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All About FC Barcelona Football Tickets

It's official now. Thierry Henri's contract with FC Barcelona Football Club has been rescinded and he has joined NY Red Bulls. But the star strikers of the magnificent football club have vowed their allegiance to the club. There is Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol and the charismatic Villa, who will be seen playing for Barca again this Spanish LFP season.
Barcelona matches have always attracted thousands of spectators and the Camp Nou, the home stadium of FC Barcelona has been witness to myriads of historical matches where the club clinched the winning glory. The matches are planned a year in advance and so are the tickets also booked, that is a year in advance. Being a true Barcelona fan, you cannot afford to miss the match where the club takes on the Athletico Madrid or Valencia. The A+++ rating of the club is proof enough of its ever increasing popularity and thus accounts for the low availability of football tickets for the club's matches.
If you are eager to behold a winning football club as FC Barcelona maraud the opponents but are hindered only due to non-availability of tickets, then there is a reason to cheer up. It is now relatively easier to get the football tickets that too at such dream prices that will leave you astonished. No more buying tickets in black for almost triple the principle amount. Best Barcelona football tickets are now easy to come by and now you know where!
The history of the club is no mean one. The club has been around for 112 years now and such stalwarts like Diego Maradona and Johan Cruyff have played for this iconic football club. It holds six grand titles to its name including major Spanish Titles and the FIFA club World Cup. Seeing the men in Barca colours play is a real treat to the eyes and a true FC Barcelona fan would miss it for nothing, least for unavailability of football tickets.
You can buy FC Barcelona Football Tickets online. There are special football packages which are designed for the fans. These packages include a-ring football tickets for the match as well as a chance to explore the graceful city. Barcelona as a city har a charm of its own and some of the major tourist attractions are housed here. The special football tickets package comprises of tickets for the match, stay at a four star hotel for two nights, specifically Saturday and Sunday. The price will also include the cost of breakfast at the hotel before you leave for the day's excursion. In addition to all this, the fans buying the football package will also get two FC Barcelona souvenirs. Isn't it just superb?
All this means no queuing up outside the ticket booths, no paying extra charges to the black marketers, a chance to book the favourite seats if well on time and also roam about the gorgeous city of Barcelona and savour the finest Spanish cuisine.

Nadav Bar Kama is the author of this article on Fc Barcelona.
Find more information about Barcelona here.

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Adidas F50 Messi Soccer Cleats

Lionel Messi, Argentina born soccer player has showcased a wonderful and an outstanding performance in the grounds. The numerous awards and the highly acknowledged World Soccer player of the year award for the year 2009 justify his performances all throughout. With such a wonderful sporting quality and ability, it is obvious for the player to have a huge fan following. Soccer is amongst the most famous sport played, hence, the fan following for the game as well as the star increases automatically. Therefore, various companies have introduced Messi soccer gear for his fans.
The popularity of the Messi football accessories can be seen by the various brands and personalized kits named after the soccer star. Various shoe brands along with various soccer apparels and kit brands have used the last name of the star soccer player in order to increase their revenue. This not only increases the sales of the products, but also let the fans feels close to the soccer player.
The famous soccer player was recently seen promoting his personalized F50 Messi soccer cleats launched by Adidas. It is to be noted that Messi is in a long five year contract with the famous sport shoe brand, Adidas. The popularity range of the Adidas Messi football cleats can be noticed by the continuously rising sales revenue of the pair of soccer shoes.
Lionel Messi can be seen wearing the Adidas F50 Messi soccer cleats during most of his games. The unique range of Messi football cleats is available in metallic gold, black and white range of colors. The pair of cleats may seem similar to the other pair of cleats designed with a minute detailing and trimming differences, but, the major difference is that they have the famous and renowned name Messi attached to it.
The design of the exquisite Messi soccer shoes is done keeping in mind the ground quality and the level of comfort needed while playing. Needless to say, the Messi soccer cleats fit like a skin to the feet of the player offering an excellent level of comfort to the feet. The synthetic structure of the cleats reduces the weight to a great extent letting the player offer a wonderful amount of foot work in the fields. The increased support and stability is offered to the player by the synthetic features the TPU and PU fibers offers to the Messi soccer cleats. The firm ground sole plate of the cleats offers the players a firm grip while playing preventing them from falling down.

Messisoccer.com offers its customers a wide range and patterns of Messi soccer cleats. The organization is formed especially for all the soccer lovers the world over. With the aim to become the largest wholesale trader for soccer cleats, it offers such high quality that customers can rely upon.

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Barcelona - More Than a Club?

If Barcelona is considered more than a club, then El Clasico is certainly more than a game, such is the importance of this fixture that it is often depicted as a re enactment of the Spanish civil war, Real Madrid representing the oppression and fascist dictatorship of the Franco era, a time when to be a Barcelona fan was to stand for freedom, to rebel against adversity, this is how Barcelona became more than a club. So historically Real Madrid would always be cast as the stereotypical villain in the soap opera that is "El Clasico".
History put to one side, modern day interpretations of the two teams would dictate who shall be cast as the villain in this struggle. Real Madrid with their free spending nature, flexing their financial muscles every summer to assemble a new team of superstars known as "Galacticos", unashamedly paying above the odds for players, inflating the transfer market almost single handedly. The man they have had the helm, the self titled, "special one", the man who some have accused of inventing "anti football". Mourinho is totally obsessed with the result, and he achieves results more often than not, at the expense of attractive football. His teams are an example of tactical/organisational skills over flair, the ultimate example being last years Champions league semi final, two legged victory over, none other than Barcelona.
Barcelona, in stark contrast would be considered the peoples champions. The team for the purists, an indigenous bunch of players raised with the ideals of the club instilled into them from an early age. These ideals of total football, and a philosophy of attractive football, brought to the club by the Dutch legend Johan Cruyff. Cruyff employed these ideals to become the most successful manager in the clubs history. Who better to ensure the continuity of these very ideals only current manager Josep Guardiola (captain of Cruyff's dream team).
So with the contest poised as such, good Vs bad, freedom Vs oppression, purist Vs pragmatist, the shock 5-0 victory for Barcelona at the Camp Nou, should be celebrated by all football lovers and should be considered a victory for football right? WRONG. Barcelona have shown us that they deserve to be considered our champions, I am running out of superlatives to describe the way in which they play the beautiful game. So as our champions they should represent the game with honesty and integrity right? At the risk of alienating mass amounts of sports fans, I am going to attempt to highlight how Barcelona have been anything but good champions for the beautiful game. They are almost untouchable in the media on account of the brand of football they playing being so alluring, any wrong doing is either ignored or worse, severely misconstrued in the papers and by football analysts.
Victory for football
Allow me to take you back to the champions league semi final 2009, Stamford Bridge, where Chelsea hearts were broke by a late Andreas Iniesta goal in the dying embers of the game. Despite the fact that this equalizer was Barcelona's solitary shot on target that night. Despite the fact that Chelsea had several, legitimate penalty claims turned down, despite the fact that Josep Guardiola and his staff showed little to no decorum in flooding the technical area, harassing the fourth official and, with an over zealous goal celebration nearly incited an already hostile home crowd. Despite the fact that Guss Hiddink architected an almost flawless defensive display, this night was hailed as a "victory for football". A victory for football because it was Barcelona and it catered for the Hollywood final between Manchester Utd and the Catalans.

The Fabregas issue
In a transfer market where there is constant scandal in relation to the tapping up of players. Barcelona demonstrate supreme arrogance in their pursuit of Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas, inciting an intense media campaign including several stage managed pronouncements from some of their own stars. It is as though Barcelona consider themselves the rightful owner of the player (who left their "La Masia" youth academy for London when he was less than 15 years old) due to the fact that they were so involved in the moulding of the player, I wonder if they would be as understanding should Newell's Old Boys claim responsibility for the moulding of Lionel Messi. Once more the Catalan giants are depicted as the good guys, with Arsene Wenger playing out the role of big bad wolf as he holds the player captive at the club he is contractually obliged to play for. What Barcelona have done is clever manipulation of one of the most powerful weapons in a clubs arsenal (for want of a better word), the media. By ensuring the player states he does not want to play for anyone else other than Barcelona it means they know there is no competition for his signature, thus reducing his market value drastically. The most probable eventuality is that Cesc Fabregas will see out his "sentence" at Arsenal diligently like the professional that he is, at which time he will return to Catalonia as a free agent. Barcelona will get their "entitlement" and Arsenal will get nothing.
Tactical frailties ignored / Sore Losers
Allow me to once more take you back to a champions league semi final 2nd leg, this time it is 2010 and Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan to everyones surprise lead Barcelona 3-1 going into the Camp Nou, thanks to an extremely efficient and impressive display at the San Siro. The game took a drastic turn when Thiago Motta was sent off on account of a cynical act of cowardice from Sergio Busquettes, as he lay writhing in agony on the ground, the Spaniard can be seen to peer out between the hands he weeps into, checking to see if his actions had the desired effect. They had, Inter were down to ten men. The special ones hand was forced, this was the biggest task he had yet to face. Could Jose's ten men keep the creative force that is Barcelona at bay? Boy did he deliver.
Mourinho wielded the tactical noose around the game and exposed frailties in the Barcelona tactics. Inter allowed the ball to Barcelona but limited their options with it by only making a challenge within 25 yards of their own goal, Inter were not controlling the ball, but they were still controlling the space. Xavi and Busquets still dominated the ball, of course, but they were forced to shift it wide to Alves (who had a poor game) or Gabriel Milito, who was not comfortable on the ball. Barca always had ten players to get past, and their tendency to shoot from long-range demonstrated the fact that they were simply finding it impossible to play through Inter. Barcelona were found to have no plan B and continued to play Messi through the middle in an attempt to gnaw away and erode Inters water tight defensive wall. Barcelona completed 555 passes compared to Inter's 67, and produced the most dominant display of possession in European competition this year, 86%. And yet, for all that - how many times did they actually get the ball into serious goalscoring positions?
Barcelona so rarely having to adapt due to the sheer brilliance were undone by the same tactics that when employed by Guss Hiddinks Chelsea so very nearly yielded success the year before. I do not expect Barcelona to be infallible, but you must play, win and lose like a champion. Barcelona having been outwitted fair and square by Mourinho's 10 men, behaved like a spoiled brat who would take the ball in with him. As Mourinho relished the success of his pragmatic approach, he was leapt upon by Victor Valdes and no sooner had the Inter players began to celebrate when the sprinklers were turned on in the Camp Nou, literally raining on Inters parade in a sickening example of sore losing. Is this the example we want our champions to set?
In the aftermath of that game, the footballing world cast their flags at half mast. Not because of Barcelona's childish act of petulance, not because of Sergio Busquettes' gross misconduct and demonstration of the moral decay that so obviously exists in today's game. No none of these reasons, the footballing world mourned simply because, the wizard Mourinho, with his pragmatic approach had reminded everyone that tactics win football games. "Anti football" had won out on this occasion.
Tainted Victory
So on a night when Barcelona were the embodiment of all their ideals and showcased all the skills we know and love that they possess in abundance. They were every bit the champions in the way they played, they lacked character in what could have been one of they're greatest nights in an illustrious history. The man who is meant to embody all the ideals of this magnificent club, more than a club, the dynasty that is Barcelona, coach Pep Guardiola behaved like a child. At 2-0 and the game not out of Real Madrid's sight, Guardiola shows the ball to Cristiano Ronaldo before throwing the ball away in an act of total disrespect for one of the greatest players to ever play the game. If you can't act with grace when you are winning 2-0 and playing the best football ever seen, its difficult to ascertain when indeed one can show grace, just cause you are a character does not mean you have character. Victor Valdes ran a greater distance than most wingers as he frequented the centre circle with 60 yard bursts upfield to "firefight" any dispute. Now I am not claiming Real Madrid or Jose Mourinho to be model citizens by any means but the point is that they by no means claim to be. Barcelona, more than just a club, a lot more.

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History & Progress of FC Barcelona Football Club

You can visit the fantastic city of Barcelona, if you want to have wonderful football vacation in Europe. The fabulous capital of Catalonia certainly is one of the top venues to enjoy football in Europe. Located on the mouths of Llobregat & Besòs Rivers on the Mediterranean coast, Barcelona surely is a perfect destination for football.
Football is the first passion for the Catalan People. Probably that was the reason that FIFA chose Barcelona as venue for several matches of the 1982 Football World Cup. The magnificent city is widely known for FC Barcelona or Futbol Club Barcelona, which is one of the major sports clubs of Europe.
The Club is best known for its Football team, but the club also has teams for rugby, wheelchair basketball, ice hockey, athletics, baseball, cycling, field hockey, figure skating, and volleyball. Some of the Club's other known teams include FC Barcelona B (Football), FC Barcelona Women's Football, FCB Rugby, FC Barcelona-Institut Guttman, AXA FC Barcelona (Basketball), FC Barcelona Handball, FC Barcelona Futsal, and FC Barcelona Sorli Discau (Rink Hockey).
Founded by Joan Gamper with the support of a group of Swiss, English, and Catalan men in 1899, the Club is popularly known as Barca. The club has progressed brilliantly to virtually become the major sports institution of Catalonia. The Club's motto is "Més que un club," that literally means 'More than a club'.
In 1928, the Club teamed up with Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao to set up La Liga, and it became the first La Liga champion. The club has shown brilliant progress in Football, and has a great contribution to the Spanish and the European Football. The club has 18 La Liga, 24 Copa del Rey, 7 Supercopa de España, 32 Joan Gamper Trophy, 2 UEFA Champions League, 4 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, 3 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and 2 European Super Cup titles under its name to date.
The Club's football squad has one of the world's finest football players. Its football squad in 2007 included Víctor Valdés (vice-captain), Gabriel Milito, Rafael Márquez, Carles Puyol (captain), Xavi Hernández (vice-captain), Eiður Guðjohnsen, Andrés Iniesta, Samuel Eto'o, Ronaldinho (vice-captain), Gianluca Zambrotta, Thierry Henry, Edmílson, Sylvinho, Giovani dos Santos, Santiago Ezquerro, Lionel Messi, Deco, Lilian Thuram, Éric Abidal, Oleguer Presas, Yaya Touré, Albert Jorquera, Marc Crosas, Bojan Krki

Author writes for Holiday Velvet, a website providing listings for Hotels, Villas, Barcelona apartments, and Barcelona Football Tickets.

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Barcelona, Spain in February 2006 Was Fabulous

A short break from the English winter to the warmer climate of Barcelona, Spain in February 2006 sounded like an excellent idea.
After leaving London Luton Airport on a dull day to then fly to Barcelona and just before landing you look out of the window and see the end of the Pyrenees Mountains, the Mediterranean coat and the city itself.
The airport is located by the sea, but unlike Nice in the South of France you actually taxi around the airport for a considerable time before the plane arrives at one of the two terminals.
There are excellent bus connections to bring you into the city centre. You need to allow plenty of time to make your connections, particularly in the rush hour or if there are road works as there were in February.
Barcelona is the capital ofCataloniaand one of the most important ports in the Mediterranean; it's an eclectic mixture of Gothic, 'modernist' and contemporary architectural treasures.
Once there whenever possible try walking around, the place is so beautiful with elegant buildings. When you need to see the tourist attractions further from the city centre take the underground rail network or the bus.
All around are excellent view points and in the centre at the Placa Catalunya (where the Tourist office is located and a stop for the airport bus) is the Department Store El Cortes (National chain of Spanish department stores). Take a trip up the escalator to the 11th floor restaurant and enjoy the panoramic views.
A short bus ride will take you to its most famous landmark is the Sagrada Familia church. Although not consecrated as a cathedral yet, no doubt when completed it will become one. The fairy-tale like building in the northern part of the city centre. Its creator, Antoni Gaudi, commenced work on it in 1882 and concentrated all his energies on it until his untimely death in 1926, when he was run-over by a tram. The Sagrada Familia is still under construction and may take another 50 years to complete. You can visit its interior and take a lift to the top of the building and enjoy even more panoramic views
Gaudi was born in Reus, in the province of Tarragona in 1852 and was the undoubted leader of the 'modernist' movement that began in the second half of the 19th century.
If you want to see some of the most original buildings, which took the art nouveau concept to new heights, head for the L'Eixample area, to the north-west of the Ramblas (La Rambla) in the Barri Gothic area (Barri Gòtic), a stone's throw from the port.
The Barri Gothic 'quartier' is the oldest part of the city; a mix of narrow streets and beautiful squares and for lovers of Tapas bars, a paradise. The Taverna Del Bisbe, close to the Gothic cathedral, serves wonderful grilled fish such as calamars, which you can wash down with excellent Rioja. Jardi is a 2-star hotel in this area, which is clean, welcoming and won't burn a hole in your pocket. It's located in Plaça Sant Josep Oriol 1,Barri Gòtic.
Just of La Rambla in a small square is very interesting restaurant called the Taxidedermista that apart from having excellent cuisine has a part glass floor between the ground floor and the basement below. It is spacious, comfortable and welcoming. It's unusual to find memorable risotto outside of northern Italy but this eatery has found the formula. The pumpkin soup with spinach and mushroom garnish is magnificent, too.
If you are staying centrally unless you are full of energy for a long walk is a must to visit GUELL PARK in the north ot the city has wonderful views of Barcelona and the sea beyond. Another Gaudi masterpiece appeals to kids of all ages and, importantly, includes the house where Gaudi lived for many years, replete with the original furniture -- also created by the master architect/designer.
LA BARCELONETA at the sea was a shanty-beach before Barcelona was awarded the 1992 OLYMPIC GAMES. It was part of the Olympic Port area for the water sport activities of the Games and is close to the Olympic Village. There is a cluster of good, medium priced tapas bars and restaurants on the beach, including Agua, a neat restaurant that serves delicious food just a metre or so from the beach. There are two "twin towers" (but not identical twins) that are by the Port Olimpic that formed part of the Olympic village. You can also take a cable car ride from this location.

After a good evening meal whilst wandering around the Barri Gòtic try and find the L'Ascensor bar in the middle of the Barri Gothic quarter is an intimate little bar, ideal for a nightcap to finish the day's visits. Named after a "Lift - Elevator" you actually enter the premises via an old static wooden and glass lift from the 1930's
L'Eixample, north of the Barrio Gothic and west of Las Ramblas, is the district where most of the 'modernist' buildings of Gaudi and his contemporaries Puig and Domenech i Montaner created their original buildings for their clients in the second part of the 19th century. Definitely worth visiting.
TOUR AGBAR, CATALAN MUSIC MUSEUM -- Musica Hall is another superb piece of modernist architecture, created in the early 20th century by Lluis Domenech i Montamer. Although in February there were tours and concerts being held, it is too hot to be open during the hot months of the summer.
PLACA REIAL, close to the Ramblas, is elegant with its palm trees and elegant arcades.
CAMP NOU is home to the FC Barcelona club, currently the best in Spain and also winners of the 2006 UEFA Champions League in Europe in May. On the flight back from Barcelona there were several fans going to the match against Chelsea in London that night - A very cold west night, but they had left the warmth of this great city for the cold of London with high spirits and in good voice and even the immigration officers at passport control at London Luton had smiles on their faces. Maybe not had they been Chelsea fans as Barcelona beat them and also another London club - Arsenal in Paris to become the UEFA Champions of Europe.
Several days away in February - fantastic. To be eating out (admittedly under a gas heater and wearing a coat) at 11.00 at night in February. Drinking the Spanish version of a gin and to nice. Plenty of gin with ice and some tonic! Wearing a short sleeve shirt at lunch at the beach restaurant at La Barceloneta and the one time it rained it dried up within a few minutes and then to return to a wet and cold South of England.

Philip Suter is a Director of jml Property Services; http://www.jmlproperty.co.uk a UK based company offering Insurance products on line at http://www.jml-property-insurance.co.uk and a holiday home advertising service http://www.jmlvillas.com and management training within the uk. He a travel writer and is a very experienced property consultant with over 30 years work in the Residential letting business in the UK and served on the National Council of ARLA. He is a Fellow of the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) and a Member of The association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA)

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Unique and Stylish Barcelona Shirts

Barcelona Football Club was founded in 1899 by Joan Gamper a Swiss businessman. Now it has become very famous all over the world seeing every other person wearing a Barcelona shirt. This club´s international nature is a unique quality since the beginning of this club. Its international nature can be seen in the very title of the club which is the original Anglican version of its name Futbol Club Barcelona, instead of the formal Spanish version Club de Futbol Barcelona.
Barcelona plays its home games at Avenida Arstides Maillol, Camp Nou, Barcelona, which is officially known as Nou Estadi del Futbol Club Barcelona.
Barcelona which has a nickname Barca wear home shirts of red and blue. The main attraction of the shirts worn by Barcelona club is that they are the only club who do not have a sponsor´s name or logo on the front of their kit.
In launching the new Barcelona Away Kit 2010, Nike has created some great imagery which uses the stars of Barcelona, to strengthen their 'Write The Future' message. This imagery displays the passion, energy, enthusiasm, drama and emotions endured by Gerard Pique, Dani Alves and Sergi Busquets over 90 minutes. It also highlights that how one moment of a player's performance can change the mood of entire game and can 'Write The Future'.
This new shirt is a symbol of energy and spirit and the wearer can feel its force. The good thing about these shirts is that anyone can buy them. These shirts are getting very much in fashion after the World Football Cup. Mainly they are famous among young people who wear them with a certain spirit and energy.
Shirts of Barcelona are available for both men and women. All made of quality fabric and great colour combination spread a aura of youth and energy. Barcelona club keep on changing their shirts. But, the colour combination and the style of their shirts leave people spellbound.

For more information on barcelona shirt, check out the info available online; these will help you learn to find the Barcelona Away Shirt!

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barca

RCD Espanyol or the Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona is a Catalan football club, which was formed in 1900; it boasts an incredible record in the Spanish La Liga over the past few decades. RCD Espanyol's strengths have been in the youth academy and the club is extremely popular for spotting and nurturing young Spanish talent. The team is based in Barcelona and their home ground is Estadi Cornellà-El Prat, which has a capacity of seating 40,000. The team has won the Spanish league three times and was considered a force to reckon with in the late 80's.
Today, the RCD Espanyol football team is still popular among the locals and boasts a large number of fans from Europe and America. Tourists visiting Spain who are fans of football should include watching a football match at the Estadi Cornellà-El Prat as a must-do on their travel itinerary list. Matches between this team and FC Barcelona, the team's rivals are particularly exciting and the enthusiasm expressed by football fans in Spain is something that every traveller to the country must see for themselves.
Some of Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona's signings include the Japanese playmaker, Nakamura from Glasgow Celtic, whose range of passing is expected to be an asset to the Catalan club. Other popular players in the Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona club include Ben Sahar, forwarder Jose Maria, Raul Tamudo and Luis Garcia. Their defence is also quite solid with Nicholas Pareja and David Garcia
One of the most popular players in the team's history was the late captain Dani Jarque, who died in 2009. After Jarque's demise, Ivan de la Pena, a veteran midfielder took over this position. Espanyol are currently ranked 9th in the La Liga and are only 13 points behind their league leaders and rivals, Barcelona.

Jeremy lives and works in Spain dealing with Barcelona Karting and Barcelona Stag weekends and spends his spare time playing golf and reading.

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Get Football Tickets For Barcelona Weekends

Crazy about football? What clubs do you like the most? Is it European style or the American style of football that fascinates you?
Well, what ever may be your answer; I am a hardcore fan of Barcelona and right now I shall be providing information for football club Barcelona, football tickets Barcelona and current football squad Barcelona and overall the successful achievements Barcelona.
Barcelona football club better known as FC Barcelona (Futbol Club Barcelona) was established in the year 1899 by Joan Gamper. It is called Barca in short.
The official anthem of FC Barcelona is El Cant del Barça.
FC Barcelona is one of the most successful club in Spanish football and have created record by winning various domestic competitions notably the Copa del Rey cup twenty-five times, Supercopa de España cup eight times and Copa de la Liga cup twice. Other than these, it has also won the prestigious La Liga cup twenty times.
FC Barcelona has also achieved glory from certain European championships. It has won the UEFA Cup Winner's Cup a record four times and Inter-Cities Fairs Cup a record three times. It has also won UEFA Champions League three times.
But the most prestigious honor came for Barcelona in year 2009, when it emerged as the champions in the worldwide challenge "FIFA Club World Cup". It is also in this year, that it won the TREBLE (winning the three championships namely La Liga, Copa del Rey and Champions League in a calendar year), making it the only club in Spain to do so.
FC Barcelona also has its own stadium known as Camp Nou which has a capacity of 98,772 populations approximately. It is an UEFA Elite Stadium and is the home ground for FC Barcelona. It has hosts various top football matches both at domestic as well international level.
Notable and famous footballers from all over the world had played in Barca and still it has renowned icon players as their members.
Diego Maradona (Argentina), Gary Linekar (England), Johan Cruijff (Netherlands), Ronaldo (Brazil), Luis Figo (Portugal), Thierry Henry (France), Ronaldinho (Brazil) and Lionel Messi (Argentina) are some to name from its huge list.
Currently the chief coach for Barca is Josep Guardiola.
For Barcelona football tickets, you need to simply log on to one of the various websites present. Just check the dates and book the ticket to witness your favorite team in action!
For football fans, watching Barca play at the mighty Nou Camp stadium is a must, where you can't escape the vibrant environment that the supporters create.

For more information on madrid football tickets, check out the info available online; these will help you learn to find the valencia football tickets!

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Italian Food in Barcelona: Calzone Pizza

Calzone Pizza at La Tagliatella, Barcelona, Spain [enlarge]

Nothing like well presented food to welcome guests into a restaurant. Besides growing your appetite, it creates a mood. Who is not thrilled by Italian food and the pleasures of Mediterranean recipes? The sight of this calzone pizza at the entrance of La Tagliatella (Mallorca, 266) couldn't be more appealing. The fact this is a franchise does not mean you can't have a good meal sometimes. I have used a strong vignette to give it a sort of old silent movie effect. Here is an interesting Calzone recipe: Meat Feast Calzone via BBC

Guardiola firma 1 año más con el Barça

El técnico del Barça, Pep Guardiola ha firmado por fin su nuevo contrato con el club, que le amplia el contrato por un año más (hasta 2012), subiéndole el sueldo de 8 a 10 millones de euros. Guardiola tenía así lo que quería, renovar de 1 año en 1 año. Con esto se cierra otro "culebrón" en cuanto a las renovaciones se refiere, tras la renovación de Busquets, Pep ha sido el siguiente y se espera que el próximo sea Alves. La afición puede celebrar por fin la renovación del técnico que ha construido lo que muchos llaman "El mejor equipo de la historia", tras conseguir 8 títulos oficiales en 2 temporadas, y con números de récord en esta, con el Barça líder en liga, en la final de Copa y en octavos de la Champions.

Felicidades Guardiola.

Guardiola firma 1 año más con el Barça

Felicidades Guardiola.

Romantic Gardens: Horta Labyrinth Park in Barcelona

Horta Labyrinth Park in Barcelona or Parc del Laberint d'Horta [enlarge]

Horta Labyrinth Park in Barcelona or Parc del Laberint d'Horta as it is known in Catalan is one of those places you should not miss and yet generally overlooked due to its location in the upper limits of the city near Collserola mountains. This combination of neoclassical and romantic garden has been featured in Barcelona Photoblog before: Parc del Laberint, the Romantic Maze at Horta District so I am not going to talk about history. This time I want to remind you that Saint Valentine is just a week away and what better than a Romantic garden and the privacy of a young couple to welcome such beautiful celebration. Have you made up your mind on your St. Valentine gifts?

De Fútbol Club Barcelona a Fútbol Récord Barcelona

FCBARCELONA 3-0 ATLETICO DE MADRID

Llegaba la vigesimo segunda jornada con el partido estelar entre el FCBarcelona que recibía al At. de Madrid en el Camp Nou, el Barça buscaba conseguir la decimosexta victoria consecutiva en liga, lo que rompería un récord histórico, que consiguió el R. Madrid de Di Stéfano, EL Atlético de Madrid buscaría ganar para no alejarse de su objetivo, clasificarse para la Champions. Para afrontar el partido Guardiola optaría con el equipo de gala: Valdés, Alves, Piqué, Abidal, Maxwell; Xavi, Busquets, Iniesta; Messi, Pedro y Villa, en la alineación del Atlético sorprendía la suplencia de Diego Forlán, que se quedaba fuera del once inicial por decisión técnica.

Los primeros minutos de la primera parte comenzaron con el balón dominado por el Barça en todo momento, pero con una defensa bien ordenada para impedir la distribución del balón arriba, además, Quique Sánchez Flores había fortalecido la banda izquierda con Filipe Luis y Antonio López para impedir las subidas de Alves. La primera jugada destacada se produjo en el minuto 16, cuando Messi hace una gran jugada individual rodeado de defensas atléticos y consigue lanzar el disparo desde la frontal del área, el balón pasa entre 5 defensas y consigue entrar a la portería de De Gea, poniendo el primer gol de la noche. Tras anotar el primer gol el Barça empezaba a recobrar su juego y a funcionar mejor en ataque. Pedro pudo anotar por sexto partido consecutivo en el 26, pero De Gea lo evitó despejando con los pies, pero en el minuto 27 Messi consiguió recibir el pase de Villa, tras tocarlo ligeramente el defensa y quedarse solo delante del portero, superando por bajo a De Gea y anotando su segundo gol de la noche. El Atlético intentó acortar en el marcador tras una buena jugada de Agüero, pero Abidal consiguió cortar el balón y enviarlo a córner. En el minuto 44 llegó la polémica del partido, cuando tras una dura falta de Alves, que le costó la amarilla, el Atlético lanzó rápido la falta, metiendo gol, pero el árbitro estaba anotando en su cuaderno y no autorizó a los colchoneros a lanzar la falta, con lo que el gol no fue valido, con esta acción el árbitro señaló el final de la primera parte.

La segunda parte comenzó con un cambio en el Atlético, Forlán sustituía a Mérida para aumentar en capacidad ofensiva. En el minuto 52 llegó la ocasión más clara para el Atlético, cuando Piqué sacó el balón en la línea de gol en el remate de Agüero, salvando así al equipo. El Barça no encontraba su juego en el comienzo de la segunda parte y el partido transcurría sin rumbo para ninguno de los dos equipos. En el minuto 67 el árbitro empañó un poco la actuación de Messi en el partido al mostrarle la tarjeta amarilla por lanzar una falta sin haber pitado, cosa que no hizo en la ocasión del Atlético al final de la primera parte. En el minuto 78 Messi sentenció el partido tras iniciar una jugada al borde del área, pasó el balón a Villa, que llega tras lanzarse al suelo, y en el pase del asturiano Messi de nuevo consigue golpear el balón antes que Godín y anota su tercer gol de la noche, sexto hat-trick de la temporada. Tras este gol Guardiola realizó los tres cambios, sacando a Keita, Afellay y Bojan por Iniesta, Xavi y Pedro respectivamente, con este cambio se anulaban las posibilidades de que Pedro superara a Cruyff por anotar por sexto partido consecutivo. En el minuto 88 el Atletico podía haber realizado el gol del honor, pero Valdés consiguió sacar muy bien el balón después de la combinación entre Forlán y Agüero. El árbitro decidió dar por finalizado el partido en el 93, convirtiendo a este Barça en el Barça de los récords, superando esta jornada otro más, y con este camino se acerca al mítico récord de los 107 goles en Liga. Messi, sin duda el hombre del partido, recibió el sexto balón del partido por su sexto hat-trick en la temporada, y con estos 3 goles vuelve a situarse como pichichi por delante de C. Ronaldo.

De Fútbol Club Barcelona a Fútbol Récord Barcelona

FCBARCELONA 3-0 ATLETICO DE MADRID

Barber Shop at Carrer Casanova 96, Barcelona

Don't ask me why but pictures of barber shops have a certain something. Maybe because both client and barber look so concentrated. The client telling the man the story of his life in a sort of confessional with no curtains or lattice partition. The barber doing his job with an eye on the haircut and his mind on his client's speech. Everybody knows that barbers are mixture of priest and psychologist. My God, the things you get to confess to your barber. This barber shop in particular you find at carrer Casanova, 96 in Barcelona.

Note: Now you can also catch some glimpses of Barcelona here: picplz. Pictures were taken with an Android mobile phone

Los suplentes cumplen como los titulares

UD ALMERIA 0-3 FCBARCELONA

Partido de vuelta de Copa que enfrentaba al Almería contra el Barça después del 5-0 de la ida, con este resultado se hacía de esperar un partido no demasiado bueno futbolísticamente, pues era un partido intrascendente salvo catástrofe, pues el Almería tenía que hacer 5 goles a favor y ninguno en contra para forzar la prórroga, así que era hora de dar oportunidades a los suplentes y jugadores del filial, por ello Guardiola sacó a: Pinto, Alves, Milito, Busquets, Adriano, Thiago, Mascherano, Keita, Afellay, Bojan y Nolito.

El partido comenzó con el balón controlado por el Barça desde el minuto 1, para evitar que pasara lo mismo que ante el Betis en la anterior eliminatoria, el Almería parecía salir a esperar al Barça en su área y buscar oportunidades a la contra. Tras unos pirmeros minutos cómodos para los dos equipos llegó la primera ocasión clara de gol, obra del Almería, cuando Feghouli consiguió realizar el primer tiro a puerta del Almería y estuvo cerca de anotar gol, pero el palo repelió el esférico. Hasta el momento el mejor jugador del partido estaba siendo sin duda Afellay, que era el jugador que más intentaba abrir el marcador, por otro lado Nolito no estaba rindiendo como se esperaba en esta primera parte. En el minuto 34 llegaría el primer gol de la noche, cuando Adriano consigue superar a 2 defensas y lanzar el balón hacia el palo largo de la portería de Esteban, anotando su primer gol como azulgrana y abriendo el marcador. El juego mostrado en los posteriores minutos seguiría siendo igual que el de toda la primera parte, con el Barça dueño y señor del partido.

La segunda parte comenzó con un cambio en la alineación azulgrana, pues Piqué, que cumplía 24 años, salía sutituyendo a Busquets, que llevaba una tarjeta amarilla y Guardiola prefirió no arriesgar por si se perdía el partido ante el At. de Madrid de liga. En el minuto 55 Alves realiza un gran centro al centro del área, donde Thiago consigue hacer un espectacular remate de cabeza, girando todo el cuerpo, para poner el balón en la escuadra de la portería de Esteban, consiguiendo el segundo gol de la noche que dejaba casi sentenciado el partido. Bojan tuvo su oportunidad de anotar cuando se quedó casi solo en carrera, pero el delantero se hizo un lio con el balón cuando un defensa le dio caza, y acabó perdiendo el balón. Un minuto después, en el 65, Afellay controla un pase en la frontal del área, entra con el balón y lanza un buen tiro al palo largo de Esteban, el balón pasa entre las piernas de un defensa y acaba entrando a la portería, haciendo el primer gol con la camiseta del Barça, gran gol del nuevo crack azulgrana, que hacía el tercer tanto del partido. Afellay vovió a tener oportunidad de anotar tras hacer una gran carrera, se quedó frente a Esteban, pero Ibi intentó hacer lo más dificil, anotar golpeando con el exterior, el balón salió desviado por el lateral de la portería. Bojan volvió a tener oportunidades de marcar, pero el delantero parece gafado de cara al gol, que lleva unos partidos que no consigue anotar a pesar de sus buenas ocasiones para conseguir, y el canterano mostraba su rabia dando una patada al palo. El árbitro decidió dar por concluido el partido con el resultado de 0-3 favorable al Barça, un 8-0 en el global de la eliminatoria, y haciendo un 16-0 entre liga y copa, excelentes numeros conseguidos por el Barça, que en definitiva, tiene tomada la medida ante los andaluces. El rival en la final del 20 de Abril será finalmente el R. Madrid, que venció al Sevilla con un global de 3-0, haciendo realidad la final so±ada entre los dos grandes del fútbol español y posiblemente europeo, que asegura además 2 clásicos más, ya que salvo que la liga no la gane ninguno de los 2, se verán las caras en la Supercopa de España a finales de Agosto.

Los suplentes cumplen como los titulares

UD ALMERIA 0-3 FCBARCELONA

La segunda parte comenzó con un cambio en la alineación azulgrana, pues Piqué, que cumplía 24 años, salía sutituyendo a Busquets, que llevaba una tarjeta amarilla y Guardiola prefirió no arriesgar por si se perdía el partido ante el At. de Madrid de liga. En el minuto 55 Alves realiza un gran centro al centro del área, donde Thiago consigue hacer un espectacular remate de cabeza, girando todo el cuerpo, para poner el balón en la escuadra de la portería de Esteban, consiguiendo el segundo gol de la noche que dejaba casi sentenciado el partido. Bojan tuvo su oportunidad de anotar cuando se quedó casi solo en carrera, pero el delantero se hizo un lio con el balón cuando un defensa le dio caza, y acabó perdiendo el balón. Un minuto después, en el 65, Afellay controla un pase en la frontal del área, entra con el balón y lanza un buen tiro al palo largo de Esteban, el balón pasa entre las piernas de un defensa y acaba entrando a la portería, haciendo el primer gol con la camiseta del Barça, gran gol del nuevo crack azulgrana, que hacía el tercer tanto del partido. Afellay vovió a tener oportunidad de anotar tras hacer una gran carrera, se quedó frente a Esteban, pero Ibi intentó hacer lo más dificil, anotar golpeando con el exterior, el balón salió desviado por el lateral de la portería. Bojan volvió a tener oportunidades de marcar, pero el delantero parece gafado de cara al gol, que lleva unos partidos que no consigue anotar a pesar de sus buenas ocasiones para conseguir, y el canterano mostraba su rabia dando una patada al palo. El árbitro decidió dar por concluido el partido con el resultado de 0-3 favorable al Barça, un 8-0 en el global de la eliminatoria, y haciendo un 16-0 entre liga y copa, excelentes numeros conseguidos por el Barça, que en definitiva, tiene tomada la medida ante los andaluces. El rival en la final del 20 de Abril será finalmente el R. Madrid, que venció al Sevilla con un global de 3-0, haciendo realidad la final soñada entre los dos grandes del fútbol español y posiblemente europeo, que asegura además 2 clásicos más, ya que salvo que la liga no la gane ninguno de los 2, se verán las caras en la Supercopa de España a finales de Agosto.

Man Napping

Resuming my topic on not so touristic issues here is another shot showing people that in one way or the other are neglected by our society or live their particular personal drama which indirectly leads them into a similar status. I am not sure this is a homeless man, judging by the leather jacket, but obviously the nap is not that you have after a copious meal. Whatever the situation is, I thought the picture could help bringing up the idea of precariousness and other social hardships in Barcelona. The place, a park in carrer Aragó at the intersection with Enric Granados.

Modernist Building, Rambla Catalunya 61 next to Arago St.

Newly restored modernist building on the corner of Rambla Catalunya and Carrer Arago. Located exactly at Rambla Catalunya 61 this apartment building with offices to rent (I have seen one with 150 square meters advertised for 2500 EUR/month!) immediately grabs our attention for that interesting combination of undulated balconies, exuberant ironwork and glass covered galleries. I think you should examine this Eixample quarter Art Nouveau gem closer in Google street view: Modernist House Rambla Catalunya 61.

Simplemente invencibles

HERCULES CF 0-3 FCBARCELONA

El segundo partido de la segunda vuelta enfrentaría al Barça con el único equipo capaz de derrotarle en liga, el Hércules, el Barça afrontaba el partido con el récord de llevar pldno fuera de casa y con el récord de llevar 14 victorias consecutivas en liga, si conseguía la victoria en Alicante, igualaría el récord que posee el R.Madrid de 15 victorias consecutivas conseguidas en los años de Di Stefano. Guardiola sabía que sería un partido duro y por ello sacaría el mejor once posible, sacando a: Víctor Valdés; Alves, Piqué, Abidal y Maxwell; Sergio Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta; Pedro, Messi y Villa. En la alineación del Hércules sorprendía que no estaba una de las estrellas del equipo, Drenthe, que ni siquiera estaba en la convocatoria por decisión técnica.

El partido comenzaba como se esperaba, con el balón tocado por el Barça y el Hércules bien cerrado atrás, defendiendo bien en dos líneas en cada ataque azulgrana. La primera ocasión que pudo acabar en gol ocurrió en el minuto 10 cuando Messi recibe el pase de Pedro, pero el tiro del argentino se marchó fuera, cerca del poste de la portería alicantina. Pedro tuvo su primera ocasión clara en el minuto 14, cuando consiguió lanzar un tremendo disparo hacia portería, pero Calatayud se lució en la parada y consiguió despejar el balón. El ataque del Barça era constante, pero el Hércules también tuvo su ocasión de adelantarse en el minuto 19, cuando Valdez consiguió pasar el balón en largo que recibió desde el centro del campo, pero por suerte Trezeguet no estuvo fino en el remate delante de Valdés, y el balón se perdió cerca del palo de la portería azulgrana, poniendo el susto en el cuerpo de la afición culé. El Barça controlaba el balón pero no tenía suerte de cara al gol, la defensa del Hércules estaba bien posicionada y repelía el balón a base de recibir balonazos, y cuando no era la defensa era Juan Jesús Calatayud el que despejaba la bola, haciendo inútil el constante ataque azulgrana. Pero el trabajo en ataque da sus frutos, en el minuto 43 Xavi encuentra a Pedro sólo en el área y conecta un gran pase que hace que Pedro quede frente al portero, y el canario no perdona y pone el balón en el palo corto y consigue superar a Calatayud, poniendo el 0-1 en el marcador. Y con ese resultado se llegó al final de la primera parte.

La segunda parte comenzó igual que el transcurso de la primera, constante ataque del Barça, con ocasiones repelidas por la defensa y el portero. Villa fue el realizador de la primera ocasión clara de gol, cuando conseguía tirar un buen tiro desde la frontal del área, pero el balón pasó cerca del palo de la portería de Calatayud. Xavi también tuvo oportunidad de anotar, cuando lanzó un gran tiro de fuera del área con efecto a la escuadra, pero el lanzamiento se marchó fuera. En el minuto 64 el asistente consideró que Pedro estaba fuera de juego y le anuló un gol, que hubiera sido el segundo de la noche. El partido transcurría con la opción de que el Hércules pudiera empatar el partido sin hacer gran cosa en ataque, hacía falta un segundo gol para sentenciar lo que parecía un partido controlado, pero el partido se estaba agotando y el Barça no podía conseguir el gol de la tranquilidad. En el minuto 84, Farinós, que entró en la mitad de la segunda parte vio la segunda amarilla por una fea entrada a Busquets, sin duda, merecedora de amarilla, el jugador se marchaba indignado por su actuación. Y por fin, en el minuto 87, Messi consiguió sentenciar el partido cuando dribló a los defensas fuera del área y consiguió disparar al palo cruzado superando a Calatayud con un gran disparo. Posteriormente, Guardiola decidió realizar doble cambio sacando a Nolito y Keita por Villa y Xavi. Y en el siguiente minuto Messi puso el broche final al partido al empujar el balón a la red tras el pase de Alves que le dejó sólo delante de la portería. Pep agotaría los cambios en el minuto 90, cuando sacó a Afellay por Iniesta. La última ocasión del partido sería obra de Nolito, que estuvo cerca de ganar la carrera a Calatayud, pero el portero estuvo rápido y atrapó el balón, y el árbitro decidió pitar el final del partido, el Barça lograba su 15º victoria consecutiva igualando el récord de la temporada 60/61, Pedro conseguiría anotar por sexta jornada consecutiva, superando a Messi en la presente temporada y consiguiendo el registro que tuvo Ronaldo en la temporada 96/97.