An Open Letter to Barcelona: From one who lived Champions League glory, for those still waiting | OneFootball

Querida Barça,

It’s been more than a decade now.

That wonderful night in Berlin. That awe-inspiring footballing spectacle put on by arguably the greatest trio of all time. A moment etched in our history. Unforgettable.

However, I come back to the very first thing – it’s been more than a decade.

Yesterday, I was indulging myself in a huge jersey store, buying the new Barcelona kit for the season. Wide-eyed and excited to don the garnet-and-blue, as is the case with every new year, be it with expectation or dread.

We know we can’t ball on the pitch ourselves, but rest assured, we never shy away from showing our support for those who do and represent us on the pitch.

So, I put on the kit, felt the crest align with my heart, the red and blue colours dissolve into human veins, chest inflated with pride as if I had done my duty diligently as a Barcelona fan.

Then I saw the grass on the other side.

I saw fans of Real Madrid signing up for their deployment and receiving their stripes ahead of the calendar. I saw how they were celebrating a star-spangled badge on their arm, engraved with a double-digit number that represents the mammoth of a force they are in Europe.

That Champions League badge… That “15”…

I proceeded to check the sleeves of my kit, and there I found a very modernised and messy La Liga badge that is significantly worse than its predecessor and clearly a sign of misguided renovation.

I felt the difference like a shot in the arm. Literally.

Don’t get me wrong, that’s not to say I feel inferior or subjugated when pitched up against a Madridista in a friendly yet heated debate when they bring up their ‘apparent’ superior prestige because of sustained European success.

Or that I trouble myself with comparisons or ascertain our relevance relative to their existence.

Barcelona last won the Champions League in 2015. (Photo by Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)

However, things might be, FC Barcelona is the best club in the world. Unconditionally. When we win, we do it with a philosophy. The words of Johan Cruyff ring in my ear when I think of my club: “Salir y Disfrutar” or “go out and enjoy.”

It is the north star of our success and precisely what makes us ‘Més que un club.’ And while winning is the most important thing in football, it is pointless if it doesn’t come out with the style and swagger that excites the fans and gets them off their seats.

These values, the integrity, and the persona make Barcelona a living entity that no other club in the world can match up to.

So how about we show the world this unconditional, universal truth? How about we paint Europe in our colours? With a sway of masses of red and blue on the ground and the yellow of La Senyera filling the sky.

With this thought, I asked the proprietor for a Champions League badge on my jersey. He smiled, disarmingly, and said, “Barcelona kits in my stock don’t come with the badge.”

I was shaken. A tad bit crestfallen, I lowered my head in slight disgruntlement when I caught the eyes of my younger sister who too, thanks to me, had taken to the fandom of Barcelona like I had all those years ago.

But to my surprise, she wasn’t sorrowful or ruing her choice to support the club because of her elder, Barça-romantic brother. No, she was accepting of the fact that Barcelona wasn’t as present in Europe as she would have liked. Or further, expected.

The realisation shattered me. Barcelona now has a whole generation of fans that don’t know what it means to win the Champions League. Fans who aren’t acquainted with the honour, class, and celebration that the European success brings.

The dance of glee. The tears of pride. The chants of joy. The sheer scream of ‘Cant del Barça’ reaching unhealthy, deafening decibels—but it doesn’t matter because the whole of Europe echoes with it that night. As one.

Fans have been waiting for a decade to celebrate Champions League glory. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

I can’t stress enough how important it is for these fans to taste that silverware. To know that the culture they so earnestly adopt and propagate has success synonymous with it.

They need to see for themselves, their own version, their own rendition in their own time—which is now—of a scintillating, all-conquering Barcelona.

They need to witness some of the greatest moments in the club’s history repeat themselves as a parallel with the same universe: a Ronald Koeman rocket in the European Cup Final, a Ronaldinho fiesta on the Parisian pitch against Arsenal, an Andrés Iniesta Hail Mary against Chelsea, a Lionel Messi masterclass vs Bayern in the semi-finals and the poetry and artistry of the 2011 Barcelona team.

And believe me, the only reason I have been able to even hope for history and prestige to repeat and return, respectively, is because when I look around the current crop of Barcelona, I see brilliance and potential. The same values and traits I felt in the golden standard of Barça sides of yore.

We were so close last year, and there are many reasons to believe we can go a step further and set up a date with destiny again.

This is a new Barcelona, built on the faith in our institutions, with a new generation of fans striking admiration for their new young and bold heroes. Playing in a brand-new Camp Nou that looks towards the future. And for their sake, I hope it brings the biggest trophies on offer as well.

For us, the committed and the old guard, we have learned to endure. But as all experienced heads, we will want better for our successors.

Still, if there is any advice that we veterans can offer the torch-bearers, it is to cherish every milestone and learn from the gloom.

After all, who would have thought that triumph in 2015 would be the last time in a long while before Barcelona would blind the whole of Europe by their shine again?

That decade-ago silver is slowly eroding. Don’t worry, some of us hold it closer than ever. But for the younger ones, let them have their moment.

And thankfully for them, the journey begins again. Another chance, another shot at club football’s biggest prize. Let’s face it: the new season of the Champions League dawns upon us with renewed energy and hunger.

I know it’s tough. And we will fall more often than we conquer. And that’s okay. That’s as good as a win. But only if we get back up and go again.

Because if any club can make winning beautiful, memorable, and life-alteringly impactful, it is Futbol Club Barcelona.

It’s time for the next generation to witness their club, in their time, and hopefully, in an era decked with resolve and reward.

Visca Barça y Visca Catalunya. Siempre.

De un aficionado del mejor club del mundo, Barça.