FC Barcelona
Sunday, December 1, 2013
Article summary
FC Barcelona won their first Spanish title in 2011 and a year later took the UEFA Futsal Cup on their debut.
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Formed: 1899 (club), 1986 (futsal team)
Nickname: Blaugrana
UEFA Futsal Cup best performance: winners (2012)
Domestic honours (most recent)
• League title: 3 (2013)
• Copa del Rey: 3 (2013)
• Spanish League Cup: 4 (2013)
Main round: bye
Elite round: Lokomotiv Kharkiv 6-1, City'US Târgu Mureş 10-1, FK EP Chrudim 4-1 (Group A winners)
• Barcelona ran a futsal team from 1978 to 1982, and again from 1986. They have spent most of their life in the top division though have twice been relegated.
• Barcelona's futsal section were the last senior men's team at the club not to have taken a European title when they put that right in April 2012 in Lleida. They delighted a packed house at the Catalan venue by beating MFK Dinamo 3-1 to end a superb debut campaign.
• That followed only a year after their maiden Spanish title, an honour they retained in 2012 and 2013. However, they lost their European crown in Tbilisi with a semi-final loss to Kairat Almaty.
• Their all-star billing is led by UEFA Futsal EURO 2012 golden boot winner Torras, Spain colleagues Sergio Lozano, Lin and Fernandao plus Italy's Saad Assis and Brazil's FIFA Futsal World Cup champions Wilde, Gabriel and Ari.
• Their main home is the Palau Blaugrana, in the shadow of Camp Nou.
Key players
Fernandao, Wilde, Sergio Lozano, Torras
Coach: Marc Carmona
Date of birth: 30 December 1964
Playing career: FS Castelldefels, FC Barcelona
Coaching career: Catalonia, FS Martorell, FS Montcafa, FS Santa Coloma, FC Barcelona
Barcelona-born Carmona spent much of his playing career with the club, winning an unoffficial European cup winners' cup competition in 1989/90. At 30 he switched to coaching and led Martorell to promotion in 1996/97 and after spells at Montcafa and Santa Coloma, came to Barcelona in 2004.
Carmona took Barcelona back to the top division in 2005/06 and continued to build the team until their treble-winning season of 2010/11. Their UEFA Futsal Cup debut followed, in which they sailed through their first two mini-tournaments and earned the honour of hosting the finals, which they were to win as well as retaining the league and cup, their domestic titles again kept in 2013. He also coached Catalonia between 1991 and 2004, winning two national regional titles.