2011 Champions League Final vs Manchester United

Lore & Background

Barcelona are one of the world's most decorated clubs. Domestically, Barcelona has won a record 82 trophies: 29 La Liga, 32 Copa del Rey, 2 Copa de la Liga, 16 Supercopa de España and 3 Copa Eva Duarte titles, as well as being the record holder for the latter four competitions. In international club football, Barça has won 22 European and worldwide titles: five UEFA Champions League titles, a record four UEFA Cup Winners' Cups, a record three Inter-Cities Fairs Cups, five UEFA Super Cups, a joint record two Latin Cups and three FIFA Club World Cups. Barcelona was ranked first in the International Federation of Football History & Statistics Club World Ranking for 1997, 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2015, and occupies the ninth position on the UEFA club rankings as of May 2023. The club has a long-standing rivalry with Real Madrid, and matches between the two teams are referred to as El Clásico. In 2009, Barcelona became the first Spanish club to win the continental treble consisting of La Liga, Copa del Rey and UEFA Champions League titles, and also became the first European football club to win six competitions in a single year. In 2011, the club became European champions again, winning five trophies. This Barcelona team, which won fourteen trophies in just four years under manager Pep Guardiola, is considered by some in the sport to be the greatest of all time. By winning their fifth Champions League trophy in 2015 under Luis Enrique, Barcelona became the first European football club in history to achieve the continental treble twice.

In Their Own Story

Rain slicked the Wembley turf, but the atmosphere inside was electric with a tension that felt heavier than the London sky. As the teams emerged, the roar of the crowd split between red and blue, yet on the pitch, an eerie calm belonged entirely to the visitors from Catalonia. Messi touched the ball, his eyes scanning not eleven opponents, but a grid of open space waiting to be unlocked. A one-touch pass to Pedro, a return to Xavi, another to Iniesta—the rhythm was hypnotic, a fluid chain that rendered United's physicality obsolete. When Busquets intercepted a desperate clearance, he didn't just clear the ball; he reset the tempo with a serene glance. The floodgates opened when Pedro slotted home, but it was Messi who delivered the final blow: receiving deep, gliding past Nemanja Vidic as if the Serbian defender were made of mist, and coolly slotting the ball into the net. By the time David Villa added the third, the battlefield had transformed into a canvas for art.

Reader's Guide

Barcelona is one of three founding members of the Primera División that have never been relegated from the top division since its inception in 1929, along with Athletic Bilbao and Real Madrid. Barcelona players have won a joint record twelve Ballon d'Or awards, with recipients including Johan Cruyff, as well as a record six FIFA World Player of the Year awards, with winners including Romário, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho and Lionel Messi. In 2010, three players who came through the club's youth academy—Lionel Messi, Andrés Iniesta and Xavi—were chosen as the three best players in the world in the Ballon d'Or ranking, an unprecedented feat for players from the same football academy. Additionally, players representing the club have won a record eight European Golden Shoe awards.

Did You Know?

• Barcelona was founded in 1899 by a group of Swiss, Catalan, German, and English footballers led by Joan Gamper.
• The club's motto is 'Més que un club' ('More than a club'), reflecting its role as a symbol of Catalan culture and Catalanism.
• Barcelona is the third-most valuable football club in the world, worth $5.6 billion.
• The club has won a record 82 domestic trophies, including 29 La Liga titles and 32 Copa del Rey titles.
• Barcelona has won five UEFA Champions League titles, with the most recent in 2015.