5 things that come to mind when one thinks of FC Barcelona
Barcelona is the most successful club in Europe, with 90 major honours in their 118-year history.
Founded in 1899 by Joan Gamper, the club has come to signify the values represented by the city, its culture and its people.
It is the second richest football club in the world, and also, is one of the very few clubs owned entirely by its supporters.
With one of the largest fanbases in the world, Barcelona also boasts the largest stadium in Europe. Camp Nou has an enormous capacity of 99,354.
Barcelona's history is characterised by spells of dominance over European football, with the most recent one being Pep Guardiola's tenure for 4 seasons between 2008 and 2012, in which he lost only 11 matches.
While they have been criticised by a few fans for deviating from their core philosophies in recent years, the Blaugrana are still at the summit of European football, and will continue to dominate both the Spanish and continental scene for several years to come.
Here is a list of 5 things that come to the mind of an average football fan when one thinks of Barcelona:
#5 Ballon d'Or
Okay, this might not be the very first thing that comes to your mind, but a fact that isn't appreciated as much as it should be, is that Barcelona have the most number of winners in the history of the Ballon d'Or.
In the past, Barcelona players have won the most prestigious individual honour in world football 11 times (Messi of course, has contributed 5 times to that number).
The namesake of the Blaugrana's current Uruguayan hitman, Luis Suarez, was the first player from the Camp Nou to win the award in 1960.
In 1973 and '74, Dutch legend Johan Cruyff became the first player to win the award consecutively. He also won it in 1971, during his time with Ajax.
Exactly 20 years later, Hristo Stoichkov became the first (and only) Bulgarian to win it after a successful season where he helped Barca win the La Liga for the fourth consecutive time.
In 1999 and 2005, Brazilians Rivaldo and Ronaldinho were among the first non-Europeans to win the Ballon d'Or.
Lionel Messi then started his era of dominance in 2009, winning an unprecedented four times till 2012, when his streak was halted by Ronaldo for two seasons, before Messi reclaimed the world's most coveted individual trophy for a then-record 5th time in 2015.
Barca might be known for their intricate passing and teamwork, but they've had some pretty special individuals in the past.