Barcelona's Spain crop on cusp of near-perfect year

For the eight Spain internationals in Barcelona's probable starting 11 for Saturday's Champions League final, victory over Manchester United at Wembley would put a gilt edge on an already spectacularly successful year.

Goalkeeper Victor Valdes, defenders Gerard Pique and Carles Puyol, midfielders Sergio Busquets, Xavi and Andres Iniesta and forwards Pedro and David Villa -- the only one of the group who is not a product of Barca's youth school -- came away from last year's World Cup in South Africa with winners medals.

They have since added the Spanish Super Cup and the Spanish league title, the club's third in a row, and narrowly missed out on a King's Cup triumph when they were beaten 1-0 in the final by great rivals Real Madrid.

At only 22, Busquets has already won more titles than most professionals dream of -- 10 in three seasons including the 2009 Champions League -- and has a chance at Euro 2012 with defending champions Spain to win the only major title that eludes him.

"It's a dream," Busquets, whose goalkeeper father Carles played for Barca in the 1990s, told Reuters in an interview earlier this year.

"Of course you never think that everything will go so well, that you could achieve so much in so little time," he added.

"But when you look at the team and its philosophy and then at how it all turned out, well, it was normal."

Playmaker Xavi, who turned 31 in January, is the creative engine at the heart of the Spain and Barca teams and preventing him from exerting his customary control will be key to United's chances of success on Saturday.

Together with Iniesta, he was on a shortlist of three for this year's World Player of the Year award that went to club team mate Lionel Messi for a second consecutive year.

SOMETHING EXTRA

One of the reasons for the recent success of Spain and Barca is the close relationship between the players who learned their trade in the Catalan club's famed "La Masia" youth school, which also produced current coach Pep Guardiola, Xavi said this week.

"Playing with people who come from within the club gives you something extra," Xavi said in an interview with Spanish daily El Pais.

"We have a very good relationship on and off the pitch. We invite each other round to our houses, we do things together away from football," he added.

"I have never experienced that before and I have been here for 13 years. The players from the youth system provide commitment and continuity."

Like Xavi, Iniesta has been instrumental in an historic year for Spanish soccer, managing to stay free of the injuries that have dogged his career and netting the dramatic winning goal against Netherlands in the World Cup final in Johannesburg.

Despite the success, he has not lost the hunger to add to his 16 career titles, including two Champions Leagues and five domestic leagues with Barca and the world and European championships with Spain.

"The European Cup is a very special competition, very attractive, that gives us all an extra motivation," the 27-year-old, who became a father for the first time this year, told Barca TV last week.

"I have always seen it as something special and I feel priveleged to to have been able to enjoy playing in Champions League games and have the good fortune to win two titles."

Reuters

Upstart Guardiola locks horns with warhorse Ferguson

Saturday's Champions League final again pits the young Barcelona pretender who has enjoyed swift and spectacular success against the battle-hardened warhorse who survived an inauspicious start to become Britain's most successful manager.

Former Barca midfielder Josep "Pep" Guardiola, 40, took over as coach in June 2008, leading the club to an unprecedented treble of Spanish league and cup and European Champions League in his first season in charge.

His lavishly-praised side, who overcame Alex Ferguson's United 2-0 in the final of Europe's elite club competition in 2009, have gone on to win two more Spanish league titles, as well as the European Super Cup and the Club World Cup.

Ferguson moved on from a playing and coaching career in his native Scotland to managing United in 1986 and, since claiming the FA Cup a barren four years later, the 69-year-old has won more than 30 trophies, including 12 domestic league titles, four more FA Cups and two Champions Leagues.

Ferguson's success and the strength of his personality have helped him to forge a seemingly unassailable position at the English Premier League club and he has defied his critics and the march of time to remain at the helm while many others have fallen by the wayside.

He has done so while often risking the wrath of the fans, releasing crowd favourites such as Paul Ince and David Beckham when he felt the time was right as, during his remarkable 25-year stint, he has overseen the rebuilding process from one great team to another with barely a dip in between.

Guardiola earned his status as a Barcelona club hero while still a player and his performance as coach has put him in an unusually stable position in a country where clubs hire and fire with alarming regularity.

"Alex Ferguson has won absolutely everything. He lives for his club and he is an example for other coaches," Shakhtar Donetsk boss Mircea Lucescu said on UEFA.com this week.

"The same goes for Josep Guardiola," the Romanian added. "He grew up in Barcelona and he spent most of his life with the club, so he shares their philosophy.

"You can hardly imagine either coach going off to sign for someone else."

KILLER BLOW

As a product of Barca's youth system, Guardiola has played and coached only one basic style: keep possession, make the other team chase the ball and carve open defences with a swift interchange of short passes or a perfectly weighted assist.

Ferguson, by contrast, tends to field more muscular teams, with tall, burly centre backs and combative midfielders feeding pacy forwards who can destroy opponents with devastating counter-attacks.

In the 2009 final, United rocked Barca in the early stages with their harrying and chasing and Samuel Eto'o's opening goal in the 10th minute was against the run of play.

Once Barca get ahead they are masters at holding on to the ball and wearing down opponents before dealing a killer blow, as in Rome when Lionel Messi struck with a header to end United's hopes of a comeback.

"Barcelona's forte is possession, controlling the direction and rhythm of the game; they know exactly what they have to do," Lucescu said.

"United are a better-built team physically, with fast players who can play direct football.

"They are dangerous going upfield quickly and on the counter-attack. That power could decide this match, and they also have the advantage of playing in England."

SHORT FUSE

As well as a 29-year age gap, Guardiola and Ferguson have starkly contrasting personalities.

The quietly-spoken, elegantly-attired Guardiola rarely loses his cool and is respectful towards opponents in both victory and defeat.

Ferguson has a short fuse and his gruff, intimidating manner has led to many clashes with journalists and officials.

Despite his age he remains as animated as ever on the sidelines, wildly celebrating goals while furiously berating officials over perceived injustices.

Barca defender Gerard Pique, the only man to have played under both Guardiola and Ferguson thanks to his stint at United between 2004 and 2008, singles out one character trait he says both coaches possess.

"Guardiola and Ferguson are two born motivators," he said this week.

The Spanish World Cup-winner has fond memories of his time at United, despite not getting as much time on the pitch as he would have liked.

"To me, I have always said, he (Ferguson) was like a second father," he told Barca TV in October.

"My family was in Barcelona and I was on my own and he helped me in every aspect, not only professionally but also personally."

Reuters

Barcelona

This article is about the capital of Catalonia. For the football club, see FC Barcelona. For other uses, see Barcelona (disambiguation).

Barcelona
Clockwise from top: The Barcelona Skyline, La Barceloneta, Camp Nou, Diagonal Mar, Sagrada Familia, and Castell dels tres Dragons
Flag Coat of arms
Nickname(s): Ciudad Condal, Ciutat Comtal (City of Counts), Barna, BCN
Barcelona Location of Barcelona within Spain
Barcelona Location of Barcelona within Catalonia
Coordinates: 41°23′N 2°11′ECoordinates: 41°23′N 2°11′E
Country	Spain
Autonomous Community	Catalonia
Province	Barcelona
Comarca	Barcelonès
Districts	Ciutat Vella, Eixample,Gràcia, Horta-Guinardó, Les Corts, Nou Barris, Sant Andreu, Sants–Montjuïc,Sarrià-Sant Gervasi, Sant Martí
Government
- Type	Mayor-council
- Body	Ajuntament de Barcelona
- Mayor	Jordi Hereu i Boher (PSC)
Area
- City	101.9 km2 (39.3 sq mi)
- Urban	803 km2 (310 sq mi)
Elevation(AMSL)	12 m (39 ft)
Population (2009)
- City	1,621,537 3,218,071 (Greater Barcelona)
- Rank	2nd in Spain
- Density	15,991/km2 (41,416.5/sq mi)
- Urban	4,210,000
- Metro	5,000,000
Demonym	Barcelonan barceloní, barcelonina barcelonés, barcelonesa
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
- Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	08001–08080
Area code	+34 (Spain) 93 (City)
Website	www.bcn.cat

Barcelona (Catalan: [bərsəˈɫonə], Spanish: [barθeˈlona]) is the capital and the most populous city of Catalonia and the second largest city in Spain, afterMadrid, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of 101.4 km² (39 sq mi). The urban area of Barcelona extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of over 4,200,000^[1][2] on an area of 803 km² (310 sq mi),^[1] being the sixth-most populous urban area in theEuropean Union after Paris, London, Ruhr area, Madrid and Milan. About five million^[3][4][5] people live in the Barcelona metropolitan area. It is alsoEurope's largest metropolis on the Mediterranean coast. It is the main component of a union of adjacent cities and municipalities named the Àrea Metropolitana de Barcelona (AMB) with a population of 3,218,071 in an area of 636 km² (density 5,060 hab/km²). It is located on the Mediterranean coast between the mouths of the rivers Llobregat and Besòs and is bounded to the west by the Serra de Collserola ridge (512 m/1,680 ft).

Barcelona is today one of the world's leading tourist, economic and cultural centres, and its influences in commerce, education, entertainment, media,fashion, science, and the arts all contribute to its status as one of the world's major global cities.^[6][7] Indeed, it is a major economic centre and a growing financial centre (Diagonal Mar area); one of Europe's principal Mediterranean ports can be found here as well as Barcelona international airport, which handles about 30 million passengers per year. It also boasts an extensive motorway network and is a hub of high-speed rail, particularly that which will linkFrance with Spain and later Portugal. Barcelona was the 12th-most-visited city in the world and 4th most visited in Europe after Paris, London, and Rome. It is in addition the most popular tourist destination in Spain (receiving over 5 million tourists every year).^[8] Barcelona is the 16th most "livable city" in the world according to lifestyle magazine Monocle.^[9] Similarly, according to Innovation Analysts 2thinknow, Barcelona occupies 13th place in the world onInnovation Cities™ Global 256 Index.^[10] It is the 4th richest city by GDP in the European Union and 35th in the world with an output amounting to €177 billion, a figure nonetheless smaller than alternative estimates.^[11] Consequently, its GDP per capita output stands at €35,975 – some 44% higher than the European Union average. Similarly, the city of Barcelona stands in 29th place in a list of net personal earnings headed by Zurich.^[12] The city is Europe's 3rd and one of the world's most successful as a city brand, both in terms of reputation and assets.^[13]

Founded as a Roman city, Barcelona became the capital of the Counts of Barcelona. After merging with the Kingdom of Aragon, it became one of the most important cities of the Crown of Aragon. Besieged several times during its history, Barcelona is today an important cultural centre and a major tourist destination and has a rich cultural heritage. Particularly renowned are architectural works of Antoni Gaudí and Lluís Domènech i Montaner that have been designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The city is well known in recent times for the 1992 Summer Olympics. The headquarters of the Union for the Mediterranean is located in Barcelona.

As the capital of Catalonia, Barcelona houses the seat of the Catalan government, known as the Generalitat de Catalunya; of particular note are theexecutive branch, the parliament, and the Supreme Court of Catalonia. The city is also the capital of the Province of Barcelona and the Barcelonès