Video of the Day: Iniestazo
Exactly 4 years ago we experienced one of the most amazing nights in the history of FC Barcelona. Most culés will probably never forget where they were, what they were doing, or how they celebrated Andrés Iniesta’s last minute equalizer at Stamford Bridge on May 6, 2009. Let’s once again cherish that sweet memory.
History: The kidnap of Enrique ‘Quini’ Castro
In a new series, each month totalBarça’s Jason Pettigrove will examine one of the many facets of FC Barcelona’s intriguing and storied history. In the first edition of the series, Barça’s long standing rivalry with Real Madrid was examined in two parts. In this month’s post, Jason looks at one of the darker moments of the blaugrana’s past – the kidnap of forward Quini.
Surely one of the most unsavoury episodes in the history of FC Barcelona was the kidnap in 1981 of star striker Enrique Castro González, also known as ‘Quini’.
Iniesta equals Carles Rexach with 447 official appearances
The midfield magician that is Andrés Iniesta has equalled Carles Rexach in the FC Barcelona appearance hall of fame, with an astonishing 447 official appearances.
The La Liga game against Levante is when Iniesta reached the new mark, and he now has only team mates Victor Valdés, Carles Puyol and Xavi Hernández, plus ‘Tarzan” Migueli ahead of him in the all time list. More after the jump.
Another game in Munich
Tito Vilanova will return to Bayern Munich’s stadium as manager after four years. He was on the bench as first team manager in the second leg of the quarter-finals of the 2008/09 UEFA Champions League, and was responsible for leading the team. The reason Vilanova was in charge that day was that Pep Guardiola was suspended after the first leg at the Camp Nou. He was sent off for protesting a clear penalty on Messi that the referee did not call, instead booking the Argentine with a yellow card. That 2nd leg match, which took place on April 14, 2009, ended 1-1. But it was enough for Barcelona to qualify for the next round because the blaugrana demolished Bayern 4-0 in the first leg at Camp Nou.
Picture credit: MIGUEL RUIZ – FCB
Number of the Day: 6
6 – With progress tonight to the semi-finals in the 2012/3 UEFA Champions League, it marks FC Barcelona’s 6th consecutive trip to this stage of the competition, an all-time record. More after the jump.
Stade de France, a special stadium for Victor Valdés
Seven years separate two games, with different teams, in different competitions, but the venue is the same. Stade de France in Paris has become a special stadium for Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdés, the venue for two career changing performances.
A brief history of El Clásico, Part II
In a new series, each month totalBarça’s Jason Pettigrove will examine one of the many facets of FC Barcelona’s intriguing and storied history. In the first edition of the series, Barça’s long standing rivalry with Real Madrid is examined through the many scorelines and story lines of El Clásico throughout the years. Part 2 looks at some of the important matches between the two teams, from the 1940s through the present day, and the influence of certain individual players on these Clásicos. Part 1 can be found here.
In 111 years of El Clásico matches, only one has ever been played on Boxing Day.
The Antonio Franco Tribute match was played at Les Corts on 26 December 1943 and Los Blancos were probably still feeling the effects of the previous days’ Christmas dinner as they succumbed 4-0 to a rampant Barça, which included a first half Martin hat trick.
A brief history of El Clásico, Part I
In a new series, each month totalBarça’s Jason Pettigrove will examine one of the many facets of FC Barcelona’s intriguing and storied history. In the first edition of the series, Barça’s long standing rivalry with Real Madrid is examined through the many scorelines and story lines of El Clásico throughout the years. Part 1 looks at the first matches between the two teams, as well as some of the changes that took place for Barça and El Clásico following the Spanish Civil War.
El Clásico – ‘The Classic’ to give it it’s literal meaning. A football match quite unlike any other. Catalonia’s finest against their heavyweight Castilian counterparts.
Stat of the Day: Remuntada
Never in the history of the Champions League knockout stages has a team recovered from a 2-0 loss in the first leg. That is…until last night.
Offside: Deportivo has set the precedent for us
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On April 7, 2004, Deportivo La Coruña performed one of the greatest comebacks in Champions League history, against none other than AC Milan. Down 4-1 from the first leg, Deportivo returned to the Riazor and rallied to blow the Rossoneri away 4-0. Milan were the defending champions and tournament favorites, and their team consisted of legends such as Dida, Cafu, Nesta, Maldini, Pirlo, Gattuso, Kaka, Inzaghi, and Shevchenko. The Milan we face today is tough and disciplined, but its individual players are nowhere near the greatness of that 2004 side. So tonight, let’s remember that Deportivo has set the precedent, that comebacks have been mounted against far greater Milan sides, and that if Super Depor can win 4-0 at home, surely the greatest team of its generation can pull off 3-0. We remember, and we believe!
Video: AC Milan’s recent record at the Camp Nou
FC Barcelona vs AC Milan has become a classic in recent editions of the Champions League, with this Tuesday’s visit to the Camp Nou being Milan’s sixth since the 2000/01 season. Of the previous five, Barça has won twice, Milan once and two games have ended in draws. In all, AC Milan has played 14 times at the Camp Nou, winning four times to Barça’s six, with four more ending in draws.
Creators of the “Cant del Barça” honored
During Saturday’s home match against Deportivo, FC Barcelona will pay tribute to the creators of the infamous Cant del Barça, the club anthem that rings out in the stadium both before and after every home game.
A look at some legendary Barça moments at the Bernabeu
Despite Barça’s recent blip in form, cules have very good reason to be positive as we await yet another El Clásico duel. Whilst trips to the Spanish capital haven’t always proved fruitful, Barça is unbeaten in La Liga at the Santiago Bernabeu since 2008.
With Manchester United on the horizon next week in the Champions League for Los Blancos, and manager Jose Mourinho seemingly already having conceded the La Liga title, this could be the perfect time for Barça to extend that unbeaten run.
The Past: AC Milan vs FC Barcelona
Only a handful of football clubs are genuinely titans, and on Wednesday two of them square off for the 16th time. After the jump are some historical statistics showing one side clearly favored:
Copa del Rey Clasico showdown
FC Barcelona and Real Madrid will meet for the 32nd time in the Copa del Rey Wednesday at the Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid.
According to the Catalan Club’s website, the previous 31 meetings have seen Barcelona win 16, lose 10 and draw 5 times. Wednesday’s fixture will be the seventh semifinal matchup between the rivals, with each team claiming three previous victories. Their most recent semifinal meeting occurred in the 1992-1993 Copa del Rey and saw Los Blancos go through to the final.
Gràcies Pep, Part 7: Rubén Miño and Martín Montoya
As Culés, we are all extremely thankful to Josep Guardiola i Sala, a man that has achieved and changed so much at our club. But there is one particular group of people that might be a little more thankful than anyone else, a group of people whose lives and careers took a new turn when Josep Guardiola decided to let them make their debut for FC Barcelona. During his four years as coach of our beloved club, Pep gave no less than 22 youth team players their chance to make their dream of debuting for Fútbol Club Barcelona a reality. Five of these players also made their B team debuts under Pep.
Twenty-two players in four years is a large number and it means twenty-two changed lives. In this series, I will take a look at all 22 of these players, examine their career trajectories and how Pep and the chance to debut in the first team impacted their footballing careers and their lives.
In this edition, we’ll look into the stories of: The boy who was said to be the biggest goalkeeping talent at La Masia since Valdés, but who wanted too much, too early: Ruben Miño. And the boy who spent his entire childhood at the club but had to go through the hardest of challenges to get where he is today: Martín Montoya!
We’ve got mail: The man who saved Barça
For history buffs, there can never be enough nice to know bits of knowledge out there. And when it comes to history that relates to FC Barcelona, how does a history lesson get any better? In this edition of We’ve got mail, we share something that totalBarça friend and author, Richard Fitzpatrick, sent in. Richard was recently on assignment to cover Storymap, a website run by two Irish gentlemen that features true stories from Dublin. One of the video features was on Patrick O’Connell. If you don’t know who Mr. O’Connell is and what he did for FC Barcelona during the Spanish Civil War – you’re in for a treat!
Five years with Pedro
Today, January 12, FC Barcelona striker Pedro Rodriguez celebrates the 5th anniversary of his debut with the first team. His first ever performance with the senior squad was on this date in 2008 against Murcia, under head coach Frank Rijkaard. Pedro, known then as Pedrito, came on for just a minute in place of Samuel Eto’o in the 4-0 win. Later that season he also would play five more minutes against Valladolid (4-1).
Gràcies Pep, Part 6: Oriol Romeu and Sergi Goméz
We are all extremely thankful to Josep Guardiola i Sala, a man that achieved and changed so much at our club. But there is one group of people that might be a little more thankful than anyone else, a group of people whose lives and careers took a new turn when Josep Guardiola decided to let them make their debut for FC Barcelona. During his four years as coach of our beloved club, Pep gave no less than 22 youth team players their chance to make the dream of debuting for Fútbol Club Barcelona a reality. Five of these players also made their B team debuts under Pep.
Twenty-two players in four years is a large number, and it means many changed lives. In this series, I will take a look at all 22 of these players, examine their career trajectories and how Pep and the chance to debut in the first team impacted their footballing careers and their lives.
In this edition, I’ll explore the backgrounds of the next two youngsters to make their first team debuts under Guardiola: Oriol Romeu and Sergi Goméz. Midfielder Oriol Romeu, the boy who once was too short for Espanyol, was supposed to become Sergio Busquets’ back-up at Barça, but when Cesc returned from Arsenal he saw an opportunity and left for England. Sergi Goméz, the Barça B centerback, once made Zubizarreta promise him more vacation time after a year playing with three different teams at the club, only to jump for joy when Zubi did not keep his promise. Read more about the two players after the jump.
Matchday Memory Lane: Real Valladolid v FC Barcelona (2010)
Check out highlights from Barcelona’s trip to Valladolid at the beginning of 2010. Great commentary and great goals!
Roura, man for the job?
With the startling news that FC Barcelona head coach Tito Vilanova will be out of action for at least six weeks as he battles a tumor relapse, the directives at the club decided late Wednesday that, like Vilanova post Guardiola, assistant coach Jordi Roura and his staff will be the ones to shoulder the load as Vilanova undergoes surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. While all of us at totalBarça are deeply saddened by this news, we understand the obligation to our readers to answer the question, “Who exactly is Jordi Roura and what qualities can he bring to the table?”
Matchday Memory Lane: FC Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid (2008-09)
Enjoy highlights from FC Barcelona’s 6-1 victory against Atletico Madrid in Round 6 of the 2008-09 La Liga season after the jump.
December 16, 1990 – “A Before and After”
Twenty-two years ago on this day, December 16, Josep (Pep) Guardiola i Sala was handed his official competitive La Liga debut by then manager and later mentor and dear friend Johan Cruyff. Guardiola was 19 and the game was at the Camp Nou versus Cádiz. He began his path on the winning side with a 2-0 victory.
Guardiola himself described his sensations before the match in Guillem Balague’s new biography Pep Guardiola: Another Way of Winning. ”My palms were sweating and I was really tense,” is how Pep put it. Apparently in his younger days Guardiola often became heavily nervous before a game, something Carles Rexach called “living it too much“. That personal toll never left him as we all know.
Matchday Memory Lane: Real Betis 1-5 FC Barcelona (1995/6)
Watch the blaugrana score a manita of goals against Real Betis during the 1995-96 season after the jump.
