Drills For Soccer

When you approach the stadium on match days there is a real buzz in the air with fans of all ages making their way to the all-seater stadium, the famous Nou Camp, which can hold up to 98,000 spectators. Football is family entertainment in Spain and the fans may consist of die hard supporters in the 20s, middle-aged couples, grandparents with their grandchildren, kids birthday parties – you can see it all. So, make sure you have bought FC Barcelona tickets before you go!

While there is a definite buzz beforehand, during the match the stadium breaks into party mode. The passion and excitement create an atmosphere that is electric – and if you’re a football fan going to see Barça play is a must, particularly at the moment with such a great and successful team.

While Barça was unable to match their 2009 achievement of the treble it was notheless an extraordinary year for FC Barcelona.

As I write this the season is over and we’re counting down the (many) days until the season gets going again and the transfer window is open.

 After the 2010 World Cup, which had an impressive tally of Barça players in the lineup for the final including new signing David Villa, the players were really fired up for the start of the season.

That turned into win after win after win for Barça, often with huge goal tallies – a 5-0 win against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu was one of the highlights.
For a time scoring 5 goals seemed to be par for the course but they peaked with an 8-0 awaqy win against Almerica. With a string of wins like that it just shows how dominant Barcelona really was, much more so than the points difference with Madrid.

Barcelona’s success is at least partially due to their high possession that comes from knowing each other’s play intimately and extremely high levels of fitness. Their game is beautiful to match, consisting of pass after pass while they control the pace and position of the ball; and when an opportunity opens up it is the trinity of Xavi, Iniesta and Messi that often makes things happen.

Lionel Messi in particular is something to watch with some moments of completely sublime football. He can create moments of pure magic, whether they work out or not and always makes entertaining football. And workhorses like Carles Puyol, who despite being out of action for a good chunk of the season is hoping for a strong comeback following successful knee surgery.

Naturally Barcelona’s fans are appreciative of all that. Matches often take place in a party like atmosphere as great play and hopefully great results melt away everyone’s problems in life into the background for the 90 minutes of play for what for some is a quasi religious experience. If you’d like to experience the same you can buy FC Barcelona tickets online in advance. That way you ensure you have tickets in hand when you arrive at the stadium and experience sublime football by one of the greatest teams the world has ever seen!

If you’ve never visited Barcelona, a beautiful city on the Mediterranean, and even if you have now is the time to plan a visit to coincide with the Spanish League season 2011-2012 and order FC Barcelona tickets – that way you’ll see possibly the best football team in the world.

The top two teams in Europe faced each other at the end of May 2011 for the final of the Champions League, which took place at Wembley. FC Barcelona beat Manchester United 3-1 and despite a few worrying minutes while they took some time to find their feet, Barça ran rings around their English competitor. Clearly Pep Guardiola’s team were at the top of their game.

How much longer for Barça?

Probably the biggest doubt is how long Pep Guardiola will remain at the club. Even if he continues to deliver as he has since taking over as coach, their is no guarantee that his successor will.

Guardiola is thoroughly Barça as he played in Johan Cruyff’s “Dream Team” and coached the Barça B team before being offered the job of coaching the main squad. While he may have ties to the club that go deep, he has already stated that he wouldn’t want to stay at any club too long, pointing out Sir Alex Ferguson as an example; he’s been at Man Utd for 25 years.

It is therefore perfectly understandable for Pep Guardiola to want to look for challenges outside the club, somewhere where he can apply his considerable managerial talents to built up a team and give them the same kind of winning streak he has done while Barça’s coach. The 2011-2012 season could therefore be Pep Guardiola’s last at FC Barcelona as he looks for other challenges; it could also be your last chance to see them play at such a high level as it is by no means certain that they will be able to retain their current streak of form.

If you’d like FC Barcelona tickets for the 2011/12 season make sure you order online. While the Spanish League won’t be drawn until July there are two clasicos coming up when Barça faces Real Madrid in the Spanish Supercup in August – keep an eye out for tickets.