Barcelona’s first participation in the European Cup came in the 1959-60 tournament. By then Real Madrid had won it four times and was looking for its fifth in a row. Barcelona’s first match was away to CSKA Sofia which it won 2-2. It won the away tie 6-2 to power through to the next round. Ladislao Kubala and Evaristo de Macedo each scored a hat-trick. In the second round, Milan overpowerd Milan winning 2-0 in Milan before following that up with a 5-1 win in Barcelona.
The Spaniards were in a vindictive mood and next took their anger out on Wolverhampton Wanderers. 4-0 at the Camp Nou was followed by a 5-2 thrashing away. Sandor Kocsis scored four for the visitors.
In the semi-final, Barcelona had to face Real Madrid. Madrid was too experienced winning both games 3-1.
Barcelona was back the next year and after defeating Lierse of Belgium had to meet Real Madrid in the second round. A 2-2 draw in Madrid was followed by a 2-1 win in Barcelona and weren’t they euphoric. After five straight championships, Real Madrid had finally been beaten and Barcelona had been the first one to do so.
Now full of confidence, Barcelona defeated Spartak Hradec Králové in the quarter-finals before needing a playoff to dispatch of Hamburg in the semi-finals. The final was to be against Benfica in Berne. Kocsis opened the scoring only for Benfica to get the next three. With a quarter of an hour remaining, Zoltan Czibor pulled one back but it wasn’t enough.
Barcelona wouldn’t return until 1974-75. Its first round match was against Voest Linz who was no match for Barcelona. It got past Feyenoord in the second round and Atvidaberg of Sweden in the quarter-finals before losing to Leeds in the semi-final.
11 years passed until Barcelona was back. In the opening round it edged past Sparta Prague on away goals and did the same thing against Porto in the second round. It knocked out defending champion Juventus in the quarter-finals before a penalty shootout saw it get by Gothenburg.
The final was to be in Seville against Steaua Bucharest. Barcelona were captained by Bernd Schuster and has Julio Alberto and Victor Munoz as key players. No goals were scored after 120 minutes meaning the final went to penalties. All four of Barcelona’s penalties were saved and Barcelona again missed out.
In 1991-92, Barcelona defeated East German Hansa Rostock in the first round. It needed away goals to get past Kaiserlautern in the second round. The eight second round winners were then placed in two groups of four. Barcelona was with Sparta Prague, Benfica and Dynamo Kiev and topped the group to go on to Wembley for the final. In its way were Sampdoria.
Barcelona was a strong team and had the likes of Ronald Koeman, Hristo Stoichkov, Michael Laudrup and Albert Ferrer. Sampdoria had Gianluca Vialli, Attilio Lombardo and Roberto Mancini.
Scoreless after 90 minutes it went to extra time where Ronald Koeman blasted a shot threw the wall. Finally it had reached the Holy Grail!
The title defence didn’t go to well. A 1-1 draw in Moscow to CSKA was followed by a 3-2 loss at home. Just like that its reign was over.
Determined to make amends things almost were derailed again. It lost 3-1 away to Dynamo Kiev and then won the return leg 4-1. It topped its group of four with Monaco, Spartak Moscow and Galatasaray and then defeated Porto in the semi-finals to be back in the final.
The final was in Athens against Milan. Even with the likes of Romario, Sergi and Jose Bakero Barcelona were outclassed. Milan’s side boasted Paolo Maldini, Marcel Dsailly and Daniele Massaro. Two goals in each half underlined the class difference between the two teams.
The next year, Barcelona was in a group of four with Gothenburg, Manchester United and Galatasaray. It finished second and lost to PSG in the quarter-finals.
In 1997-98, it finished last in its group of Dynamo Kiev, PSV and Newcastle. The following year it was in a difficult group of Bayern Munich, Manchester United and Brondby. In a quirk, Barcelona was eliminated at this stage, while Bayern and United would eventually go on to play the final in Barcelona.
The next year, Barcelona topped its first group and then its second group to find itself in the quarter-finals. It needed extra-time to get past Chelsea but then found it was outclassed by fellow La Liga side, Valencia. Valencia won the opening lef 4-1 to end the contest.
It was back to the semi-finals two years later. Barcelona topped both of its groups to meet Panathinaikos in the semi finals. It was that and met Real Madrid in the quarter finals. Real won the first leg 2-0 in Barcelona 2-0 and followed that up with a 1-1 draw. It was sweet revenge for Real who would win the competition.
In 2002-03, Barcelona meant business and won all six of its group games against Lokomotiv Moscow, Club Brugge and Galatasaray. It only dropped two points in its second group that featured Inter Milan, Newcastle and Bayer Leverkusen. Unfortunately it peaked too early and was knocked out by Juventus in extra time.
In 2004-05, Chelsea eliminated it in the first knockout round after a 5-4 thriller.
The following year, Barcelona eased past the group stage before getting its revenge over Chelsea. Victories over Benfica and Milan followed to put Barcelona back in the final. The decider was in Paris against Arsenal.
Barcelona were a strong side and had Ronaldinho, Eto’o and Carlos Puyol. Arsenal went a goal up but was also a man down after Jens Lehmann was sent off. Second half goals to Eto’o and Juliano Belletti have it its second title.
Its title defence ended in the first knockout round with a loss to Liverpool on away goals.
The following year, Barcelona was the only non-English side in the semi final and lost to Manchester United 1-0.
It would get its revenge the following year. It defeated Lyon, Bayern Munich and Chelsea to get through to the final in Rome. Eto’o and Lionel both scored a goal in a match where Barcelona was clearly the better side.
Real Madrid might have been the dominant team of the 1950s and 60s but Barcelona is the dominant team now.