FC Barcelona have announced that on Sunday the 26th of November veterans of FC Barcelona will play a match against veterans of the Spanish team in honour of the great Johan Cruyff. This year it will have been fifty years since the Dutchman signed for the Blaugrana and the team from Catalonia believe a game between former Barcelona players and players from elsewhere in Spain is ‘the perfect way to honour the passing of half a century since the legendary player joined FC Barcelona.’
Juan Manuel Asensi, the president of the FC Barcelona Players Association (AJFCB), who had played alongside Cruyff for five years expressed his excitement that the game will celebrate ‘a very important date in Barça history and will remember such a key player for the club’. Cruyff played for AFC Ajax from 1964 to 1973 whereby he made 245 appearances and scored 193 goals for the Amsterdammers before making his move to Spain. During his time as a player with the Spanish giants he appeared 143 times, scoring on 48 occasions and helped the Blaugrana win their first La Liga title in 14 years.
It was his career as a manager which he is most well-known for at Barcelona, the Dutchman created the first ‘golden era’ of FC Barcelona. The style in which he demanded his teams to play football continues to have an influence on modern day football with managers such as Pep Guardiola praising the Dutchman for the influence he has had on the game.
Cruyff may have passed away in March 2016 but his influence of football will remain forever, the ‘Ajax Way’ and ‘Tika-Taka’ football was all born out of the brain of Johan Cruyff. FC Barcelona hope to pay tribute to such an influential figure through their game of veterans on the 26th of November.
