While most of the world is still trying to get back on it’s feet from the economic crisis, sports teams such as Real Madrid turn the other cheek and spend spend spend. This has been an off-season to remember with two of the biggest names in world soccer coming over to the Spanish side in record breaking deals. The Brazil and former AC Milan superstar Kaka was the first to join after Milan accepted a deal worth €65m.

After that deal I’m sure most people thought that was it, but Real Madrid had more players on their mind and more money to spend. After a long saga of rumours, on 26 June Manchester United accepted a deal for Cristiano Ronaldo worth roughly €93m. Even after these two big transfers, Real were not afraid to spend a little more money as they picked up young Frenchmen Karim Benzema from French side Lyon for €35m

Needless to say it has been a huge off-season and now we have to wait a few more weeks to see this stacked side play in competition. It will be interesting to see if all of this will pay off as their rivals Barcelona have also made some moves this off-season and look to defend their treble from last year which included the La Liga, Spanish Cup and Champions League.

FC Barcelona is one of the most prestigious football clubs in the world. It always seems to at the top of La Liga and seems to always be stacked with talent. Yet it always had it’s share of ups and downs. Especially recently.

Barcelona was at the top of the world after the 2005-2006 season. They had won La Liga and the Champions League. Ronaldinho was coming off a poor performance at the World Cup, but at the time none of that really mattered. They were still at the top of the world and intended to stay there. But just like that, open fueds began in the club. Everything seemed to be going downhill so suddenly. Many people would blame the U.S. Preseason tour for many of the club injuries that year to star players like Eto’o and Messi throughout the season. Ronaldinho was being criticized for supposedly partying all night and being out of shape. Despite this they remained in first place most of the season, as if they were simply ignoring the strife when they were on the pitch. It all seemed too good to be true as all this open fueding and strife within the club caused a late season breakdown which saw them lose their first place standing and the La Liga. They eventually went trophyless in the 2006-2007 season.

The next season saw much of the same, though during the offseason Barcelona seemed to be favorites after picking up Thierry Henry. This line up of Henry, Ronaldinho, Messi, and Eto’o was one of the best in the world as they had 4 of the top offensive players in the world on their roster. However, internal strife would once again make an appearance to hinder Barcelona. Ronaldinho’s poor performance due to poor fitness showed even more than usual on the field. Fans even went as far as to boo him, causing even more strife. Even lockers had been divided more that usual, of course they usually divided into language/country groups with all the negativity surrounding Barça it created a far worse atmosphere than usual. With injuries and inconsistency throughout the season, Barça ended up in 3rd in La Liga, losing both games to their rivals, Real Madrid, the second game being a 4-1 loss.

As the dismal performances of late began to escalate, many called for the firing of Coach Frank Rijkaard, and that’s just what they did. Rijkaard was sacked and Barça B coach Josep “Pep” Guardiola took over Barça. In the preseason a motion of no confidence was raised against Joan Laporta, the club’s president. The motion ended up recieving 60% support, 6% short of the required amount. Eight of his directors then resigned, unhappy with the performance and handling of Barça as of late. Laporta then responded by getting rid of a few trouble players such as Ronaldinho, Deco, and Edmilson while obtaining Seydou Keita, Gerard Pique, and Dani Alves among others. This extensive rebuilding process left many unsure of what Barça was going to do in the coming season.

The season didn’t exactly start out to well for Barça, getting only a draw and a loss in their first two games. Despite the poor start the club and coach remained positive and confident en route to a 9 game winning streak and a 20 game streak in which they did not lose a game. This rejuvenated Barça has set many records and has many believing that they are the best club in the world due to their dominance. On January 17th, 2009, Barça set a new La Liga record for points in the first half of La Liga play, getting 50 of a possible 57 points. The club has even reached the Copa Del Rey finals for the first time since 1998. Also six days later on January 23rd, Barça was ranked first in the IFFHS’s list of the greatest football clubs in the past 18 years. They even handed Real Madrid one of their worst losses at home in a 6-2 rout.

There is no doubt that Barça is on a high right now, just like they were a few years ago in their years of back to back La Liga championships. The question is, will the ups and downs continue? Or is Barça finally here to stay at the top? I’d like to think that Barça is done with their internal strife and fueding for a few years, but you never know.