Ten magical moments from 2010

Barcelona (FCB).- From the vast presence of Barças’ boys on the winning World Cup team to the historical 5-0 thrasing of Madrid, 2010 was a thrilling year for Barça fans. This article takes a look back at the last 12 months and brings you the top ten most magical moments from Barça.

1) European victory in basketball and roller hockey

During a wonderful weekend in Paris for the Final Four, Xavi Pascual’s Regal Barça reaped the Club’s second Euroleague title on May 9th after beating CSKA Moscow in the semis and Olympiakos in the final. Three weeks later, on May 30th, Barças’ Sorli Discau scooped Europe’s grandest title at the Final Six in Valdagno chalking up the Club’s 19th European Cup.

2) La Lliga wins with 99 points

On 16th May, Barça was officially crowned 2009-10 La Liga Champions after beating Valladolid at the Nou Camp stadium by three points taking their tally for the season to an astonishing 99 – more than any other European team had ever managed.

3) Barça B promotion

On June 20th, Barça B beat Sant Andreu clinching them promotion onto Spain’s second division, the Segona A division. Twelve years after they were relegated, Luis Enrique’s youngsters had manage to bring the reserve team back up.

4) Sandro Rosell, 39th Club President

On July 1st, Sandro Rosell took over as the Club’s 39th President after a convincing win in elections held on June 13th. He won more votes than any other President before him had ever recorded.

5) Barça influence on the World Cup

On July 11th, the Spanish team won the South African World Cup. Eight Barça players featured on Vicente del Bosque’s team - Xavi, Iniesta, Valdés, Puyol, Sergio Busquets, Pedro, Villa and Piqué – and it was Andres Iniesta who scored the winning goal in the final. On top of that, nine of Spain’s squad were products of La Masia – (Reina, Cesc, Xavi, Iniesta, Valdés, Puyol, Sergio Busquets, Pedro and Piqué).

6) The Lakers’ Visit On October 7th

Regal Barça won a famous victory over reigning NBA champions, LA Lakers at the Palau Sant Jordi stadium. Despite the presence of Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant in the American team’s ranks, Xavi Pascual’s European Champions put in a great performance to win the game.

7) Barça 5 Madrid 0

The stadium NouCamp witnessed a historic 5-0 thrashing of the eternal rival on November 29th, when Pep Guardiola’s players handed out a lesson in football to Mourinho’s men. Xavi, Pedro, Villa (2) and Jeffren were the goal scorers on a fantastic and unforgettable night for Barça fans.

8) 3 finalists in the Golden Ball

On December 6th, FIFA announced the three finalists for its Golden Ball Award and all three were home grown Barça players: Messi, Iniesta and Xavi. The winner will be announced on January 10th in Zurich.

9) Agreement with Qatar Foundation

On December 10th FC Barcelona announced that it had come to an agreement with the Qatar Foundation. Alongside UNICEF, it will become the Club’s principal shirt sponsor for the next five seasons in a deal that will bring the club 165 million Euros.

10) Convincing Derby win

On December 18th, Barça, with a 100% away record, faced Espanyol who had won every game at the Cornella Stadium so far in the 2010-11 season and were at that time lying fourth in La Liga. Everybody expected a close result, but Guardiola’s team scored the biggest ever away win against their city neighbours winning 1-5 and bringing a memorable finish to 12 months of league success.