Barcelona - Probably the best soccer team in the world

gimmick

Warper wrote: »

Realistically unless they fall apart the Spanish League is theirs

To be fair, they are only 4 points clear of Villareal and have to play Villareal in two weeks time in Madrigal.

jesus_thats_gre

redout wrote: »

According to International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) Barcelona are top of the club world rankings as of 30th November 2008.

http://www.iffhs.de/?10f42e00fa2d17f73702fa3016e23c17f7370eff3702bb1c2bbb6f28f53512

1. (1.) FC Barcelona España/4 278,0
2. (3.) Manchester United FC England/4 263,0

---(1.) Liverpool FC England/4 263,0
4. (6.) FC Bayern München Deutschland/4 260,0
5. (5.) CA Boca Juniors Buenos Aires Argentina/4 258,0
6. (4.) Chelsea FC London England/4 250,0
7. (9.) Olympique Lyonnais France/4 237,0
8. (10.) Arsenal FC London England/4 234,0


These rankings are assessed every month according to the previous 12 months results. Simple answer is yes Barcelona are the current best club side in the world.

Means feck all really... Mind you, the complete lack of Italian teams is interesting.

Warper

gimmick wrote: »

To be fair, they are only 4 points clear of Villareal and have to play Villareal in two weeks time in Madrigal.

Villareal are not going to win the SL - they simply do not have a good/big enough squad for it - likewise Seville/Valencia and Madrid have too many key injuries and are playing muck so ya Barca are going to win the SL and easily this year - not to sound too arrogant but its practically a certainty

jesus_thats_gre

Warper wrote: »

Villareal are not going to win the SL - they simply do not have a good/big enough squad for it - likewise Seville/Valencia and Madrid have too many key injuries and are playing muck so ya Barca are going to win the SL and easily this year - not to sound too arrogant but its practically a certainty

When you put it that way, Barca strolling the league isn't exactly conclusive proof that they are the best team in the world..

Warper

jesus_thats_gre wrote: »

When you put it that way, Barca strolling the league isn't exactly conclusive proof that they are the best team in the world..

Look to point 51 - now proven

keane2097

redout wrote: »

According to International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) Barcelona are top of the club world rankings as of 30th November 2008.

http://www.iffhs.de/?10f42e00fa2d17f73702fa3016e23c17f7370eff3702bb1c2bbb6f28f53512

1. (1.) FC Barcelona España/4 278,0
2. (3.) Manchester United FC England/4 263,0

---(1.) Liverpool FC England/4 263,0
4. (6.) FC Bayern München Deutschland/4 260,0
5. (5.) CA Boca Juniors Buenos Aires Argentina/4 258,0
6. (4.) Chelsea FC London England/4 250,0
7. (9.) Olympique Lyonnais France/4 237,0
8. (10.) Arsenal FC London England/4 234,0


These rankings are assessed every month according to the previous 12 months results. Simple answer is yes Barcelona are the current best club side in the world.

That's a joke of a list.

keane2097

Warper wrote: »

Look to point 51 - now proven

If you take that list as anything more than a piece of piss I'll find it extremely hard to ever take anything you say about soccer seriously again...

Bounty Hunter

I saw this lil piece about Barcelona very good read if anyone is interested;)

some Journo wrote:

F.C. Barcelona – More than a club

Inside the vast walls of the Camp Nou, the UEFA 5 star rated facility that is the home of F.C Barcelona, emblazoned on the seats in the middle tier of the uncovered grandstand, where nowadays you would normally expect to find a corporate logo or the logo of the clubs shirt manufacturer, instead reads the phrase “Mes Que Un Club”, literally meaning “More than a club”. It is a mantra that rings particularly true for this great club and one which is especially close to the hearts of the loyal Barcelona supporters, as is shown by the mosaic of the phrase which is regularly seen in the Nou Camp before big games. You see, Barcelona are not so much a football club to their loyal supporters as much as they are an identity to the people of Catalonia. Their supporters, known as “Cules” (meaning “arse people” – a phrase stemming from their early days when supporters would sit on the top tier and all that would be visible from outside the ground would be their backsides!) are known as some of the most passionate in world football. They are now, a far cry from the mere football club they were formed as in 1899, when Joan Gamper placed an ad in a local newspaper seeking players for a team. For the people of Catalonia, F.C Barcelona is a source of great pride and great tradition.

The club famously holds a rivalry with real Madrid. Both clubs represent very different cultures and traditions with Madrid representing the Catile region and Barca representing Catalonia. Under the reign of the Spanish dictator General Francisco Franco, the club became a symbol of strength to the Catalan people. The long standing and famous rivalry with Real Madrid stems from this time. Real Madrid are known in Spain as the “Kings Club” and are a representation of everything that the establishment and Franco’s regime stood for whereas Barcelona represented the freedom and identity of the Catalan people. This rivalry in many ways transcends football. It became more heated after the controversial transfer to Real Madrid of Alfredo di Stefano who had previously signed a deal with Barcelona only to be swayed to Madrid to huge political influence. Madrid claimed Barcelona voluntarily allowed him to join them whilst Barcelona insisted that they were pressured out of the deal by Franco’s government. Whichever side you choose to believe, it certainly strengthened the disdain both clubs already had for each other. This derby, known as “El Clásico”, is regarded as the biggest rivalry in world football.

Barcelona are also an unusual club in that they are not owned by any billionaires be they Russians, Americans, Saudi’s or otherwise. They are a club run by its members in the tradition of a club (and yet were still listed at the end of the 2006-2007 season as the third richest club in the world). This allows them to retain the feel of the entity being a club rather than a business. The owners/members of the club are known as “socis” and there are known to be more than 150,000 socis worldwide. The “club feel” is further strengthened by FC Barcelona running teams in women’s football, ice hockey, rugby union, volleyball and a range of other sports.

Interestingly, Barcelona have never received money from any corporate entity for shirt sponsorship. In fact, up until the summer of 2006, the clubs jersey had never had any sponsorship on it besides the small logo of the shirt manufacturer. In 2006, Barca took the decision to allow the logo for UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund) to be put on their jerseys in a deal which, unusually, will see FC Barcelona donate 1.9million US Dollars per year to the charity.

In previous eras, clubs like Ajax Amsterdam and Manchester United, and, more recently, Arsenal, have been praised for their willingness to promote youth from within their club. Barcelona have always sought to bring their young players through to the first team (in keeping with the tradition of having Catalans in the team) and the club has produced some of the best players in the world with this philosophy. Current Arsenal sensation Cesc Fabregas is a Barcelona Youth Academy product, as is Argentinean Lionel Messi. In the current team alone, the club maintains its Catalan traditions with a strong representation provided by Carles Puyol, Victor Valdes, Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets, Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez and Bojan Krkic. With a Catalan manager in charge of the club, in Josep (Pep) Guardiola, the club has returned to the strong Catalan traditions of years gone past and has tapped in once again, to the identity and pride that is the very heart of F.C Barcelona.

It is not only the youth academy that produces first team players. Barcelona also have a track record for signing and attracting some of the greatest plaers that ever played the game. Any club which has been home to such footballing greats as Cruyff, Neeskens, Maradona, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Romario, Stoichkov, Luis Figo, Ronaldinho, etc, will always have to have something particularly special about it. In this case it is a tradition of greatness. Cruyff, interestingly, became so enamoured with the club that he chose a Catalan name, “Jordi”, for his son.

Barcelona has always been a unique club. In a time when Catalans were marginalized it became a vehicle for their voice to be heard. It is an identity to them even to this day, and many Catalans view the club as a kind of “Catalan national team.” The club is very much the leading symbol of the identity of the Catalan people. FC Barcelona – Mes Que Un Club.

big b

I'm sure you guys will take this in the spirit it's intended!

Barca...........the only team in the history of the Champions League not to beat Celtic at home.

An Citeog

big b wrote: »

I'm sure you guys will take this in the spirit it's intended!

Barca...........the only team in the history of the Champions League not to beat Celtic at home.

They beat them home and away in the CL last year!

big b

An Citeog wrote: »

They beat them home and away in the CL last year!

Indeed they did.
But the 1-1 draw in 04/05 was the only time the home team didn't record a win against the Celts in the CL

eirebhoy

An Citeog wrote: »

They beat them home and away in the CL last year!

I think he left out a word or 2 in that post. Barca are the only team to beat Celtic at Celtic Park in the CL. Barca are also the only team Celtic got a point off away from home in the CL.

redout

eirebhoy wrote: »

I think he left out a word or 2 in that post. Barca are the only team to beat Celtic at Celtic Park in the CL. Barca are also the only team Celtic got a point off away from home in the CL.

It youse want to get technical about it lads then Ajax beat Celtic at celtic park and Celtic won at Ajax in the Champions league Third qualifying round 2001/02. (obviously not champs league proper I suppose). Quite right Barca beat them twice at celtic park and Celtic just cant travel.

eZe^

I love football, I was just arguing with my Italian friend who supports Juventus, only in football do you go get so heated when talking about player. We were comparing Del Piero, Camorenesi, Amauri and Nedved to Xavi, Messi, Iniesta and Eto'o. The illogical reasoning of football fans is what makes it so fun sometimes. Apparently it'll be Juventus vs Barca in the final, but because it's in Rome, Juve will win like they did in 96. :pac::pac:

eZe^

eZe^ wrote: »

I love football, I was just arguing with my Italian friend who supports Juventus, only in football do you go get so heated when talking about player. We were comparing Del Piero, Camorenesi, Amauri and Nedved to Xavi, Messi, Iniesta and Eto'o. The illogical reasoning of football fans is what makes it so fun sometimes. Apparently it'll be Juventus vs Barca in the final, but because it's in Rome, Juve will win like they did in 96. :pac::pac:

Tbh theyre the 2 best teams so far.

eZe^

That's Barcelona's 2nd hardest home game (Valencia always do well at the Camp Nou), and 2nd hardest away game (Sevilla are the hardest team to beat in La Liga bar Madrid away) out of the way this season. Comprehensive enough, haven't been tested yet though. :pac: