5 reasons why Marc Bartra should leave Barcelona

Marc Bartra has a seemingly impossible decision regarding his Barcelona future in front of him. Whether the La Masia graduate was to head out on loan to Sevilla, which have asked for an option to buy him at the conclusion of the season, or he moves permanently to Tottenham or an Italian club; Bartra doesn’t want to regret his decision.

 

The 24-year-old defender has always put the club over his own personal pride, and his trophy-case is full due to his sacrifices. Yet, there comes a time in every player’s career, especially those that have been brought up through the academies of top clubs, where they must choose between club achievement and ultimately, their legacy.

5 reasons why Ronaldinho helped Messi become the best ever footballer

Barcelona is a privileged club. To have two of the best players in world football spending their best years in the Blaugrana colours is indeed a privilege, one that cemented the club’s place in the highest echelons of football. And even to an extent that Barca are considered among the best ever club sides in footballing history.

 Ronaldinho and Leo Messi have won the World Player of the Year in six of the last 11 years, a phenomenal achievement made even more phenomenal by the fact they won them all while being Barça players. Ronaldinho ushered in the era of dominance in Catalunya, while Messi made Barça the unstoppable force they have become today.
While Ronaldinho started the winning machine, Messi accelerated it across multiple landmarks and records, and the contributions of the two South Americans in Barca’s 21st century history is so profound that Barca can rightly be deemed as the best football team of the present century. They can even stake a claim for being the best across centuries, such has been the dominance of the Catalan giants.

Over the past decade, it was a classic example of one era passing onto another as the successful time with Ronaldinho was quickly followed by an era of even more relentless winning with Messi at his peak. Such has been Barça’s dominance over the past decade that it wouldn’t be naive to suggest Barça’s recent history wouldn’t have been as colourful without Ronaldinho and Messi.

Here are five reasons why Ronaldinho was the perfect mentor for Messi, and in turn provided the perfect base for Barca to embark on what has been a journey full of euphoric moments amid a few bumps.

3 reasons why Neymar will never join Real Madrid

The cult of Neymar at Barcelona is growing by the minute. The Brazilian is one of the most famous footballers in the world, and it is hard to play at a club as big as Barça without getting a fair amount of spotlight. But Neymar is clearly a different beast, and after more than decade and a half, there are talks about the Luis Figo saga resurfacing all over again, on a similar stage, albeit with a different set of actors.

Florentino Pérez, the Real Madrid president, is keen on making Neymar a Merengue, which could have been much easier had the Brazil captain been playing at another club. But Barça share an eternal rivalry with Real Madrid, and it is difficult to even entertain the thought of Neymar leaving the cosy confines of the Camp Nou for the vile atmospheres of the Santiago Bernabéu, if at all he moves.

If Figo was Pérez’s key to Real Madrid’s first Galáctico revolution, Neymar is the key to another incarnation of the 68-year-old’s dream. But unlike at the turn of the millennium when the Portuguese Figo crossed the Clásico divide, Barça are miles off Real Madrid as the planet’s best team at the moment. While Pérez’s pseudo-Galácticos have been struggling in the Blaugrana’s wake, as their recent haul of winnings show. Which provides Barça and their fans plenty of optimism regarding Neymar’s future at the club, and why the Brazilian won’t follow in Figo’s footsteps.

Here are three reasons why Neymar will not join Real Madrid: