Futbol Club Barcelona is a professional
association football club based in
Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Founded by a group of Swiss, German, English and Catalan footballers led by
Joan Gamper, the club has become a symbol of Catalan culture and
Catalanism, hence the motto "Més que un club" (More than a club). The official Barça anthem is the "
Cant del Barça", written by Jaume Picas and
Josep Maria Espinàs.[2] Unlike many other football clubs, the
socis, who are the members and supporters of the club, own and operate Barcelona. It is the world's
fourth richest football club in terms of revenue, with an annual turnover of €800.1 million in the 2022–23 season.[3]
Barcelona played its first
friendly match on 8 December 1899 against the English colony in Barcelona in the old velodrome in
Bonanova.[4] Initially, Barcelona played against other local clubs in various
Catalan tournaments. In 1929, the club became one of the founding members of
La Liga, Spain's first national league, and has since achieved the distinction of being one of only three clubs to have never been relegated, along with
Real Madrid and
Athletic Bilbao. Barcelona is also the only European club to have played continental football every season since 1955. They hold a long-standing rivalry with Real Madrid, with matches between the two teams referred to as "
El Clásico" (El Clàssic in Catalan). Matches against city rivals
Espanyol are known as the "
Derbi barceloní".
Barcelona has amassed various records in regional, domestic and continental tournaments since its founding. During the time the club played in regional competitions until the end of the Catalan championship in 1940, it won a record 23 titles from a possible 38. In 2009, Barcelona achieved an unprecedented
sextuple by winning
La Liga, the
Copa del Rey, the
UEFA Champions League, the
Supercopa de España, the
UEFA Super Cup and the
FIFA Club World Cup in one calendar year. Additionally, Barça has won the coveted
continental treble, consisting of La Liga, the
Copa del Rey and the
UEFA Champions League in the aforementioned 2009 and again 2015, becoming the first European club to have won the treble twice.[5]
FC Barcelona won their first trophy in 1902 when they lifted the Copa Macaya, which was the predecessor to the
Catalan Championship. The club won the Catalan Championship a record 23 times during the 40-year span of the tournament.[6]
When the national league was established in 1929, the importance of the regional league declined, and it was abandoned in 1940. From then on, Barcelona did not participate in regional competitions until the establishment of the
Copa Catalunya in 1993, a cup they have won a record nine times.[6]
The following Barcelona players have won the
Ricardo Zamora Trophy for lowest "goals-to-games" ratio in La Liga (
Antoni Ramallets and
Víctor Valdés have each won the trophy a record five times for Barcelona):[1]
Víctor Valdés went 896 minutes without conceding a goal in all competitions in the 2011–12 season (from the 22nd minute of the 5th game to the 20th minute of the 12th game). Six games of the Spanish League and three Champions League games were played without conceding a goal.
Miguel Reina went 824 minutes without conceding a goal in the Spanish League in the 1972–73 season (from the 53rd minute of the 14th game to the 67th minute of the 23rd game).
Most clean sheets:
Víctor Valdés played 535 official games of which he maintained a clean sheet in 237 games, or 44.3% of the matches. The former record was held by Andoni Zubizarreta who played 410 official games of which he maintained a clean sheet in 173 games, or 42.2% of the matches.
Player to have scored in seven different official competitions in one calendar year:
Lionel Messi, 2015, in the La Liga, Copa del Rey, UEFA Champions League, Copa América, UEFA Super Cup, Spanish Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup, completed on 20 December 2015.
Players to have scored in six different official club competitions in one season:[1]
Pedro,
2009–10, in the Copa del Rey, La Liga, UEFA Champions League, Spanish Super Cup, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup, completed on 16 December 2009.[85]
Lionel Messi,
2011–12, in the Copa del Rey, La Liga, UEFA Champions League, Spanish Super Cup, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup, completed on 4 January 2012 and
2015–16, in the Copa del Rey, La Liga, UEFA Champions League, Spanish Super Cup, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup, completed on 6 January 2015.
Player to have both scored and assisted in six different official club competitions in one calendar year:
Lionel Messi, 2011, in the La Liga, Copa del Rey, UEFA Champions League, Spanish Super Cup, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup, completed on 18 December 2011.
Most goals scored in a single season by an offensive trio in Spanish football history:[86][87][88]
Most consecutive matches undefeated in a La Liga season: 36Ernesto Valverde, between Matchdays 1 and 34 (matchday 34 was played after matchday 36) in
2017–18 season[1]
Most consecutive away matches undefeated in a La Liga season: 16Pep Guardiola, between 29 August 2010 (Matchday 1) and 23 April 2011 (Matchday 33) in
2010–11 season[1]
Most consecutive away matches won in La Liga: 10Pep Guardiola, between 29 August 2010 (Matchday 1) and 29 January 2011 (Matchday 21) in
2010-11 season[1]
Most trophies won as coach: Pep Guardiola, 14 titles out of 19 possible between August 2008 and May 2012.[1]
Only team that have collected all the awards (Golden Boot, Golden Ball, Silver Ball, Bronze Ball and Fair Play award) at a single FIFA Club World Cup:[104]
In 2015, Luis Suárez won the Golden Ball and the Golden Boot, Lionel Messi won the Silver Ball, Andrés Iniesta won the Bronze Ball and Barcelona was awarded the Fair Play award.
44 games: 36 in
league between game 9 (22 November 1942) of the
1942–43 season and game 18 (6 February 1944) of the
1943–44 season, and 8 Cup games in
1943.
^Initial £105 million plus reported £37 million bonuses
^Initial €105 million plus reported €40 million bonuses
^Ibrahimović was transferred in a
part-exchange deal worth €46 million, plus the rights to
Samuel Eto'o (valued at €20M by Barcelona), and a single season loan of
Alexander Hleb. Since Hleb refused to move to Inter, Barcelona had to pay a reported extra €3M to complete Ibrahimović's switch. The combined fee was thus €69M.[120]
^Initial €60 million plus reported €5 million bonuses
^Initial €58 million plus reported €7 million bonuses
^Initial €55 million plus reported €10 million bonuses
^The
Copa Eva Duarte was only recognized and organized with that name by the RFEF from 1947 until 1953, and therefore Barcelona's "Copa de Oro Argentina" win of 1945 is not included in this count.
^"El Espanyol gana la Supercopa" [Espanyol win the Supercup]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Roger Torelló. 25 October 2016.
Archived from the original on 26 February 2020. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
^Antoni Closa i Garcia; Jaume Rius i Solé; Joan Vidal i Urpí, eds. (2001). Un Segle de futbol català: 1900–2000 (in Catalan). Barcelona: Federació Catalana de Futbol. p. 62.
Futbol Club Barcelona is a professional
association football club based in
Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Founded by a group of Swiss, German, English and Catalan footballers led by
Joan Gamper, the club has become a symbol of Catalan culture and
Catalanism, hence the motto "Més que un club" (More than a club). The official Barça anthem is the "
Cant del Barça", written by Jaume Picas and
Josep Maria Espinàs.[2] Unlike many other football clubs, the
socis, who are the members and supporters of the club, own and operate Barcelona. It is the world's
fourth richest football club in terms of revenue, with an annual turnover of €800.1 million in the 2022–23 season.[3]
Barcelona played its first
friendly match on 8 December 1899 against the English colony in Barcelona in the old velodrome in
Bonanova.[4] Initially, Barcelona played against other local clubs in various
Catalan tournaments. In 1929, the club became one of the founding members of
La Liga, Spain's first national league, and has since achieved the distinction of being one of only three clubs to have never been relegated, along with
Real Madrid and
Athletic Bilbao. Barcelona is also the only European club to have played continental football every season since 1955. They hold a long-standing rivalry with Real Madrid, with matches between the two teams referred to as "
El Clásico" (El Clàssic in Catalan). Matches against city rivals
Espanyol are known as the "
Derbi barceloní".
Barcelona has amassed various records in regional, domestic and continental tournaments since its founding. During the time the club played in regional competitions until the end of the Catalan championship in 1940, it won a record 23 titles from a possible 38. In 2009, Barcelona achieved an unprecedented
sextuple by winning
La Liga, the
Copa del Rey, the
UEFA Champions League, the
Supercopa de España, the
UEFA Super Cup and the
FIFA Club World Cup in one calendar year. Additionally, Barça has won the coveted
continental treble, consisting of La Liga, the
Copa del Rey and the
UEFA Champions League in the aforementioned 2009 and again 2015, becoming the first European club to have won the treble twice.[5]
FC Barcelona won their first trophy in 1902 when they lifted the Copa Macaya, which was the predecessor to the
Catalan Championship. The club won the Catalan Championship a record 23 times during the 40-year span of the tournament.[6]
When the national league was established in 1929, the importance of the regional league declined, and it was abandoned in 1940. From then on, Barcelona did not participate in regional competitions until the establishment of the
Copa Catalunya in 1993, a cup they have won a record nine times.[6]
The following Barcelona players have won the
Ricardo Zamora Trophy for lowest "goals-to-games" ratio in La Liga (
Antoni Ramallets and
Víctor Valdés have each won the trophy a record five times for Barcelona):[1]
Víctor Valdés went 896 minutes without conceding a goal in all competitions in the 2011–12 season (from the 22nd minute of the 5th game to the 20th minute of the 12th game). Six games of the Spanish League and three Champions League games were played without conceding a goal.
Miguel Reina went 824 minutes without conceding a goal in the Spanish League in the 1972–73 season (from the 53rd minute of the 14th game to the 67th minute of the 23rd game).
Most clean sheets:
Víctor Valdés played 535 official games of which he maintained a clean sheet in 237 games, or 44.3% of the matches. The former record was held by Andoni Zubizarreta who played 410 official games of which he maintained a clean sheet in 173 games, or 42.2% of the matches.
Player to have scored in seven different official competitions in one calendar year:
Lionel Messi, 2015, in the La Liga, Copa del Rey, UEFA Champions League, Copa América, UEFA Super Cup, Spanish Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup, completed on 20 December 2015.
Players to have scored in six different official club competitions in one season:[1]
Pedro,
2009–10, in the Copa del Rey, La Liga, UEFA Champions League, Spanish Super Cup, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup, completed on 16 December 2009.[85]
Lionel Messi,
2011–12, in the Copa del Rey, La Liga, UEFA Champions League, Spanish Super Cup, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup, completed on 4 January 2012 and
2015–16, in the Copa del Rey, La Liga, UEFA Champions League, Spanish Super Cup, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup, completed on 6 January 2015.
Player to have both scored and assisted in six different official club competitions in one calendar year:
Lionel Messi, 2011, in the La Liga, Copa del Rey, UEFA Champions League, Spanish Super Cup, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup, completed on 18 December 2011.
Most goals scored in a single season by an offensive trio in Spanish football history:[86][87][88]
Most consecutive matches undefeated in a La Liga season: 36Ernesto Valverde, between Matchdays 1 and 34 (matchday 34 was played after matchday 36) in
2017–18 season[1]
Most consecutive away matches undefeated in a La Liga season: 16Pep Guardiola, between 29 August 2010 (Matchday 1) and 23 April 2011 (Matchday 33) in
2010–11 season[1]
Most consecutive away matches won in La Liga: 10Pep Guardiola, between 29 August 2010 (Matchday 1) and 29 January 2011 (Matchday 21) in
2010-11 season[1]
Most trophies won as coach: Pep Guardiola, 14 titles out of 19 possible between August 2008 and May 2012.[1]
Only team that have collected all the awards (Golden Boot, Golden Ball, Silver Ball, Bronze Ball and Fair Play award) at a single FIFA Club World Cup:[104]
In 2015, Luis Suárez won the Golden Ball and the Golden Boot, Lionel Messi won the Silver Ball, Andrés Iniesta won the Bronze Ball and Barcelona was awarded the Fair Play award.
44 games: 36 in
league between game 9 (22 November 1942) of the
1942–43 season and game 18 (6 February 1944) of the
1943–44 season, and 8 Cup games in
1943.
^Initial £105 million plus reported £37 million bonuses
^Initial €105 million plus reported €40 million bonuses
^Ibrahimović was transferred in a
part-exchange deal worth €46 million, plus the rights to
Samuel Eto'o (valued at €20M by Barcelona), and a single season loan of
Alexander Hleb. Since Hleb refused to move to Inter, Barcelona had to pay a reported extra €3M to complete Ibrahimović's switch. The combined fee was thus €69M.[120]
^Initial €60 million plus reported €5 million bonuses
^Initial €58 million plus reported €7 million bonuses
^Initial €55 million plus reported €10 million bonuses
^The
Copa Eva Duarte was only recognized and organized with that name by the RFEF from 1947 until 1953, and therefore Barcelona's "Copa de Oro Argentina" win of 1945 is not included in this count.
^"El Espanyol gana la Supercopa" [Espanyol win the Supercup]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Roger Torelló. 25 October 2016.
Archived from the original on 26 February 2020. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
^Antoni Closa i Garcia; Jaume Rius i Solé; Joan Vidal i Urpí, eds. (2001). Un Segle de futbol català: 1900–2000 (in Catalan). Barcelona: Federació Catalana de Futbol. p. 62.