With rare and unrivaled access, bestselling coauthor of
Soccernomics and longtime Financial Times journalist Simon Kuper
tells the story of how FC Barcelona became the most successful club in
the world--and how that era is now ending
FC Barcelona is not just the world's highest grossing sports club, it is
simply one of the most influential organizations on the planet. At last
count, it had approximately 214 million social media followers, more
than any other sports club except Real Madrid CF--and by one earlier
measure, more than all thirty-two NFL teams combined. It has more in
common with multinational megacompanies like Netflix or small
nation-states than it does with most soccer teams. No wonder its motto
is "More than a club." But it was not always so. In the past three
decades, Barcelona went from a regional team to a global powerhouse,
becoming a model of sustained excellence and beautiful soccer, and a
consistent winner of championships. Simon Kuper unravels exactly how
this transformation took place, paying special attention to the club's
two biggest stars, Johan Cruyff and Lionel Messi, who is arguably the
greatest soccer player of all time. Messi joined Barça at age thirteen
and, more than anyone, has been the engine and standard-bearer of
Barcelona's glory. But his era is coming to an end--and with it, a
once-in-a-lifetime golden run. This book charts Barça's rise and fall.
Like many world-beating organizations, FC Barcelona closely guards its
secrets, granting few outsiders access to the Camp Nou, its legendary
home stadium. But after decades of writing about the sport and the club,
Kuper was given access to the inner sanctum and the people behind the
scenes who strive daily to keep Barcelona at the top. Erudite, personal,
and capturing all the latest upheavals, his portrait of this incredible
institution goes beyond soccer to understand FC Barcelona as a unique
social, cultural, and political phenomenon.
