This has been an intense year for many different reasons at FC Barcelona
But which ten stories attracted the most readers to fcbarcelona.com in 2014?
The next ten
11. Top 10 best goals of the season 2013 2014
12. Ten things to know about Marc Andre Ter Stegen
13. Ivan Rakitic to join FC Barcelona
14. Chelsea to sign Cesc Fabregas
15. Messi, Eto’o & Munir nominated for best UEFA goal of all time
16. SSC Napoli v FC Barcelona match highlights
17. Detailed figures of Neymar transfer
18. When and where to watch R Madrid v FC Barcelona
19. Leo Messi on shortlist for FIFA Ballon d’Or
20. Luis Enrique signs as new Barçaa manager
[[DES_1]]2014 has produced no shortage of big news stories at FC Barcelona, and as the year draws to an end, here’s a countdown of the ten most viewed articles on the English language version of the club website at www.fcbarcelona.com.
10. Barça stars in Shakira video
In tenth place came Barça’s Piqué, Neymar, Messi and Fàbregas appearing in Colombian singer Shakira’s World Cup song La La La. The video, released in May, also featured former Barça player Eric Abidal, Man City’s Argentinian star Sergio Agüero, and Shakira’s compatriots Falcao and James Rodríguez.
9. Testing the new FIFA 2015 game
The ninth most viewed story showed Messi, Neymar, Alves, Piqué, Jordi Alba, Rakitic, Bartra and Munir trying out the new FIFA 2015 game in October. All eight of them chose to play with FC Barcelona!
8. New Nike home strip revealed
The release of the new home strip is always a much anticipated moment at the club, and May 2014 was no exception. Marketed with the slogan Crafted to Win, “this distinct new design provides Barcelona fans with their most authentic and truest identity of the modern era.”
7. Messi and Neymar display their skills
Recorded at an Audi presentation in November, this video showing Barça’s South American superstars battling it out in a unique game of keepie-uppie got a huge number of hits on our website.
6. Tito Vilanova, eternally remembered
In April 2014, the announcement of the passing away of former FC Barcelona first team manager, Tito Vilanova, was one of the saddest moments in club history. This article announced that a space for condolence would be made available in the main grandstand at the Camp Nou, and thousands of supporters came to the club to pay their last respects to the man who guided the team to the 2012/13 league title with its highest ever points tally.
5. The first four new faces
The summer transfer market always generates a huge amount of interest, and 2014 was one of the busiest close seasons ever at Barça. When this article was published in June, Rakitic had just become the fourth new arrival, following on from the signing of Ter Stegen and the returns from loan of Deulofeu and Rafinha.
4. Ter Stegen in and Pinto out
On a similar theme, the fourth most read story of 2014 concerned a change of faces in the Barça goal. Pinto was leaving after six and a half years of service and German keeper Ter Stegen arrived from Borussia Mönchengladbach.
3. Valdés says farewell
Another goalkeeper featured in our third most visited story. Victor Valdés had already announced his retirement, but when he missed the end of the season through injury, he was unable to say goodbye to the fans the way he might have hoped. Instead he penned this farewell letter to the fans in May.
2. New crimson strip revealed
The Barça first strip always features the same basic colour scheme, so the release of the second strip often generates more interest due to the use of different colour combinations. The 2014/15 crimson kit was no exception, and the response was so enthusiastic that this story was the second most read of the year.
1. Suarez signs from Liverpool
The rumours were finally confirmed. Luis Suárez was on his way to FC Barcelona! The official announcement by the club in July was one of the media stories of the year, not just in Catalonia but all around the world. So it should come as no surprise that the signing of the Uruguayan striker was the story that the drew the most visitors to www.fcbarcelona.com in 2014.
