El Clásico

El Clásico, is the name given in football to any match between Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (Real Madrid) and Futbol Club Barcelona (Barcelona). Originally it referred only to those competitions held in the Spanish championship, but nowadays – in order to satisfy marketing needs – the term has been generalized, and tends to include every single match between the two clubs: UEFA Champions League, Copa del Rey, etc. Other than the UEFA Champions League Final, it is the most followed club football match in the world, watched by hundreds of millions of people.

The rivalry comes about as Madrid and Barcelona are the two largest cities in Spain, and the two clubs are among the richest and most successful football clubs in the world. Real Madrid leads the head to head results in competitive matches with 90 wins to Barcelona's 86. Barcelona leads the count in official titles won with 81 trophies (the three Inter-Cities Fairs Cup's won by Barcelona are included since the tournament is the predecessor of the UEFA Cup and recognized by FIFA), while Real Madrid has won 76 trophies. Along with Athletic Bilbao, they are the only clubs in La Liga to have never been relegated. They are sometimes identified with opposing political positions, with Real Madrid viewed as representing Spanish nationalism and Barcelona viewed as representing Catalanism. The rivalry is regarded as one of the biggest in world football.

Barcelona VS Sevilla: 3-2

Barcelona continued their perfect start to the new Liga season, beating Sevilla 3-2 at Camp Nou on Saturday evening. Dani Alves opened the scoring with a back-post header in the first half, then Lionel Messi slammed home to make it two. Sevilla had a goal seemingly wrongly disallowed, and it only fired them up, drawing level in the 90th minute after strikes from Ivan Rakitic and Coke. But Barca had the last laugh, with Alexis Sanchez bundling home from six yards with one of the last kicks of the game.The home side started strongly, dominating possession and dictating the tempo with ease. In the opening 15 minutes they recorded 78 percent possession, limiting Sevilla purely to sharp counterattacks and dogged defending. The Rojiblancos seemed content with that, though, and fed youthful winger Jairo and forward runner Kevin Gameiro early and often down the right to test Gerard Pique's pace. With Lionel Messi looking a little jaded and playing a largely ineffectual role, Neymar stood out as els Blaugrana's star performer in the first half. He suffered no less than six fouls as Sevilla chopped him down with regularity, and the Brazilian really gave right-back Coke a beating.

Despite the dominance 11 shots to Sevilla's one, and 68 percent possession at halftime the only goal of the half arrived just before the whistle and from an extremely unlikely source. Alves, a former Sevilla player, headed in at the far post after Adriano picked him out with a fantastic left-wing cross. No celebration from the speedster, marking his respect for his old employers. The second half started out in much the same fashion, with Neymar dazzling on the left-hand side and soon drawing a yellow card out of Coke. Stephane M'bia, already on a yellow card, held him back on a counter and was subsequently withdrawn by his manager, a ticking time bomb in truth.

Manager Unai Emery made positive substitutions, and with the away side's seventh corner of the game, Cala nodded home after rising the highest. Inexplicably, the referee blew his whistle for a foul and the goal didn't stand. Gerardo Martino responded with a substitution or two of his own, throwing on Alexis Sanchez and Cesc Fabregas. It was the latter who was involved in Barca's next goal, spraying it wide to Neymar, who put it on a plate for Messi to finish coolly into the roof of the net. But with fans quickly marking this game down in the "Win" column, Sevilla hit back hard: Great work on the left from Vitolo allowed Rakitic to fire home, then Coke, the tormented, volleyed a sweet finish into the net from a corner in the 90th minute. A through-ball nearly saw substitute Marko Marin in for a one vs. one in the closing stages, and Messi responded by beating two players, hitting the byline and feeding Alexis Sanchez for a 94th-minute winner.

Brazil striker Neymar move from Santos to Barcelona

Brazil striker Neymar completed his move from Santos to Barcelona for £48.6m (57m euros)  on Monday. The 21-year-old, who agreed to join the Spanish champions in May, passed his medical and signed a five-year deal. He said: "Money is OK but happiness takes priority. We decided to come to Barcelona. I had a lot of offers but I followed my heart. "I think adjusting to European football may be difficult but I hope to adjust quickly." After arriving in Catalonia on a specially chartered private jet on Monday afternoon, hundreds of photographers were waiting to take his picture as he posed in front of the club's emblem.

Neymar, who has scored 20 goals in 33 appearances for his country then passed a two-part medical examination and put pen to paper on a deal which runs until 2018. He was later presented on the Nou Camp pitch in front of tens of thousands of screaming supporters."The thrill of being cheered when I entered the Nou Camp it was hard not to cry," added the Brazilian. "I've never worried about being the best in the world. The best is already here and that's Messi. "I'm one of the luckiest men in the world to be able to play with him and it's an honour. I'm very happy to be realising my life's dream.” Neymar waves to the Barcelona supporters in the Nou Camp at his unveiling.

The signing ends years of speculation about which team would be the first to persuade him to make the move to Europe. As well as Real, Neymar had also been linked with Chelsea and Manchester United since making his debut for Santos in 2009. He led the club to their greatest run since Brazil legend Pele stopped playing for the club in the 1970s, helping them win the 2010 Brazilian Cup, the 2011 Copa Libertadores and three straight Sao Paulo state championships. He is the club's leading scorer in the post-Pele era with 138 goals in 229 matches. Neymar is also considered Brazil's key player for the 2014 World Cup, which they are hosting. Next on his agenda is the warm-up event for the tournament, the Confederations Cup, which runs from 15-30 June.

History Of Barcelona Football Club

FC Barcelona, founded in 1899 by a group of young foreigners living in Barcelona, was the result of the increasing popularity of football, and other British sports, across Europe. These origins have conferred upon the Club its intercultural identity, multi-sport focus and its deeply-rooted allegiance to Barcelona and Catalonia.

In November 1908, the Club was struggling, with 38 of its members about to abandon it. Gamper was determined to keep the Club afloat and for the first time he became president of the organisation. This marked a new stage in the Club's history, which consolidated it within the football panorama and social milieu of the city and country.

During the 1960s, FC Barcelona saw a relentless increase in membership numbers. Paradoxically, this did not go hand in hand with sporting success. At the same time, Catalonia received a large number of migrants and it was in this context that Barça became an important mechanism for integration in Catalan society.

In 1969, Agustí Montal Costa won the elections and became president of the Club. His programme insisted on member involvement, and was committed to the idea that all members would see their opinions reflected through their votes.

In 1973, Montal was re-elected president; his election slogan was “Barça is more than a club”. During his presidency, Montal avidly defended the restoration of Catalanism and was firmly opposed to centralism in football, as exercised by the Spanish Football Federation and the National Sports Delegation. His influence led Futbol Club Barcelona to begin to recover its symbols, starting with the organisation’s name that had been changed to sound more Spanish after the Civil War.

The incredible victory in Basel in May 1979, when Barça won the European Cup Winners’ Cup for the first time ever, returned FC Barcelona to the top ranking positions of the great world clubs. It was the first victory during Josep Lluís Núñez’s presidency.
During the 1980s, FC Barcelona experienced alternating highs and lows, influenced by match results, star players’ performances and other matters, unrelated to sport. FC Barcelona managed to secure four consecutive Spanish League championships, between 1990 and 1994. Winning the European Cup in 1992 was the pinnacle of this period, which was characterised by the team’s one touch play and attacking style and the winning mentality of Cruyff’s players. On May 17, 2006, Barça had its name engraved on the Champions League trophy for the second time after overcoming Arsenal 2-1 in Paris. Under Josep Guardiola, the team improved even further. Playing with the same style that Cruyff had introduced, Guardiola was a firm supporter of basing his team around the club's own youth system and promoted several young talents to the first team, and the result was the greatest Barça team ever. On May 27, 2009 Barça not only won the Champions League against the defending champions, but also became the first Spanish club to win the League, Copa del Rey and Champions League in the same season.