Futbol Club Barcelona, commonly known as Barcelona or simply Barça, is a Spanishprofessionalfootball club from Barcelona, Catalonia. They currently compete in La Liga, the top division of Spanish football. It was founded in 1899 by Joan Gamper as FBC Barcelona.
They are known for winning the treble (La Liga, the Copa Del Rey, and the UEFA Champions League) all in 1 season, twice, in the 2008-09 season and in the 2014-15 season. They are also the only European club to have won a treble twice. Their biggest rival is Real Madrid. Matches between F.C. Barcelona and Real Madrid are called "El Clásico", which means "The Classic" in Spanish. The team has won many tournaments, which is why Barcelona is considered one of the best teams in the world. Their home stadium, Camp Nou, is the largest stadium in Europe with a capacity of 99,354.[2]
FC Barcelona was founded in 1899 by a group of Swiss, Spanish, English, and Catalan footballers led by Joan Gamper. The club won its first Copa del Rey in 1910, and their first league title in 1929. The club was forced to change their name in 1938 to Club de Futbol Barcelona and also had to remove the Catalan flag from the crest. This happened because of Italian rule. In 1957, the Camp Nou opened. In 1974, the club changed its name back to Futbol Club Barcelona and went back to using the original crest with the Catalan flag and the red and blue colors. Barcelona won their first UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1979 against Fortuna Düsseldorf, and won again three years later. A year later, in 1983, the club won their first Supercopa de España. The club won its first Champions League in 1992 against U.C. Sampdoria. In 1992, they also achieved a treble, winning their first UEFA Super Cup and the league title, along with the Champions League. From 1990 to 1994, Barcelona won four consecutive league titles with Johan Cruyff.[3]
The club's main rival is Real Madrid, but it also has more rivalries. It has a local rivalry with RCD Espanyol, since both clubs are from the city of Barcelona. Matches between the two clubs are known as Derbi barceloní. Espanyol supporters used to see FC Barcelona as a foreign team because Espanyol were a Spanish club, unlike Barcelona. Barcelona has been very dominant because Espanyol has only been able to finish above Barcelona in the league on 3 occasions in 70 years.
