Position
|
Staff
|
Manager
|
Tito Vilanova
|
Assistant
manager
|
Jordi
Roura
|
Fitness
coach
|
Aureli
Altimiraz
Paco Seiruŀlo Francesc Cos Eduardo Pons |
Goalkeeping
coach
|
José Ramón
de la Fuente
|
Scoutings
|
Àlex
García
Domènec Torrent Carles Planchart |
Director
of football
|
Andoni Zubizarreta
|
Academy
director
|
Guillermo Amor
|
B team manager
|
Eusebio Sacristán
|
There is often a fierce rivalry between the two strongest teams in a
national league, and this is particularly the case in La Liga, where the
game between Barça and Real Madrid is known as El Clásico. From the start of national competitions the clubs were seen as representatives of two rival regions in Spain: Catalonia and Castile, as well as of the two cities. The rivalry reflects what many regard as the political and cultural tensions felt between Catalans and the Castilians, seen by one author as a re-enactment of the Spanish Civil War.
FC Barcelona B youth manager Pep Guardiola took over Frank Rijkaard's duties at the conclusion of the season. 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.
The departures of Núñez and van Gaal were nothing compared to that of Luís Figo.
As well as club vice-captain, Figo had become a cult hero and was
considered by Catalans to be one of their own. Barça fans were
distraught by Figo's decision to join arch-rivals Real Madrid, and
during subsequent visits to the Camp Nou, he was given an extremely
hostile reception. Upon his first return a piglet's head and a full
bottle of whiskey were thrown at him from the crowd. President Núñez was replaced by Joan Gaspart
in 2000, and the three years he was in charge saw the club decline and
managers came and went; van Gaal served a second term. Gaspart did not
inspire confidence off the field either and in 2003, he and van Gaal
resigned.
In 1988, Johan Cruyff returned to the club as manager and he assembled the so-called Dream Team. He used a mix of Spanish players like Pep Guardiola, José Mari Bakero, and Txiki Begiristain while signing international stars such as Ronald Koeman, Michael Laudrup, Romário, and Hristo Stoichkov. Under his guidance, Barcelona won four consecutive La Liga titles from 1991 to 1994.
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 and Zoltán 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 in European Cup competition, but lost 3–2 to Benfica in the final.
On 14 June 1925, the crowd in the stadium jeered the Spanish national anthem and then gave ovation to God Save the King in a spontaneous protest against Miguel Primo de Rivera's dictatorship. The ground was closed for six months as a reprisal, and Gamper was forced to relinquish the club presidency.
This coincided with the club's transition to professionalism; in 1926
the directors of Barcelona publicly declared Barcelona a professional
side for the first time. The club's 1928 victory in the Spanish Cup was celebrated with a poem titled "Oda a Platko", written by a member of the Generation of '27, poet Rafael Alberti, who was inspired by the "heroic performance" of the Barcelona keeper. On 30 July 1930, Gamper committed suicide after a period of depression brought on by personal and financial problems.
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.
