FC Barcelona is at present one of the greatest teams in the world, with a prize cabinet that's bursting with the silverware won over the course of the previous few years. While Bara might be intensely popular right now, they have undergone a metamorphosis of the previous couple of years.
In truth it might be right to say they have experienced a renaissance ever since Joan Laporta became president in 2003, and after him his former chum and now bitter enemy, Sandro Rossell.
When Laporta arrived at the club they had not won a major title since 1999 and the self esteem of the squad had plummeted. He brought on board Frank Rijkaard as team coach, who after a slow start started winning matches; and his right hand man (at the time, until they fell out and he resigned from the Barça board) Sandro Rossell used his contacts to sign Ronaldinho.
While the Brazilian player actually had talent[**] he had not always done much with it. Nonetheless he did show a lot of flare with FC Barcelona even when they weren't making the turn-around required.
That turn-about occurred when Barça signed Edgar Davids for the second 1/2 the season. Whether it was his arrival at the club, or whether his arrival coincided with everything coming together is most unlikely to say. What's certain though is that the club started winning game after game. And at last the downtrodden Barcelona rose up again and started to become the team it is today.
The club went from strength to strength after that, though Davids decided to return to his old club after the half season loan. While he may have been missed, the fortunes of the club continued to improve and Barcelona won the second season under Laporta. After that the team continues to go ever upwards and unde Pep Guardiola were the 1st tea, to win the treble – la liga, Champions League and Copa del Rey.
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