aka: Barça (pronounced Bar-sah), the Blaugrana (Blue-Maroons)
Football Club Barcelona is a highly successful Spanish side from Catalunya, Spain who have the second most European trophies in Spanish history with two. In recent years Barça has experienced a golden age, having won two of the last three Spanish La Liga titles as well as the Champions League two years ago in an exciting 2-1 win over Arsenal in Paris. They are member-owned and have been a bastion of Catalan pride and identity throughout their tumultous history. Barça was the key symbol and expression of resistance against the Fascist regime of Franco and his favored Real Madrid side during decades of oppression. Their role in civic history is cannonized in their club motto: "Mes que un club" (Catalan for "More than a club"). This slogan took on a deeper meaning with their historic partnership with UNICEF last fall. While Barça had long held out against the common practice of adopting coporate logos on their shirts in exchange for millions of dollars of endorsement money, they signed a five year deal with UNICEF wherein they will donate $1.9 million to the organization each year and wear UNICEF's logo on their shirts. For Barça supporters it is not enough to win, they must win beautifully.
Barça is helmed by the ever cool and highly effective Dutchman, Frank Rijkaard. Captained by the solid Spanish defender, Carles Puyol, Barça is awash in international and domestic superstars with the Brazillian forward Ronaldinho, Portugese midfielder Deco, Mexican team captain defender Rafa Marquez, Cameroonian international striker Samuel Eto'o, young Argentine wunderkind Lionel Messi, and their high publicized offseason aquisition French international forward Thierry Henry from Arsenal.
Last season's La Liga campaign was a major disappointment for Barça supporters as the Blaugrana forfeited the title to arch-rival Real Madrid in the last week of the tournament. Barça were playing for their third consecutive championship and led the league almost the entire season but tied Madrid on points at the end of the season. Agonizingly, Barcelona lost the tie-breaker based on the goal differential in the two head-to-head matches they played against Madrid. The bitter taste of that lost title along with a tumultous season in the press with rumors of club displeasure with Ronaldinho and manager Rijkaard have fueled speculation that the club is on the decline. Success against Celtic on Wednesday would go a long way to edify their critical club members.
Real Madrid CF
aka: Los Blancos (The Whites), Los Merengues (The Meringues)
Simply put, Real Madrid Club de Fútbol is the most successful club in Spain having won thirty La Liga titles and in Europe having won nine Champions League titles. Real Madrid is the biggest, most popular, and richest club in the world. In recent years Madrid had justifiably aquired the nickname 'Los Galácticos' because of their gaudy list of international superstars such as Zidane, Ronaldo, Luís Figo, Roberto Carlos, Raul and David Beckham. However, despite their star-studded lineup, for the last four seasons Real had failed to win any hardware in the domestic or European leagues until they snatched the Spanish crown from Barcelona at the end of last season. This year Los Blancos have abandoned the Galáctico philosophy by offloading many of their famous players in favor of a younger, more team-oriented club.
Despite winning La Liga, Real sacked their Italian manager Fabio Capello, widely regarded as one of the best in professional football, during the summer and replaced him with successful German manager Bernd Schuster who has a long history in La Liga as a player with Barça and Madrid as well as a manager with Levante and Getafe. Schuster has built a tight squad anchored by star defenders Italian international Fabio Cannavaro and Spanish international Sergio Ramos. The attack is led by veteran club captain and Spanish international forward Raúl, the always high-scoring Dutch international Ruud van Nistleroy, and the young Brazilian phenom Robinho.
Real currently sit five points above Barcelona at the top of La Liga where they've resided most of the season. Schuster hopes to guide them to their first European title in six years but must overcome a stiff challenge in talented Italian side AS Roma.
Sevilla FC
aka: Sevillistas, Rojiblancos (Red-Whites), Palanganas (Washbowl)
Sevilla Football Club is a member owned football club from Sevilla, Andalusia, Spain. While they have not had the historical success of the bigger Spanish clubs like Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, or Valencia, Sevilla have won a glut of hardware over the last two seasons in La Liga and in Europe. They have won the UEFA Cup (a secondary European tournament to the Champions League) the last two years, the 2006 UEFA Super Cup (UEFA Cup winners v. the Champions League winners), the 2006 Copa Del Rey and the 2007 Supercopa de España. Thus Sevilla has decidedly proven they can beat the biggest clubs in Europe on any given night.
Sevilla is managed by Manolo Jiménez, the former reserve team coach, who took over two months into this season when manager Juande Ramos resigned to cash in on his club's recent success by signing a lucrative contract with the English Premiership's Tottenham Hotspur. Sevilla play a fast attacking style of football which will press even the best clubs in Europe. They are stacked with domestic and international talent like Spaniards Jesús Navas (midfielder) and 19 year-old Diego Capel (midfield), Malian internationals Frédéric Kanouté (striker), superstar and current African Footballer of the Year, and Seydou Keita, as well as Brazilian internationals Daniel Alves (defender) and Luís Fabiano (striker).
Sevilla was devestated at the beginning of the La Liga season when their popular Spanish international midfielder Antonio Puerta collapsed during a game from a series of cardiac arrests and died three days later. This tragedy coupled with their manager leaving for England in the middle of the season doomed Sevilla to a lethargic start to their domestic league campaign. Recently however Sevilla have rekindled the form which brought them so much success in the last two seasons. Having dedicated this season to their fallen comrade Puerta they will need to be at their high-flying best to continue their run in Europe by crashing Fenerbahçe out of the Round of 16.
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