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When a team wins as many trophies as Catalan side Barcelona does, jealousy is bound to get the better of most rival fans. When a team can boast of a player like Lionel Messi, who single-handedly smashes (and sets beyond the reach of any living human) goalscoring and assist records, you're bound to be called a one-man team. When you have your own, distinct brand of football, people are bound to criticise it to no end.
Yet despite all these magnificent qualities and a global fan-base, Luis Enrique's club are still the target of an inordinate amount of vitriol from rival fans from around the world. We take a look at why anyone would hate the team that formed the basis of one of the most successful national teams (Spain) ever.
And before anybody says it - we're not counting 'jealousy' or 'Lionel Messi' as the reason - no, let's dig a bit deeper!
#5 Promoting a nation with a terrible human rights record
One of the things that always made Barcelona "the good guys" to Real Madrid's "bad guys" in Spain was that as a club, they tended to steer away from big-money sponsorships with dubious firms.
In fact, it became an integral part of their image – 'Mes que un club' - more than a club. A union of like-minded fans from a sectarian part of Spain uniting to 'stick it' to the big dogs in the capital by playing brilliant football and doing it without taking money from the corporates.
For over a century, Barcelona didn't even have a sponsor on their shirt. Finally, they broke tradition to sign a deal with UNICEF in 2006 – which involved them giving the organisation around €1.5 million to display the logo on their jersey.
But money is never enough in this world, is it? In 2011, they signed a deal to finally get paid to display a company's logo on their shirts. Of all people, who did the moralistic club choose to represent? The oil-flushed hosts of the 2022 FIFA World Cup – Qatar. For the past 6 years, Barcelona have been sponsored by a nation that has been repeatedly accused of human rights abuse, breaking a very respectable stance of over 100 years.
Are they really more than a club? Not with those double-standards!
#4 The shadow of UEFAlona - the darling of the establishment
Carrying on from that point, most fans who have a gripe with Barcelona tend to use the words that ex-Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho made famous after a controversial 2-0 loss in the Champions League semi-final of 2011.
"If I tell UEFA what I really think and feel, my career would end now... Why does a team as good as they are need something [extra] that is so obvious that everyone sees it? I don't know if it is the UNICEF sponsorship or if it is because they are nice guys. I don't understand. They have power and we have no chance."
It might seem like the soundbites of a sore loser, but there can be no doubting that in European competitions, opponents are more likely than not going to end up playing with 10-men against Barcelona. Defenders of the team might claim that because Barcelona hold the ball more, they frustrate opponents into more rash tackles. That might be true, but more often than not, the replays tell a different story.
And even worse, Barcelona tend to win far more penalties than teams like Bayern Munich or Real Madrid, who attack just as much. Strange handballs, offside goals, fouls that have been let off - it seems very odd that Barcelona have been the beneficiaries of these whenever they play poorly. Take Robin Van Persie’s ludicrous sending off in their 2011 Champions League tie, which must go down as one of the worst decisions ever at that level.
Moreover, Barcelona players have a very nasty habit of crowding referees in order to get their opponents sent off. Some might say that this trait became far more apparent during Pep Guardiola's reign, as was the playacting and diving (but let's talk about that later)
And for some reason, that tends to happen a lot in European competitions. Was former Barcelona assistant Mourinho correct?
#3 Diving and play-acting
This is a no-brainer; even Barcelona fans have to admit this.
In the modern game, deceiving referees has become something of a dark art. Managers tell their players to avoid it, but every player knows that in the dying minutes of a must-win fixture, it's the most useful tool to win a penalty that could save the game. As bad as it might be, it's become common, and clamour for video technology has largely been centred around the inability of 40-something-year-old referees to keep up with the blistering pace of 20-something-year-old divers at the other end of the pitch.
Yet over the past decade, Barcelona players tend to have fine-tuned this art into a perfect technique. Neymar, Xavi, Busquets, Dani Alves and even Arsenal's super-human Alexis Sanchez have put in some Oscar-worthy performances to dupe referees into sending off their opponents. For a team with so much quality, is that really necessary? We can't accept that it is.
Despite their relatively short size, Barcelona have some very powerful players in their ranks, but the sheer number of complaints from opponents about them falling like leaves in the wind, must surely make one grit their teeth. Diving, rolling and deceiving the referee are acts that shouldn't be part of the beautiful game.
#2 So rich, yet so stingy!
FC Barcelona are one of the biggest, richest and most powerful clubs in history. Worth $3.2 billion, and generating a revenue of over €450 million, Barcelona can buy almost any player on the planet - except Cristiano Ronaldo, but that's not a money issue now, is it? They have scouts all over the planet and their academy has consistently produced some of the most exciting young talents on the planet.
Yet, their transfer business is extremely murky. For a classic case of "tapping up" a player, see Barcelona's shameless pursuit of then Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas. From fans claiming he was being held hostage by Arsenal to the Barca contingent of the Spain national team putting a Blaugrana jersey on him during their World Cup victory, the entire club seemed involved in forcing through a transfer in a very clear, disrespectful and conspicuous way.
Moreover – as is common knowledge – Arsenal would have definitely sold for the right price. But with the media obtaining strange details about Fabregas' contract situation that were unlikely to be leaked by Arsenal, it seemed like Barcelona were not taking no for an answer, and they would only buy him for the price they were naming.
And let's not get started on all the tax evasion stories coming out of the Catalan locker room!
#1 Is Tiki-Taka really all that great?
Finally, we come to the crux of the matter.
It would be remiss to mention Barcelona without speaking of tiki-taka – their hugely-successful high-pressing possession football. For many, it is the epitome of the 'Barca Way'. With this system, Guardiola and his charges were incredibly dominant, and it contributed greatly to Vicente Del Bosque's own system for the Spanish national team.
Some see it as a very aesthetic style, others see it as part of a culture, and others even saw it as a footballing revolution! For many Barcelona fans at least, it is the finest thing since sliced bread.
But does everybody else like it? The endless sideways and backward passes. The complete choking and death of tempo and intensity in the game. The total lack of adventure and innovation it entails. The endless hype about it being invincible – when it has clearly been overcome by teams whose personnel matched Barca's.
Clearly not. Tiki-taka is definitely one of the most defining systems of this century, but some of the greatest defensive football has been played in that era as well by teams like Inter Milan and Chelsea. Real Madrid have been one of the most exhilarating counter-attacking teams to ever take to a pitch. Bayern Munich's treble-winning side was one of the most sophisticated teams with the ability to pick anybody off in any style at any moment.
For all of its greatness, tiki-taka is just another way of playing that will fade into history with time. Just like every other way to play - that's the beauty of football!
