Europe'slasthope胸前没有广告的绿茵豪门

FC Barcelona fans often hold signs saying "Més que un club" while cheering on their team at their home stadium, Camp Nou. This club motto, which means "More than a club", is certainly true at the moment. In fact, they are carrying the hopes of most of Europe on their shoulders.

Barca are now the only team on the continent that can stop English football domination. For the second straight season, the semifinals of the Champions League features three clubs from England, and Barcelona. They may have reached this stage in a very different way to their English rivals, but they still have a great chance of lifting the trophy next month. 21st Century looks at the secrets behind their success.

150,000 owners with a voice

UNLIKE their English competitors, Barcelona are neither owned by a foreign billionaire, nor do they have hundreds of millions of euros of debt. Instead, the team is owned by its 150,000 or so members, who all pay an annual subscription of around 150 euros (1,353 yuan). The members vote for a president to run the club so that the team can never fall into the hands of an owner who simply wants to make money. It also means that people who support the team make the key decisions. One such decision was to pay the United Nation\'s children\'s fund Unicef $1.9 million (12.97 million yuan) per year to put the charity\'s logo on the club\'s shirts. This was the first logo to appear on Barca shirts in the club\'s 107-year history.

Pricelss loyalty

ALTHOUGH Barcelona have the spending power to buy big stars, they often prefer to use players from their youth team. Carles Puyol, Andrés Iniesta, Xavi and, of course, Leo Messi are all players who have risen up through the ranks of the Barcelona academy.

These young players are immensely loyal to Barca. In fact, the four mentioned above have played over 1,300 games for Barcelona between them, never once playing for a different club. Money simply cannot buy loyalty like that, especially in the world of modern football.

Manager schooled in \'attacking\'

BARCA\'S youth policy extends beyond their players. Their manager, Josep Guardiola, is only 38 years old. He played for Barcelona for most of his career, too, joining the youth team when he was just 13. By appointing someone who knows the club so well, Barcelona have insured that the culture of the club continues. Guardiola was schooled in the short-passing, attacking style of the team. It is the only way he knows how to play football. Barca\'s fans would not take kindly to a new manager coming in and changing the way the team plays.

Catalonia\'s pride and joy

BARCA are an extremely popular club. One survey says they are the most supported team in Europe, with over 40 million fans. And to their most hardcore fans, they mean more than just football.

Barcelona is in Catalonia, an autonomous community in Spain, similar to a region like Inner Mongolia in China. Many Catalans would like greater independence from the central government of Spain. Their football team is a symbol of the strength of the region.

There is nothing Catalans like more than beating their archrivals Real Madrid – a team with strong links to the royal family of Spain.

英语词汇解析

archrivals 主要对手

autonomous 自治的

flawless 无暇的

immensely [] 无限地

motto 座右铭，格言

rollercoaster 过山车

subscription [认捐

trophy 奖杯

BONUS

bask

享受夸奖、成绩

He could only bask in his student accomplishments for so long. Colleagues at his first job couldn\'t care less about the awards he\'d won in university.

他不可能再沉湎于学生时代的成功了；在他的第一份工作中，同事根本不关心他在大学里获过什么奖。

take kindly to sth

同意，认同

She won\'t take kindly to your opinion that men are better than women at math. Don\'t bring up the topic when you go on your first date.

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分页标题#e#

你认为男人在数学方面比女人强的观点，她是不会认同的。如果我是你，我不会在首次约会时跟她谈论这个话题。

way over one\'s head

得意忘形

You\'re in [way] over your head. Keep your mouth shut and your eyes open. You might learn something.

你太得意忘形了。闭上嘴，睁开眼，才能真正学点东西。