5 reasons why Barcelona are one of the most unbeatable of teams on their day
Barcelona’s memorable and awe-inspiring victory over Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League will be one that will be replayed, talked about and reminisced over for years to come. The Catalans mounted an unthinkable comeback to beat the Parisian team over two legs to progress to the quarter-finals of the competition.
The Blaugrana have dominated European football for over a decade, winning trophies domestically and in Europe, playing football that is easy on the eye with Catalan passion and verve.
When in full flow, Barca can be the deadliest team in the world, cutting through defences with the swiftness of a trained swordsman, and bringing the opposition to their knees – literally and figuratively.
But, what ingredients go into making the Spanish giants tick and dominate games from start to finish?
#5 Cauldron of noise at home
The Nou Camp, one of the great theatres of world football, seats close to 100,000 people, and on game night, it can put any other stadium in world sport to shame with their loud, passionate and vocal Culés. For Barcelona fans, the club is not just a football team; it is a social and political tool to speak up for the independence of Catalonia, and the oft-used phrase – Més que un club (More than a club) – describes them perfectly.
Chants of independence and pro-Catalonia songs are often sung at the Nou Camp and it makes for a terrifying atmosphere for opposition clubs and an uplifting one for the players wearing blue and red on the pitch. Apart from the vociferous crowd, banners and flags all around the stadium can put off opposition players with the strongest mental fortitude.
The Barcelona players have acknowledged the impact the fans have on their performances on the pitch, but there have also been instances when the fans show their displeasure of the team and the manager by booing them. This happened as recently as February 2017 when the Catalans booed outgoing manager, Luis Enrique, when the results were not going their way.
In the recent historic victory over PSG, the celebrations of the fans in the Nou Camp caused small tremors which were recorded on the Richter scale!