Bet on FC Barcelona

Betting on FC Barcelona provides interesting opportunities almost every week. Whether in La Liga or the Champions League. Time to take a closer look at this top Spanish club. A club with a rich history, full of prizes ánd Dutch influences running through it like a thread.

History of the club

Successful betting on football starts with gaining as much knowledge as possible. Successful betting on FC Barcelona thus starts with the basics – its illustrious history.

The founding of FC Barcelona is credited to a Swiss, Hans Max Gamper-Haessig. He later renamed himself Joan Gamper. In 1899, as a 22-year-old, he put an advertisement in Los Deportes to set up a football club. Eleven players responded and came together to form Foot-Ball Club Barcelona.

In the first years, Barcelona was reasonably successful, winning in a few tournaments. However, by 1908, no prizes had been won for several years and there were no revenues. Similarly, betting on FC Barcelona – on winning at least – at bookies in pubs at the time must have been no fun. Gamper said, “Barcelona cannot die and must not die. If there is no one who is going to try, from now on I will take responsibility for running the club.” He became president and, among other things, provided a stadium, which meant there was steady income.

Barcelona immediately won the Catalan championship three times, the Copa del Rey three times and the Pyrenees Cup four times between 1909 and 1913. Until the 1920s, the club fared extremely well. They became Catalan champions time after time, grabbed a couple of Spanish cups and won the first Spanish championship in 1929.

Tragedy & Successes

In 1930, the club suffered a harsh blow when Joan Gamper committed suicide due to personal and financial problems. Things got a lot worse after the Civil War of 1936. For the Catalan-oriented FC Barcelona did not fair well with the dictatorial government of Francisco Franco.

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, the successes came again, with several national titles and national cups. In 1955, Luis Suárez joined the club. The legendary Spaniard who finally took two national titles again with Barça in the late 1950s. And in 1960-1961, they were the first club to win from the supreme Real Madrid in the European Cup I (the odds for betting on FC Barcelona as the winner must have been huge). However, they lost the final against Benfica. The Camp Nou was also built in 1957, but that meant less money for new players. So the 1960s were meagre for the club.

The footballer Cruijff

It was only in 1974 that Barcelona became national champions again, for the first time since 1960. Of course, this was mainly due to the arrival of Johan Cruijff, from Ajax, in 1973. He, like Luis Suárez, won the Golden Ball that year at FC Barcelona in 1960, which he had also done at Ajax in 1971. However, the national title in 1974 would be the only one for the player Johan Cruijff at FC Barcelona. However, the club did win the European Cup II (for Cup winners) twice a few years later.

The Coach Cruijff

In 1988, The Saviour returned to his second love, this time as a coach. Cruijff built a team around Spanish players like Pep Guardiola, José Mari Bakero, Miguel Nadal (uncle of Rafael Nadal) and Txiki Begiristain. He brought in top foreign players like Ronald Koeman, Michael Laudrup, Romario and Hristo Stoichkov. Between 1988 and 1994, Cruijff won 11 prizes. In 1989 the European Cup II, in 1992 the European Cup I (Champions League) and between 1991-1994 four national titles in a row.

From Louis van Gaal to Frank Rijkaard

A few years later, Louis van Gaal’s first spell would include winning two league titles and a Copa del Rey. But the next golden period would come under young president Joan Laporta and another Dutch coach, Frank Rijkaard. Between 2003 and 2008, Rijkaard won ‘only’ two league titles, but also the Champions League in 2006. He had fantastic players like Xavi, Andrés Iniesta, Ronaldinho, Rivaldo, Samuel Eto’o, Victor Valdes and Carles Puyol. He also once allowed a young Lionel Messi to make his debut. Betting on FC Barcelona became increasingly popular.

From Tiki-Taka to Luis Enrique

Former player Pep Guardiola would reap the benefits of FC Barcelona’s great training and his own skills, of course. Between 2008 and 2012, he won no fewer than 14 prizes, including the Champions League twice and La Liga three times. Under Guardiola, Lionel Messi grew into an absolute world star. Back then, betting on FC Barcelona was almost a certainty.

FC Barcelona’s last truly celebrated coach was Luis Enrique, the current national coach of Spain. He won the provisional last Champions League with Barça in 2015, La Liga twice and three times the Copa del Rey. His successor Ernesto Valverde also benefited from Lionel Messi’s presence and won two more league titles. But apart from the Copa del Rey in 2020-2021, FC Barcelona has hardly taken any prizes for a few years now.

Ronald Koeman’s failed adventure

Unfortunately, Ronald Koeman could not change that either. A dream came true for him when he returned in 2020 to the club he had shot to the first European Cup 1 in 1992. But he could not have stepped in at a worse time. Financial mismanagement, a presidential switch AND the painful departure of celebrity Messi could only lead to one thing: the forced departure of coach Koeman. At one point, it was more interesting to bet on Koeman’s departure than to bet on FC Barcelona.

Cruyff’s legacy and tiki-taka

We touched briefly on ‘Gohan Kroiff’ just now, but of course his mark on FC Barcelona deserves more than a footnote. The best Dutch player in history played for Barcelona from 1973 after his career with AFC Ajax. ‘El Flaco’ (The Skinny) was legendary as a player, but only really became important in 1988 when he returned as manager. He is known for creating the world-famous ‘Dream Team’, which included Pep Guardiola, José Mari Bakero, Txiki Begiristain, Hristo Stoichkov and Romarío.

His biggest success, of course, was that very first Cup with the Big Ears in 1992. His most painful, or at least most unexpected loss, was undoubtedly the lost Champions League Final against AC Milan in 1994. Betting on FC Barcelona must have made the bookies a lot of money at the time. After all, very few people saw the 4-0 thrashing by an unleashed Milan coming.

Perhaps more importantly, he founded Barcelona’s signature style of play, known as tiki-taka, and the philosophy of total football. Football that is played to this day and is simply a joy to watch. The club is Catalan at heart, which also gives the rivalry with Madrid a political dimension. Yet another reason to bet on these Barcelona Real Madrid matches!

So much is at stake in each encounter. Honour, pride, points and yes, money too of course! A rivalry that for many years was made even more exciting by the rivalry between Messi and Ronaldo. Strangely, Camp Nou is rarely filled with local fans. The matches are so popular that tourists buy up all the tickets at extremely high prices.

FC Barcelona club icons

The first FC Barcelona club icon to be mentioned is, of course, founder and former president Joan Gamper. Every year, Barça also plays a match for the Trofeu Joan Gamper for a reason. He was also at the helm of the club for 25 years. During his time there were a number of well-known players such as Franz Plattko, Carles Comamala, Jack Greenwell (later also trainer for six years), Emili Sagi-Barba, Josep Samitier and Paulino Alcántara.

So the late 1950s was the next successful period with Luis Suárez, Hungarians Laszlo Kubala and Sandor Kocsis, and Antoni Ramallets. In the 1970s, FC Barcelona won only one national title, but it was a memorable one. with, of course, Johan Cruijff. A year later, Johan Neeskens, or ‘Johan II’, would also arrive. Not to mention, of course, Rinus Michels, who was coach of FC Barcelona for a total of five years in the 1970s.

Johan Cruijff’s Dream Team naturally included players such as Pep Guardiola, Ronald Koeman, Hristo Stoichkov, Michael Laudrup, Txiki Begiristain, Miguel Angel Nadal and Andoni Zubizarreta.

The last 25 years

Over the last 25 years, names like Luis Enrique, Rivaldo, Xavi, Carles Puyol, Andrés Iniesta, Ronaldinho, Victor Valdes, Samuel Eto’o, Dani Alves, Sergio Busquets, Gerard Piqué and of course… Lionel Messi. Man of countless awards and records at FC Barcelona.

Besides Cruijff, Neeskens and Michels, there were many other foreign players active at FC Barcelona. Louis van Gaal and Frank Rijkaard were coaches there. Moreover, during Van Gaal’s and Rijkaard’s time, Michael Reiziger, Frank de Boer, Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Phillip Cocu and Patrick Kluivert.

Retrospective season 2021/2022

The 2021/2022 season was actually miserable for FC Barcelona. Betting on FC Barcelona was by no means the certainty of a 1’t bet. It started, of course, with the departure of Lionel Messi to Paris Saint-Germain. Fresh acquisition Sergio Agüero had to give up his football career after only four games.

Coach Ronald Koeman couldn’t get things going and was allowed to leave. Worst of all was the financial crisis the club is still facing. Coach Xavi reached only the quarter-finals in the Europa League. In the league, he still miraculously made it to second place. However, what Barça needs above all is future prospects. A task that falls mainly to president Joan Laporta.

Outlook 2022/2023 season

Despite the financial problems, FC Barcelona could still spend €150 million on three new players: Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and Jules Koundé. Departing players such as Philippe Coutinho and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang earned just 37 million euros.

Still, bookmakers at betting on football expect FC Barcelona to compete for the La Liga title. A number of star players like Gerard Piqué and Sergio Busquets will always remain loyal to the club. In addition, perhaps Frenkie de Jong and Memphis Depay can find their feet and contribute to possible successes in La Liga and the Champions League.