Barcelona: The biggest name in Spanish football

09 October 2015 10:20

When I was a young lad getting into the beautiful game Liverpool was the best team around,but there was one name that seemed to transcend even them. That name was Real Madrid, the Spanish superstars with a fantastic history and trophy collection to match.

Back in those days it was hard enough watching English matches never mind La Liga and Serie A, but I read all the history books. Real Madrid were the inaugural European champions winning five times in row and had the impressive fortress of a stadium in the 85,044-capacity Santiago Bernabéu.

The first time I watched Real Madrid play was the defeat to Liverpool in the 1980-81 European cup final. Despite this defeat, whenever Spanish football was mentioned Real Madrid was the name that sprang to mind.

Real Madrid have won the Spanish title a record 39 times, the Copa del Rey 19 times, a record 10 European cup/Champions leagues, 4 club world cups, 2 UEFA cups, 2 UEFA Super cups and 9 Supercopa de Espana.

However, recently the talk of Spanish football is not the Los Blancos (The Whites) but of their El Clásico rivals Barcelona. The Blaugrana and the little magician Lionel Messi have stolen Real Madrid’s thunder.

There is often a fierce rivalry between the two strongest teams in a national league, and this is particularly the case in La Liga. 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.

Real Madrid may still have a team of superstars, Galactico’s if you will, but over the last ten years Barcelona have been the dominant side in Spain and on the continent. They have been playing some of the most beautiful football seen since the days of Dutch total football. Unsurprisingly both styles had the same architect in Johan Cruyff.

Under Cruyff's guidance, Barcelona won four consecutive La Liga titles from 1991 to 1994. They beat Sampdoria in both the 1989 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final and the 1992 European Cup final at Wembley.

Barcelona’s Tiki-taka style of play has propelled them to world domination and left Real Madrid and Ronaldo et al trailing. But don’t just believe me, compare the trophy count since 2005.

Barcelona

La Liga: 7
Champions League: 4
Copa del Rey: 3
UEFA Super Cup: 3
FIFA Club World Cup: 2

Real Madrid

La Liga: 3
Champions League: 1
Copa del Rey: 2
UEFA Super Cup: 1
FIFA Club World Cup: 1

The facts speak for themselves, Messi, Suarez, Neymar and co’ are full on favourites to lift the club world cup again this winter and are also hotly tipped for the Champions league and La Liga once again.

Source: DSG