Where Ronaldo should be playing... (Nou Camp Stadium)

Member Name: thedevilinme

Product:	Nou Camp Stadium
Date:	29/05/09 (68 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Best stadium in Europe

Disadvantages: Too far away

Full name Futbol Club Barcelona
Nickname(s) Barça (team)
L'equip blaugrana (team)
Culers or Culés (supporters)
Blaugranes (supporters)
Founded November 29, 1899
(as Foot-Ball Club Barcelona)
Ground Camp Nou, Barcelona
(Capacity: 98,772)
President Joan Laporta
Manager Josep Guardiola
League La Liga
2008-09 La Liga, 1st
2008-09 European Champions

I met a beautiful Catalan girl in Australia in the early 1990s and she invited me to stay with her in Barcelona after our travels. I took her up on the offer and enjoyed her company. One night she asked me if I would escort here to her elderly relative's party in the suburbs, which, being an Englishman, repaid her hospitality by agreeing to attend. It's not what you want to do but you show your respect. As the metro neared the superb in question the trains started to fill with football fans and when we got off at the station it started to dawn on me that we were now part of the throng heading for the Nou Camp, whether we liked it or not, sucked up in the cheering mass of drums beats and laughter.. My gorgeous girlfriend had become perfect and surprised me with two tickets to watch her team, and if we are honest, the most romantic team in the world. Not only that but Maradona was on the bench for Sevilla and we had very good tickets. Guys, it just doesn't get better than that although we did have to eat pitios, a bird seen like snack Catalans love. Sadly I was too much of a gentleman to her during my stay and she dumped me for a Swedish policeman with attitude.

As a Manchester United fan I would like to congratulate Barcelona on playing us off the field with intelligent keep-ball football on Wednesday night, the stuff that United can't handle. Unless we play on the break or against a team that want to play at a quick Premier League pace we struggle, especially in cup finals where this tends not to happen. If you look at Uniteds last few finals against top teams they have gone to penalties because we haven't scored in the 90 minutes. Barcelona was only ever going to play one way and that's what made the defeat rather disappointing. Ferguson's only tactic seemed to be to bung Ronaldo up front so he can take pot-shots, hoping one would go in and be the winning goal and so the Portuguese star would stay at United next season. But Ronaldo took that formation as an opportunity to try and show off and try and out do Lionel Messi, which didn't work, of course. But it's had the opposite effect on him and he knows Barca is now the only show in town and La Liga in Madrid is the place where he can be part of that.

On the widest pitch in Europe Ronaldo and Gigg's needed to be out on the wing tips whipping balls in and Tevez (not Park) and Rooney on the end of them. The players that could do the damage were isolated and so we lost. Fergie didn't have a plan to beat Barca and so we should have played for penalties.

Barcelona's midfield was impressive to say the least and dominated the ball and the game, their equally impressive untried manger at just 38 years young and an incredible story, Guardiola the first Spanish league manager to win the treble of the Spanish Cup, La Liga and the Champions League in its history.

-The Nou Camp Stadium Trophy Cabinet-

FC Barcelona is one of only three clubs never to be relegated from the Spanish top league so the cabinet is rather full. They are still second to Real Madrid trophy wise but with a three hundred million Euros coming in annually they are Europe and so the world's third richest club and catching fast.

La Liga

Winners 19 times: 1929, 1937, 1945, 1948, 1949, 1952, 1953, 1959, 1960, 1974, 1985, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1998, 1999, 2005, 2006, 2009

Copa Del Rey (record 25 wins)

Winners: 1910, 1912, 1913, 1920, 1922, 1925, 1926, 1928, 1942, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1957, 1959, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1978, 1981, 1983, 1988, 1990, 1997, 1998, 2009

Supercopa de España

Winners (7): 1983, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2005, 2006

Copa de la Liga

Winners (2): 1983, 1986

-Major international competitions-

Champions League

Winners (3): 1992, 2006, 2009

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup

Winners (A record 4): 1979, 1982, 1989, 1997

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (the forerunner to the UEFA Cup)

Winners (3): 1958, 1960, 1966

European Super Cup

Winners (2): 1992, 1997

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The Nou Camp Stadium

The 'Nou Camp' is the largest football stadium in Europe with a capacity of 98,772 seats and a small standing section pushing them over 100,000. Barcelona are very popular; around 25% of all Spain's population supporting the club, while also enjoying being the most popular football club in Europe with around 44 million fans, more even than Manchester United. It has 150,000 plus 'socis' (members) , the Catalan club also placed among the top football clubs in the world with the most registered members, and the number of 'penyes', officially-registered supporter clubs, some 1,700 plus worldwide to date. The fans of FC Barcelona are known as 'culers'. The club shares a great rivalry with Real Madrid, known as El Clásico, when they play. Barcelona recently beat them 6-2 on their patch, a record win.

The club is owned by the socis and they vote on lost of things, although not quite Ebbsfleet United. It's a members club in the traditional sense and has a strong beating Catalan heart. The ground is very impressive and even in the nosebleed bucket seats the atmosphere and sheer size of the thing washes over you. There's a small standing area behind the goal for the hardcore fans that bang the drums and wave the huge flags and ticket prices are very fair. Access to the ground is very good with metro coming in at all angles and with bus and huge car parks everywhere one of the best to get to in Europe.

The museum is excellent and the trophy room astounding, more glitter than Puff Daddy's underwear draw. When I did the trip in the 90s it cost about six quid and it lasts a along as you want it to, guides and refreshments available, free tapas on the day I was there. With translations and a big souvenir shop its well worth a trip up there just for the tour. Their footy season is over now and doesn't restart until September.

Match day ticket prices in the mid nineties were cheaper than the premiership although there's a lot of season ticket holders at the Nou Camp and so the best deals harder to get. My mates paid £23x2 last year for league game up near the floodlights and cherry pickers so its well worth taking in game on your holidays, Barcelona quite simply a stunning venue for a city break, or perhaps jump on the excellent rail links from the costal resorts of nearby Stitges or the Costa Blanca to get into the city for some footy.


-The Players-

Barcelona have averaged three goals a game this season with Henry, Messi and Eto`o sharing exactly 100 of them, Eto`o bagging 37 of those. If you're going to see a game in Europe next year then this would be the team to watch. I would pay good money to see Messi, Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets run Espanyol, Barcelona's other team, ragged. They perhaps need another striker and the defence is getting old. But their touch is magical and I'm off to look at some of Messi`s goals on Youtube...


Current squad

No. Position Player

1 GK Víctor Valdés
2 DF Martín Cáceres
3 DF Gerard Piqué
4 DF Rafael Márquez
5 DF Carles Puyol (captain)
6 MF Xavi (vice-captain)
7 MF Eiður Guðjohnsen
8 MF Andrés Iniesta (3º vice-captain)
9 FW Samuel Eto'o
10 FW Lionel Messi
11 FW Bojan Krkić
13 GK José Manuel Pinto
14 FW Thierry Henry
15 MF Seydou Keita
16 DF Sylvinho
18 DF Gabriel Milito
20 DF Dani Alves
21 FW Aliaksandr Hleb
22 DF Éric Abidal
24 MF Yaya Touré
25 GK Albert Jorquera
27 FW Pedro Rodríguez
28 MF Sergi Busquets
29 DF Víctor Sánchez

-Wiki Records-

Migueli holds both records for number of total and Liga appearances for Barcelona with a total of 548 games, and 391 in La Liga. Most recently, Xavi, vice-captain of the club, reached 470 games for the club.

Barcelona's all time top goal scorer in official competitions is César Rodríguez, a Spaniard, who has scored 235 goals. Ladislao Kubala is in second place with 196 goals. .


http://www.fcbarcelona.com/web/english/
(Facts care/off wikipedia)

Summary: Howa club should be won