larger stadium with a seating capacity of 8,000 people. From 1910 to 1914 Barcelona participated in the Pyrenees Cup, which consisted of the best teams of Languedoc, Midi, Aquitaine (Southern France), the Basque Country, and Catalonia. At that time it was considered the finest competition open for participation.[10][11] During the same period, the club changed its official language from Castilian to Catalan and gradually evolved into an important symbol of Catalan identity. For many fans, supporting the club had less to do with the game itself and more with being a part of the club's collective identity.[12]
Gamper launched a campaign to recruit more club members, and by 1922 the club had over 20,000 members and was able to finance a new stadium. The club to moved to the new Les Corts, inaugurated the same year.[13] Les Corts had an initial capacity of 22,000, which was later expanded to 60,000.[14] Jack Greenwell was recruited as the first full-time manager, and the club's fortunes began to improve on the field. During the Gamper era, FC Barcelona won eleven Campionat de Catalunya, six Copas del Rey, and four Pyrenees Cups.[8][9]
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